VARIOUS STYLES OF PRINTING

Textile printing involves production of scattered or allover coloured effect, either on white or dyed cloth. These effects may be produced by Direct, Discharge or Resist style of printing. Before adopting any style of printing, following factors need a careful attention in order to produce even bright prints with good fastness properties. Thorough preparation of cloth consisting of shearing and cropping. Singeing and bleaching processes resulting in good absorbent white cloth is necessary. Singeing process burns out small hairy fibres from the surface of the cloth. If these fibre are not removed from the fabric before printing, this leads to a considerable colour slip damage in the printed fabric. ood absorbency is necessary to get good fastness because of better and even penetration of dyestuff during fixation in direct style and for even shade in resist style. !ull bleach tinopal treated fabric adds to the brilliancy of the printed colours. "erceri#ation is absolutely necessary for printing of reactive dyes and gives brilliancy and depth to prints in case of other dyes. Bowing of weft if any, should be corrected before printing of voiles or printing of geometric designs on poplins. The characteristics desired to ma$e a dyestuff suitable for printing are good solubility and easy fixation, low substantivity and excellent washability of unfixed dye from the fabric, brilliancy of shade, optimum fastness properties and dischargeability and reserveability. The print paste should be free from solid impurities. Soft or condensed water should be used for dissolving colours and preparation of thic$enings. %ard water precipitates the colours and at times gives dull and wea$ prints where soft water is not available. &ddition of sodium hexametaphosphate to the water used for dissolving colours or preparing thic$enings, removes the hardness from water and gives thic$enings with better flow properties. The paste should be usually of medium viscosity tending to thinner side. Thinner pastes and lighter engraving depth go hand in hand. Both the factors vi#. thinner paste and lighter engraving results in saving of colour, deeper engraving results in penetration of paste through the fabric and in case of blotches. It necessitates use of bac$grey adding to cost of printing and increased damages. Deeper engraving results in penetration of paste leading to wea$er prints because the yield from a print paste is the amount of colour intensity available on the face of the fabric. In order to obtain consistently good results, one has to be aware of all possible troubles which can occur and to $now ways and means of overcoming them. The following are the most common reasons for inconsistency of results. 'i( )ariation in pre*treatment of the material and conse+uent difference in absorbency and whiteness of the fabric. 1

'ii( 'iii(

,hange in effective concentration of resist salt in discharge printing. Differences in depth of engraving, difference in pressure of engraved rolls while printing, +uality of lapping '%ard, Soft( printing with or without bac$grey. -oss of colour yield from old dried up pastes, hydrolysed pastes or vat pastes containing decreased .ongolite content. )ariation in number of s+ueegee stro$es, difference in screen gauge, s+ueegee profile. )ariation in drying time of material / differences in temperature and humidity of drying / especially in printing of vat colour blotches, or discharge print, drying of aniline blac$ or phthalogen blue resist printed fabrics after 0ip padding. )ariation in speed of printing especially in photographically engraved rolls. )ariation in +uality of steam in ager machine. ,oncentration and temperature of oxidi#ing bath in development of vat dyes. &niline blac$ and phthalogen blue resists and indigosol dyes. ,orrection in p% of thic$eners used for disperse printing. .olishing of copper rolls after engraving should be +uite good and chromium plaiting offers a highly polished surface with sufficient hardness to avoid scratches and facing defects in pigment printing as well as discharge printing.

'iv( 'v( 'vi(

'vii( 'viii( 'ix( 'x( 'xi(

DIFFERENT STYLES OF PRINTING This style of printing can be sub*divided into following sub*groups1 'a( 'b( 'c( 2hite and dyed grounds Semi blotches Blotches

!ollowing class of dyes applied commonly in direct style of printing / )ats, Indigosol, &#oics / Rapidogens, 0aphthols and Bases, .igments and Reactives.

Vat Dyes .rint of high standard of fastness on cotton fabrics were available with vat dyes only, before some two decades. 2ith the advent of reactive dyes and pigment dyes, this advantage has disappeared because of ease of application and availability of reasonable fastness properties with the newer dyes. .rinting with vat dyes re+uires a great deal of experience to overcome the ris$ of production difficulties and +uality variations. 'These dyes are usually applied by 3&ll*in4 process. )at dyes are insoluble in water. By means of a reducing agent, these dyes are converted into soluble leuco form. In this form, the dye is absorbed by the fibre during the steaming process. In order to fix the dye, which has been absorbed by the fibre in leuco form, it has to be re*oxidised. !or this purpose the printed and steamed fabric is given a mild oxidation treatment with sodium perborate and acetic acid at 56 o, along with an airing period of at least 76 seconds before it goes for subse+uent washing and soaping treatment. .rinting of vat dyes offers lot of problems. The temperature of drying after printing, humidity in the drying chambers, delay in steaming, exposure to light, humid or acidic atmosphere, steaming variation, air in the steamer, +uality of steam, over reduction in the steamer because of the exothermic reaction ta$ing place in the ager machine during steaming, especially in case of blotch designs, storage of prints before and after steaming etc. are some of the many problems to be carefully controlled. Recipe Stock Paste Reduction Paste parts parts Thic$ening .otassium carbonate Rongolite , lycerine 2ater to ma$e up Total 566 86*9:6 86*9:6 56 ; 9666 <66 <6 <6 76 = 9666

)at dyes for printing are available either in micro disperse form or suprafix pastes. In either case it is advisable to prepare stoc$ pastes at least 8*96 hours in advance. This creates a partial reduction of colour in stoc$ paste itself and as compared to freshly prepared pastes such paste gives better yield. In case of Indigoid dyes ready pastes should not be stored for a long time because at times over reduction of the dyestuff ta$es place which gives dull and wea$ prints. &ddition of little chlorate or formaldehyde helps in minimi#ing the over reduction. %owever, vat dyes have maintained their importance in the discharge printing process for discharges under after treated direct dyes, reactive and a#oic grounds.

