Thiourea dioxide is a versatile chemical compound with many uses. It is widely used as a strong reducing agent in the chemical and textile industries, replacing safener in the field of printing and dyeing. Additionally, it can be used as a synthetic fiber aid, a decolorizing agent, a photographic emulsion, a neoprene polymerization agent, and a rhodium and iridium separator.

In the printing and dyeing industry, thiourea dioxide is widely used as a reducing agent for wool bleaching, dyeing of reduced and sulfurized dyes, reducing washing agents for disperse dyeing, and stripping agents for discharging and bleaching. In organic synthesis, it can be used to reduce ketones, quinones, nitro, azo, oxide azo, diazonium compounds, and organic sulfides. Additionally, thiourea dioxide can serve as a variety of decolorizing agents, a sensitizer for photographic emulsion latex, and a chemical reagent for separating rare metals rhodium and iridium, and can improve the stability of polyethylene.

In the production of synthetic fibers, the addition of thiourea dioxide can improve the stability, increase the tensile strength and improve the color of polyacrylonitrile. Additionally, it is widely used in the production of fine chemical products such as medicine and spices.

It is worth noting that although pure thiourea dioxide is a stable compound that is neither oxidizing nor reducing, it has a high reduction potential when heated in alkaline solution and can decompose, releasing a reducing sulfinic acid, thus exhibiting strong reducing activity.