In case of blotch prints with vat dyes on screen tables or where the production is of a limited order, the vat dyes are printed by a two phase printing method where the dyestuff is printed in an al$ali coagulable thic$ening. The printed cloth passes through al$aline reducing li+uor with approximately <6 to >6? s+uee#e and then steamed in a flash ager. The advantage of this process is that the +uestion of stability of the print paste on the fabric does not arise because the paste does not contain any unstable reducing agent. Indigosol Dyes These dyes were utili#ed along with rapid fast dyes or for printing on naphtholated grounds with appropriate bases or salts. The usual nitrite printing process with subse+uent oxidation with sulphuric acid was adopted. 2ith the rapidly increasing cost of these dyes and the possibility of their application only in pale and medium shades, these dyes have lost their importance completely after the advent of reactive and pigment dyes. Their only use in printing department is for the production of resist style under indigosol ground with pigment colours as illuminating colours on polyester*cotton blended fabrics. A oic Dyes %ere the application is divided into two groups1 'a( .adding of naphthol*&S and printing with suitable di*a#o salt and highly reactive, reactive dyes li$e Reactofils or ,ibacron dyes. The fabric is dried and given a short steaming process and finally washed to clear the naphthol. This style is more popular for the blotch prints in screen printing especially in the &frican countries for the @hanga style. 'b( An 0aphthol &S padded ground bright indigosol dyes li$e Indigosol pin$ IR, Blue IB,, reen IB were printed to get missing bright shades along with dia#o salts or bases. The indigosol colours were printed by the nitrite process and after printing and drying, the printed cloth was developed in sulphuric acid bath to develop the indigosol prints and further washed to remove the napthol.

Rapidogen Dyes In case of printing with Rapidogen colours, the pasting and dissolving of colours is very important factor. The commercial brands of Rapidogen dyes usually contain grit and after dissolving the Rapidogen dyestuff to a clear solution, it is advisable to allow the solution to settle for few minutes and then filter it preferably through a nylon cloth having 9:6*9B6 mesh. "ixture of methylated spirit and TR Ail in e+ual proportion has proved to be an efficient pasting agent. The +uantity caustic soda used has a bearing on two things vi#. / the yield of the dyestuff and the consumption of acetic acid in the ager machine. If the caustic soda used is 4

less than the re+uired +uantity, then the colour is incompletely dissolved and is li$ely to bleed during subse+uent washing in the soaper machine. If the caustic soda used is more than the re+uired +uantity, then the acetic acid re+uired for the development of the prints is unusually more. &pproximately B $g of acetic acid per 9666 meters of cloth steamed is found to be a reasonable consumption. &pproximately B66 gms of >6 o T2 caustic soda solution per $g of rapidogen colour ta$en with a minimum of 9C $g of >6 o T2 caustic soda solution per 966 $g of paste, helps in $eeping the consumption of acetic acid under control. If the cloth after passing from the acid ager is immediately given a further steaming in the rapid ager, there is an advantage in the consumption of acetic acid. %owever, some corrosion of rapidager is also li$ely to ta$e place. In order to overcome the corrosion problems of the ager machine as well as acid ager machine and also the protection of labour from the acid fumes, development of rapidogen colour containing urea at high temperature approximately 9>5* 986o, has been evolved. Aur experience in this process is that except the scarlet colour almost all colours vi#. Red, Bordeaux, Blue, )iolet, Brown, Blac$, give fairly e+ual yields. In either case of Rapidogen printing, thorough drying after printing is absolutely desirable as any dampness in the fabric gives both wea$ shades as well as the bleeding of the colours during subse+uent after processing. .igment colours are usually printed along with Rapidogen colours to supplement the missing pin$, tur+uoise blue, blue and parrot green shades. In order to overcome the harsh feel in case of blotch designs printed with rapidogen colours semi emulsion thic$ening with $erosene and gum Indalca & B) has proved +uite useful. 2hile printing rapidogen colour, paste has hardly any tinctorial value and in order to control damages and design setting etc. tinting colours 'acid colours( are added. These colours impart visibility to the print paste and can be easily washed out during subse+uent soaping. Recipe1 Starth D T.R. Ail ,austic soda >6o T2 %ot boiled water to dissolve the colour and ma$e up paste Total um & B) thic$ening <66 parts 76*>6 parts 76*>6 parts 95*76 parts ; parts 9666 parts

Rapidogen colour

If pigment are printed along with rapidogens, process se+uence will be / .rint / Dry / &cid steam / Ba$e / 2ash and soap as usual. Pig!ent Dyes In last two decades, pigment printing has made a terrific impact on the printing technology. Except for discharge printing, vat dyes have lost their importance. 2ith the advance of pigment printing Reactive dyes have severely competed the pigment dyes, especially from the point of view of their dry and wet rubbing fastness and availability of heavy depths of shades and brilliancy. -isted below are some of the advantages as well as disadvantages in pigment printing. Advantages1 Suitable for all $inds of fibres Fuic$, simple wor$ing procedure 2ashing of the print after fixation can be eliminated, if desired !inal shade is immediately visible after printing ood light fastness ,an be printed along with Rapidogens

Disad"antages1 2et and dry rubbing fastness is of limited order and hence often complaints arise, for goods given to the laundry washing or if scrubbed heavily in domestic washing. !eel of the fabric is sometimes harsh in blotch designs as compared to Reactive printed fabric. !acing or scumming on full bleach cloth printed with scattered designs is a problem often encountered. Recipe Binder 2ater @erosene Grea D&. '917( Total Stock paste :66 parts :6 parts >66 parts 56 parts 76 parts 9666 parts Reduction paste 86 parts 9<6 parts >66 parts 76 parts 76 parts 9666 parts

&ppropriate +uantity of dyestuff emulsion is mixed up with the stoc$ paste. -ighter prints can be produced by mixing the reduction paste into the above colour paste. .rocess1 .rint / Dry / Ba$e at 976o, to 956o, for 7 to 5 minutes

The binder along with the catalyst at 976 o, to 956o, forms a cross*lin$ with the dyestuff. The polymer film of the resin is formed during heat*treatment in presence of the catalyst. The dyestuff is mechanically held between the resin film and the fibre surface. !or good fastness properties, it is necessary to maintain a ratio of 91: of colour to Binder, with a minimum of 8? Binder in the reduction thic$ening. -ower +uantity of binder, lesser amount of a catalyst or lower temperature of curing gives inferior fastness results. -oading of colours should be strictly avoided as it not only gives duller prints but inferior dry rubbing fastness and facing problems also. Excessive use of emulsifier also leads to poor dry rubbing fastness. 2ith the recent consciousness on the part of industry as well as overnment for pollution control, there is a wide search for substitute of $erosene or mineral turpentine oil used in pigment printing. Synthetic thic$ening based on poly*acids of high molecular weight have been offered as substitute for $erosene. They are characteri#ed by high thic$ening action with very low solid content and have flow properties very similar to that of $erosene, emulsion. They have given an answer only with a sacrifice in the depth and brilliancy of printed colours. Even partial substitution of $erosene with synthetic gums li$e ,.".,. or Indalca & B) has not been accepted because of loss in brilliancy and depth of shades. &s far as the energy consumption in the polymeri#ation process is concerned, the industry has accepted the use of low temperature cure catalyst, which fixes the dyes at about 996o, within :*:C minutes as against the 5 minutes ba$ing at 956o,. Reacti"e Dyes These dyes as the name indicates, react with cellulose in presence of al$ali and chemically combine with it to give fast print. They are printed and fixed by following different methods. i( ii( iii( iv( 0ormal steam fixation process Thermofixation process %.T. steaming process 2et fixation process

The normal steam fixation process and the thermo fixation process are most commonly applied in the industry. The thermo*fixation process needs higher amount of urea in the recipe while it gives at least 96*95? lower colour yields. .rocion dyes are more suitable for thermo*fixation than Rama#ol dyes. Rama#ol orange 7R, )iolet 5R and some other dyes give wea$er and duller prints on 7

ba$ing as compared to steaming. Rama#ol Blac$ B fixes in : to 7 minutes steaming, if steamed for longer duration, it gives wea$er shade. This colour in lower concentration as grey shade gives variation in shade during steaming. It is necessary to chec$ up the results of steaming before starting bul$ washing to ensure that correct fixation has ta$en place. Recipe1 Thic$ening 'Sodium &lginate or Semi emulsion thic$ening( Dyestuff Grea Resist salt Sodium bi*carbonate 2ater to dissolve the colours, chemicals and ma$e up the paste Total .rocess1 <66 parts 96*<6 parts 56*966 parts 96 parts 95*:5 parts ; parts 9666 parts

.rint / Dry / Steam / 2ash and soap as usual.

.rolonged storage of print paste leads to hydrolysis of colours and addition of sodium bicarbonate should be made Hust before printing and only paste sufficient for matching length should be prepared. !or thermo fixation the amount of urea is increased to :66 parts per $g. During subse+uent soaping, it helps to pad the printed cloth with 7*5 gIlitre acetic acid solution to remove excess al$ali so that it may not react with the unfixed dye and stain, the white parts on the fabric surface. Thorough rinsing with cold water before entering the hot wash and soaping compartments, helps in minimi#ing the staining of white portions. It is advisable to have a drying range attached to the soaper to dry continuously printed fabric and also double soaping is usually re+uired to get good wash*fast prints especially in case of blotches. %igh temperature steaming process fixes the dyestuff at 956 o, within :*5 minutes and gives yields as good as the normal steaming process. Rema#ol dyes are not suitable for %T steaming as they decompose at high temperature. The silicate process is adopted for fixing reactive dyes especially where either steaming or thermo*fixation facilities are not available. It is also used for fixing of reactive dyes in the polyester cotton blends. The print paste does not contain any urea, al$ali or resist salt. The printed fabric is padded through silicate solution with 966? pic$up and piled up and covered with al$athene paper and left for 7*< hours. It is subse+uently washed with cold water containing : gmIl

sodium %exameta phosphate for easy removal of silicate and then washed with hot water and soaped as usual. Recipe1 Sodium Silicate 9:6o T2 ,austic Soda >6o T2 2ater Total .arts by volume 86 96 96 966

In our country, at present, only two class of dyes vi#. "onochlorotria#ine dyes '.rocion dyes( and )inyl sulphone group dyes 'Rama#ol dyes( are available for printing. & great development in fixation properties and washing*off properties of these dyes have been achieved in foreign countries. .rocion supra, .rocion .,, .rocion . and .rocion T dyes, -evafix, Reactofil, ,ibacron, .ront and Dreamarin R represent these new dyes. It is claimed that these dyes fix to the extent of J6 to J5? and during washing*off, they do not stain the white portion in the printed fabric. .rocion T dyes fix under acidic condition and with the help of .rocion dyes which fix under al$aline condition, novel discharge effects could be produced with procion dyes as illuminating colours under procion ground. ,over printing with these two dyes produces multicolour effects. %alf tone prints resulting in Bati$ effects can be printed by printing products li$e Resist &gent .R and then over*print with usual procion dyes. DIS#$ARGE STYLE In discharge printing, the places where white and colour discharge paste are printed, the discharged places on the dyed ground show after steaming a white of coloured illuminated places. 0ormally, at present reactive and a#oic grounds are being discharge printed with vat dyes. Sometimes direct dyes with good wash and light fastness are also discharged printed. The Rongolite and the al$ali along with suitable catalyst act as discharging components for both white and colour discharges. During discharge printing catalyst such as &nthra+uinone is used for a#oic grounds while leucotrope / 2 is used for reactive grounds. !or getting good white discharge, a preliminary trial is always necessary. Sometimes, addition of caustic soda is found to be useful in white discharge under a#oic grounds. %owever, addition of caustic soda reduces the stability of prints prior to steaming and thus Hudicious use of caustic soda should be made. Some of the reactive dyes give good white discharge with only neutral discharge paste with or without leucotrope*2 and thus care should be ta$en in the use of discharging components. Both anthra+uinone as well as leucotrope*2 have a catalytic action and form water soluble discharge products which can be subse+uently washed out during 9

soaping process. 2hite discharge paste prepared from mai#e starch and locust* bean gum 'Indalca*G or & B)( give purer white as compared to British gum discharge pastes. The dyed grounds which are to be discharge printed are usually padded with a mild oxidi#ing agent such as a Resist*Salt*-. The vat colour paste or white discharge paste, because of higher al$ali and reducing agent concentration has a tendency to attac$ the dyed ground shade, giving a facing defect. 2ith a proper printing paste control approximately 6.5? of resist salt padding in case of a#oic ground and 9.6? in case of reactive ground will be found suitable. Sodium carbonate is often used in discharge printing in case of moist steam in ager machine to avoid 3halo4 effect. It has been observed that in the case of a#oic ground the dyed shade should not be very severely soaped before discharging process. This is necessary to avoid through crystalli#ation of dyestuff molecule during soaping treatment, which ma$es the dischargeability difficult. %owever, rewashing the napthol dyed fabrics by passing through 96 gl %ydrochloric acid solution and subse+uent washing through hot water in soaper machine gives easier dischargeability because of removal of excess base or loose dyestuff on the fabric. An the contrary, in case of reactive dyed ground shade, a thorough washing to remove unfixed colour helps in getting better white and brighter colour discharges. In cases of naphthol dyed ground shades, the cloth is developed on a soaper machine continuously with a dia#otised base, while in case of reactive dyes, pad*batch techni+ue or pad*thermofix techni+ue is used. The exhaust dyeing process, in Higger in case of naphthol or reactive dyes offers resistance in getting a purer white discharge. It is a useful practice to steam the discharge printed fabrics as soon as possible and also to soap them immediately so that subse+uent formation of by*product difficult to wash out due to heat of reaction is avoided. In case of .rocion T+. Blue %5 , $eeping the aged goods after proper airing in suitable small covered heaps, gives a better white than immediately soaped discharge printed fabric. The 3halos4 around discharged obHects indicate excess of rongolite or hygroscropic agent and could be eliminated by reduction in +uantity of both or by increasing a little concentration of Resist salt - during pre* treatment. Sometimes, a little inferior white discharge can be corrected by a mild bleaching treatment which ma$es the yellow and green colour discharges brighter but this treatment may affect the depth of ground shade a little. Gsual reduction thic$ening for vat dyes can be used for adHusting the discharging chemicals in white or colour discharge paste. .rocess1 .rint / Dry / Steam / Axidise with Sodium .erborate / &ir / 2ash and soap as usual.

%&ite Disc&a'ge 10

A oic g'ound

Reacti"e g'ound

pa'ts Thic$ening Soda &sh Rongolite , lycerine &.F. powder dispersed in water -eucotrope 2 dissolved in water 0aA% >6o T2 Kinc oxide '919( 2ater Total #olou' Disc&a'ge Thic$ening 'Starch British gum or starch D Indalca( Soda &sh Rongolite , lycerine Dyestuff paste of 'powder dispersed in water( 2ater Total RESIST STYLE 566 <6*86 966*:66 76*56 96*:6 * 76*56 966 ; 9666

pa'ts 566 B6*<6 966*956 76 * 76*56 96*76 966 ; 9666 Pa'ts 566 <6 86*956 76*956 <6*9:6 ; 9666

In resist style of printing, as compared to discharge printing, cloth is printed with white and coloured resist, and subse+uently dyed to get a white and coloured effect at the printed places. In discharge printing, the white effect is produced almost by chemical process, while in resist printing, both mechanical and chemical agents, ta$e part in producing the white effect. In resist printing, chemicals, it is possible to produce resist on padded fabrics also, but here the effect for white resist is entirely chemical. In case of padded fabrics, the padded fabric / aniline blac$ or indigosol / if not printed immediately, starts developing or fading in case of napthol ta$es place. 2hile padding the ground shade by 0ip padding and subse+uent developing, care has to be ta$en to avoid dulling of white or coloured resist by adHusting the pressure, speed of padding etc. It is advisable to $eep the concentration of resisting chemicals at optimum level, as lower concentration produces poor white effect, while higher concentration wea$ens the pad li+uor and then leads to lighter ground shades. In resist printing, the 0ip padding of padding li+uor is absolutely essential. The lower roll should be covered with few layers of cloth and the dye solutions are thic$ened to help transfer from roll to the printed cloth. The addition of thic$ening agent helps in avoiding migration during drying. The s+uee#e should not be more than 85?. The upper rubber roll should be soft and should have hardness not more than <5 o shore. In resist printing, the steam in 11

the ager should be preferably dry. !or good resist effect, the engraving should be little deeper and especially the white resist should be well penetrated. In this style of printing, vat, rapidogen, pigment and reactie dyes can be used as illuminating colours with addition of appropriate resisting agent. !ollowing are the ground shades under which coloured and white resist are produced. i( ii( iii( iv( v( &pplication of vat and pigment dyes under indigosol ground &pplication of pigment dyes under a#oic ground &pplication of vat, rapidogen and pigment under aniline blac$ grounds 2hite and colour resist 'pigment( under phthalogen blue ground 2hite and coloured resist 'pigment and reactive( under reactive ground.

Indigosol G'ound Resist 2hite resist is produced by combined mechanical and chemical effect. lue, starch, British gum etc. are used along with Kinc oxide and titanium dioxide to give the thic$ener mechanical resisting effect. Sodium Thiosulphate '%ypo( is the best resisting chemical for resist under indigosol ground. .igment colours with addition of #inc oxide and sodium thiosulphate are used as illuminating colours along with the above paste. .otash rongolite paste containing #inc oxide or titanium dioxide act as white resist along with vat dyes. In case of pigment printed along with the hypo resist, the cloth is ba$ed first to fix the pigment colours. In case of vat colours, also the cloth is aged first to fix the vat dyes and then padded with indigosol ground shade. The indigosol resist on cotton fabric has been substituted by pigment resist under reactive grounds, because of the severe increase in the price of indigosol dyes. %owever, the indigosol resist has gained an importance in case of polyester cotton blends to get bright coloured and white resist effect on pale and medium depth shades. Resist (nde' A oic G'ound %ere stannous chloride and citric acid are used to produce white resist under naphthol padded grounds. The stannous chloride acts as a reducing agent for dia#otised base or salt and prevents its coupling with the naphthol by destroying it. The organic acid destroys the naphthol at the printed place and thus prevents its coupling with the naphthol by destroying it. The organic acid destroys the naphthol at the printed place and thus prevents its coupling with the base. ,ombined resist with stannous chloride and citric acid are used. The concentration of stannous chloride, which degenerate the cellulose fibre on drying has to be $ept to a minimum level of < to 8? while 7 to <? of citric acid is sufficient to destroy the al$alinity of the padded naphthol. Similarly, < to 8 parts of stannous chloride are added to the pigment colours for coloured resist. Redrying or short thermofixation of : to 7 minutes at 966 o, helps in fixation of pigment colour to some extent. In this process, cloth is naphtholated first and then printed, dried and coupled with corresponding base by nip*pad development process on soaper machine. Stannous chloride should be completely washed out from the printed place during soaping treatment. &ny residual stannous 12

chloride remaining unwashed may tender the cloth during subse+uent drying and finishing. "ai#e starch, British gum, thic$ening containing titanium dioxide is used for white resist. Stannous chloride previously dissolved in water is added to emulsion paste for printing colour resist. This style is used as a cheaper substitute of discharge printing of deep shade a#oic grounds. %owever, the process if full of ris$ of tendering and variation in the dyed shades. The fastness of printed pigment colours is also comparatively less. Recipe) %&ite paste "ai#e starch D British um thic$ening Stannous chloride ,itric acid Titanium Dioxide '919( 2ater to dissolve above products and ma$e up to Total #olou'ed Resist Binder Emulsion containing :6? to :B? binder .igment colour Stannous chloride 2ater and um cessaltex to ma$e up the paste Total Resist unde' Aniline *lack )at pigment and Rapidogen colours are used as illuminating colours under &niline Blac$ ground. Sodium Thiosulphate and bisulphate act as resisting agents along with Kinc oxide. %&ite Resist Starch British um thic$ening Kinc oxide '919( Sodium thiosulphate 2ater to dissolve and ma$e up Total Pa'ts <66 956*:66 966*956 ; 9666 Pa'ts 566 <6*86 76*56 966 ; 9666 Pa'ts 866 <6*966 <6 ; 9666

!or coloured resist with pigment dyes addition of 966 parts '919( Kinc oxide and 966*9:6 parts Sodium thiosulphate act as resisting agents. 0ormal vat colour stoc$ paste with addition of Kinc oxide can also wor$ as white resist. Similarly, vat colours printed also wor$ as coloured resist. %ere al$ali and Rongolite , wor$ as resisting agents. In case of Rapidogen colours, addition of 966*956 parts '919( Kinc oxide paste and the al$alinity of rapidogen colour act as resisting agent for rapidogen colours. 13

Pig!ent Dyes P'ocess1 .rint / Dry / Ba$e / 0ip pad through aniline blac$ solution and dry / age / oxidi#e wash and soap as usual. Vat Dyes Recipe1 .rint / Dry / &ge to fix vat dyes / 0ip pad through aniline blac$ solution / Dry / &ge / Axidise and wash and soap as usual. Rapidogen colou's1 .rint / Dry / 0ip pad through aniline blac$ solution containing 76 gmsIl acetic acid / Dry / &ge / Axidise wash soap as usual. Resist unde' P&t&alogen *lue Gsually, #inc acetate is used as resisting agent for white as well as coloured resists. ,atalyst -,. is also found to give e+ually good results and is easier to dissolve as compared to #inc acetate. .htholotrope B is an organic compound available as useful resisting agent for both white and coloured resists under Rapidogen colours. .rocess1 .rint / Dry / Ba$e to fix pigments at 956 o, / 0ip pad and dry through .hthalogen Blue solution / Ba$e at 956 o,*9<6o, for 5 minutes and wash and develop the .hthalogen blue shade as usual in the Higger with nitrite and acid and finally soap the print. Reacti"e Resist )inyl sulphone dyes 'Rema#ol, 0avictive( are easier to resist than the corresponding monochlorotria#ine dyes '.rocion, ,ibacron, Drimarene( because the reactive group is easily destroyed by organic acid and the fixed ground shade does not tint the white. In case of .rocion type dyes, the hydrolysed dye and reacted as well as unreacted dye has a greater tendency to tint the white. ,itric acid is the most commonly used resisting agent for white as well as coloured resists. Recipe) %&ite paste Pa'ts Starch British gum thic$ening <66 Titanium Dioxide '919( 966 ,itric &cid 966*9:6 2ater ; Total 9666 #olou'ed Resist Pa'ts

Emulsion thic$ening containing :B? binder >66 ,olour Emulsion <6*86 ,itric &cid 86*966 2ater ; Total 9666 .rint / Dry / Ba$e at 956 o, for 5 minutes to fix pigments / 0ip pad through reactive dye solution / Dry / &ge / 2ash / Soap as usual. 14

Padding Recipe Reactive Dyes Grea Resist salt Sodium bi*carbonate 2ater Total

Pa'ts 96*<6 56*966 96 95*:5 ; 9666

Sodium bi*carbonate should be completely dissolved. The dyestuff solution should be cooled thoroughly to about 96 o, with ice, and made up to re+uisite volume with addition of resist salt - and sodium bi*carbonate solution. Solution should be prepared to last for 76*<6 minutes only as hydrolyses of the dye ta$es place on prolonged storage resulting in tailing and variation of shade. "onosodium phosphate has also been recommended as resisting agent and is re+uired one and half times amount of citric acid. Reactive resist have replaced indigosol resist in light shades and a#oic resists and discharge in deep shades completely because of its ease of application and brilliancy of shades. I.,.I. has developed a novel discharge effect with a use of .rocion . and T dyes. .rocion T dyes fix under acidic conditions, so normal procion dyes printed with al$ali act as illuminated discharge colours. 2hite resist is printed with addition of caustic soda as al$ali and usual mechanical resisting agents such as #inc oxide and titanium dioxide. PRINTING OF POLYESTER AND POLYESTER *LENDS .olyester and its blends with cellulosic fibres have become very popular in our country owing to its durability, feel, easy care properties etc. ,ommon blends contain 861:6, <>177 and B815: polyester 1 cotton. Recently, blend $nown as .., has become popular where blend ratio is 95156175 polyester 1 polynosic 1 cotton. By introduction of filament weft or texturised weft, it comes to approximately B:158 blend of polyester cotton. Blend composition and fabric construction are important in printing. attention to cloth preparation is e+ually important. ,areful

In printing proper selection of thic$ening is necessary. Thic$ening agent with high solid content are more suitable for printing of polyester and its blend with cotton. It should give print with sharp outlines, high colour yield. The thic$ener film should adhere well to the fabric and should prevent crac$ing and dusting off. "odified locust been gum 'Indalea & B)( is widely used due to its better wor$ability, lower cost and easy availability.

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P'inting o+ Polyeste' Fa,'ics In cotton textile units, polyester prints are produced by printing disperse dyes on blends and after fixation, the prints are carboni#ed to produce practically 966? polyester. The feel of the polyester produced by this process is little softer and more li$ed than 966? spun polyester fibre fabrics. Recipe ; parts disperse dyestuff is suitable dispersed in 95 to :5 parts water preferably cold 6.5 parts sodium chlorate dissolved in water <6*>6.6 parts indalca & B) thic$ening with p% adHusted to 5 to < with citric acid 9666 parts Sodium chlorate is used to protect the brightness of prints against the reducing effect of steam. Resist salt - is not effective under acidic condition of thic$ening. It is advisable to disperse the colour well in water and filter through a fine mesh cloth to avoid particles in paste, which while printing on roller printing machine produces scratches on roll or cuts out doctor blade resulting in doctor lines. .adding the cloth with : to 7 gmsIlitre um Indalca & B, solution helps in reducing colour slips damage considerably. Averloading of colours should be avoided as the unfixed colour during the after treatment leads to staining of white portions in the printed fabric, which is very difficult to correct later on. Fixation1 .olyesterIcotton blend fabric printed as above is fixed as under1 'i( 'ii( 'iii( %TI%. steamer at 76 lbs steam pressure for 76 minutes at temp. 976 o,. %T steamer at 9>5o, for eight minutes at atmospheric pressure in loop steamer. %ot air thermosole process in a stenter at 9J5*:96 o, for B5*<6 seconds.

!ixation of prints is most commonly carried out in %TI%. steamers. This method gives satisfactory yields with less sublimation problems. In case of both %T steamers or thermosol process, addition of products li$e 0oigen E- B6, which helps in swelling of fibres and penetration of disperse dye is found useful to get better yields. Synthtic thic$eners are reported to give better yields. They are not susceptible to hardening or browning and are therefore more suitable for %T steaming and thermosol process. Reducing atmosphere is not present in case of %T steamer sand thermosol process and hence mild oxidi#ing agent addition is not necessary.

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%TI%. steaming is a batch*wise discontinuous process. In this process if proper care is not ta$en, at times batch to batch variation, and sometimes variations within a batch are observed. This happened due to variation in temperature from #one to #one / from top to bottom of steamer. 2here such difficulties occur, after initial heating up, steam is drained off to remove air poc$ets in the steamer and steaming started again. Initial pre*heating of vessel with closed lid also helps to avoid water condensation on fabric wound on the frame. &t times, flushing of lines or some obHects ta$es place in %TI%. steaming. In such cases initial ba$ing at 9<6o, and subse+uent steaming is helpful. !lushing may also be controlled by adHusting steaming time and pressure. In case of both %T steamer and thermosol process, production rates are higher resulting in labour saving and elimination of interlining cloth and its cost. In case of both %T steamer and thermosol process dyes having higher sublimation fastness are re+uired. A+te' T'eat!ent &fter treatment of the printed goods is carried out to remove thic$ener and other ingredients of print paste along with unfixed dye. This is carried out in an open soaper machine with the unfixed dye with cold water wash in two tan$s, containing sandopur ., which forms metal complex given a reduction clear treatment with 79 gmIlitre caustic soda and hydrosulphite of soda and a detergent li$e ahuralan TT powder in two compartments. .rocess may be repeated for heavy blotch designs. Some mills prefer to give a wash in tensitroll washing machine and then reduction clear treatment in Higger with li+uor ratio 91B or 915. ,arboni#ation is carried out with cold >6? sulphuric acid containing 5? urea of sulphamic acid. Gsually the cloth is padded and either batched up in rolls and $ept covered with al$athene paper for 7*B hours or allowed to lye in a scray for about B5 minutes and washed in an open soaper. The fabric is then given a mild chemic$ and peroxide treatment to clear any tinting of cloth. This treatment of course reduces the depth of printed colours to some extent. !or disperse dye printing, following factors need a careful attention. The fabric should be free of al$alinity. It produces uneven fixation or tonal variation. It would be desirable to give a mild souring treatment with acetic acid in open width especially for blotch designs. Dyes with low sublimation fastness should be avoided as they tint the ground or are retransferred from interlining cloth used in pressure steamers and stain the white portion of cloth. In thermofixation process, these dyes show immediate tinting of white. In mix shades also such dyes of low sublimation fastness should be avoided. During printing of blotch designs, thorough drying of printed cloth is necessary. &ny dampness may lead to mar$ing off while pilling the printed cloth in trolley at the plaiter, or may lead to bleeding or flushing of colours during pressure steaming. It is always desirable to use shallow engraved roll with lighter depth. Gse of bac$grey helps to eliminate staining on bac$side of printed fabric resulting from penetration of paste. Bac$grey should not be reused as far as possible. It may lead to crease damage or may itself transfer colour to bac$side of fabric. ,opper rolls should be well polished before and after chromium plaiting and should not show, even small 17

hair*line type scratches. Deep engraving often leads to pulling defects from edges of engraved portions which are detected at times only after fixation. Thinner doctor blades are desired to eliminate facing defects in open designs. Bac$ impression on the printed fabric comes from guide roll over which the cloth passes from head stoc$ to drying chamber or float drier. These rolls should be covered with bleach cloth and it should be changed fre+uently. & small cabinet type oven $ept near plaiter of printing machine 'designed for temp. up to :56 o, to 766o,( to chec$ up the defects help in controlling damages. In case of !lat Bed &uto Screen .rinting "achine, double stro$e gives level effect in blotches especially for filament weft fabrics. P'inting o+ *lends &mong the many possible methods, following two methods are commonly employed for direct style of printing. i( Pig!ent P'inting1 Apen designs up to 95? coverage involving lines and small obHects are printed by pigment printing with usual recipe with addition of fixer ,,- to improve washing and rubbing fastness. This process is not suitable for blotch designs as it involves poor wet and dry rubbing fastness or printed blotch designs and also gives a harsh feel to the fabric. ii( Dispe'se - Reacti"e Dye P'inting1 !ormerly suitable mixtures of disperse dyes with reactive dyes were printed according to blend ratio. Both the dyes were dissolved and pastes prepared separately and then mixed together. %owever, since last few years ready mixtures of disperse and reactive dyes in a single pac$age are available. These dyes 'Ramaron, )ernaron, 0aviron, Resocotton, Drimafon etc.( give solid prints on blend fabrics from any ratio of blend 861:6 to B815: polyester 1 cotton. These mixtures can be fixed as under1 Single stage process Two phase method

Single Stage P'ocess1 %ere the print paste contains al$ali, mild oxidi#ing agent and fixation promotor 'for %T steaming and thermosol process( and fixed as under1 i( ii( iii( %TI%. Steaming %T Steaming Thermosol .rocess

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%ere, al$ali / sodium bicarbonate is ta$en minimum i.e. one percent only. %owever, this process has disadvantages that it gives duller prints as compared to two phase printing. This is because the al$aline p% resulting from addition of bicarbonates leads to dulling of disperse dyes. In order to overcome this defect, sodium formate process is evolved by %oechst and suggested by IDI for their 0avinon colours. Sodium formate approximately :.5? added to print paste replaces sodium bicarbonate. Sodium formats liberates the necessary al$ali at the steaming condition. ,iba / eigy have introduced 3Teracron4 colours where sodium trichloroacetate as catalyst which at high temperature of steaming decomposes into chloroform and sodium bicarbonate. Recent introduction of .rocilene dyes has put forth an altogether different approach in solving the problem of detrimental effect of al$ali on disperse dye. They have developed .rocion T dyes. Their bonding with fibre ta$es place in acidic medium. These dyes are mixture of Dispersol ., dyes and .rocion T dyes. T.o P&ase P'ocess1 %ere the print paste does not contain al$ali. It is printed and is fixed for disperse dye content by any one of the three methods vi#. %TI%. or %T steaming or thermosol process. It is subse+uently padded with a silicate solution as stated below1 Pa'ts ,y "olu!e Sodium silicate 9:6o T2 0aA% >6o T2 2ater 866 966 966 Total 9666 parts of solution having 96: o T2

The cloth is piled and covered with al$athene paper for few hours and finally washed to remove silicate and washed and soaped. Rema#ol dyes or 0avictive dyes ')inyl Sulphone reactive group( fix within 7*B hours. .rocion dyes re+uire longer storage. This process has following advantages over single stage process containing al$ali. 'i( 'ii( 'iii( .rint paste has greater stability Results in brighter prints because disperse dyes are not affected by al$ali. !ixation of reactive dye is higher.

Disc&a'ge / Resist Style1 %ere the cloth is first padded with dischargeable disperse dyes. The dye is not allowed to fix on the fabric. ,olours based on &#oic groups are 19

generally dischargeable to &inc sulphoxylate formaldehyde and stannous chloride and anthra+uinone disperse dyes are dischareable by copper, nic$al, chromium, salts, e.g. cupric acetate which forms a soluble complex with the dye and is removed by chelating process. It is padded as under1 ; 5 = 9666 gm disperse dye gm um Indalca & B) powder c.c. water c.c.

The p% of the solution is adHusted to 5 to <, with ,itric or tartaric acid, and padding is done to give a pic$ up of >6 to >5? and dried in a float dryer at temperature not exceeding 966o,. &t higher temperature the disperse dye starts fixing on the fabric and dischargeability becomes difficult. This method of pre*padding is better than ,arrier Dyeing method where dyeing is more effective. There are various reducing agents such as Decrolin SB 'Kinc Sulphoxylate formaldehyde( Stannous chloride and ,upric acetate. !or each discharging agent, proper selection of dischargeable dye to discharging agent and non*dischargeable disperse dye stable to reducing agent has to be done. Decrolin SB is not locally available. Stannous chloride is cheaper and easily available and largely used. Stannous chloride liberates acid during steaming and dulling of ground shades often ta$es place. ,upric &cetate is also tried and found suitable for various shades. The cloth is padded, dried, printed and fixed by %TI%. steaming process, washed and given a reduction clear treatment and finally carboni#ed. .olyesterIcotton blends especially <>177 and the .., blends are printed in resist style by printing white and coloured resists with pigment dyes by %ypo resist discussed earlier. The printed cloth is ba$ed to fix pigments and nip padded with indigosol colour solution containing sodium nitrite and dried and finally developed with sulphuric acid on a soaper machine. !ixer ,,- is added to pigment colour prints to enhance fastness properties of pigment dyes. & subse+uent thermosoling of printed fabrics increases the colour yield of the dyed ground shades because of the transfer of indigosol dyestuff on the polyester fibres. This also increase the total fastness of the dyed ground shade. The fabric after printing is ba$ed at 976 o, for : to 7 minutes. The printed portions will become yellowish brown. If it becomes dar$ brown or blac$ish, the washing off, of the cotton portions becomes difficult. It is first washed in open width to wet out the fabric thoroughly and then ta$en for rope washing. & mild chemic$ treatment gives better and clear effects at burnt out places.

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