CHAPTER 5

STYLES OF PRINTING

1. Introduction

Styles refer to the manner in which a particular action is performed. In printing, style means the
manner in which a printed effect is produced as distinct from the method which involves the means
(like a block or screen) by which the pattern is produced. Style of printing involves certain mechanical
operations and chemical reactions. Thus, when a pattern effect is produced by say, removing dye from
certain portions of a dyed fabric by chemical agents, i.e., the manner in which the effect is brought
about is called style; in this case, it is called the discharge style. The three styles of printing are
described below.

2. Direct Style

This style is also referred to as “Steam Style” because in most of the cases, the printed fabric is steamed
to fix the colour in this style. The colour is applied directly to the fabric in the form of a paste containing
the colouring matter, thickener or binder and other required ingredients and after printing and drying,
the colour is fixed by steaming or curing or thermo-fixing or treatment with chemicals. Most classes of
dyestuffs are printed on the fabric by the direct style. Mordant colours, vegetable colours, pigments
and certain mineral colours are also applied to the fabric by the direct style. The printed effects
produced by Flock printing, Damask printing, Foam printing and Bubble printing are all obtained by the
direct style.

If we have deeply dyed fabric, say black fabric, we cannot have direct style of printing because if the
dye which is applied during dyeing is very deep then it will mask the shade which is going to be applied
on dyed fabric. The visibility of colour will be masked by the ground shade. So such fabrics which are
dyed in deep shades are not suitable for direct style of printing. In such cases we make use of other two
styles of printing viz., resist and discharge style of printing.

Printing sequence:
White or pale shade dyed fabric  Print  Dry  Fix  wash  Soap wash  dry

The limitations of Direct style of Printing:

i) Coloured blotches with sharp outlines and free of specks are difficult to produce by the direct
style;
ii) It is difficult to incorporate small coloured motifs on dark ground by this style;
iii) It is difficult to print knitted goods in fine designs with sharp outlines by this style.
 3. Discharge Style

A classical discharge print is obtained when a fully dyed fabric is printed with an agent which can
chemically destroy the ground shade and produce a white discharge. If dyes stable to the discharging
agent are incorporated in the discharge paste, then coloured (illuminated) discharges are produced by
simultaneously destroying the ground shade and fixing the stable illuminating colour. Thus in discharge
printing, the whole cloth is first dyed fully and then printed with a paste containing a chemical
discharging agent capable of attacking the dye locally; the printed cloth is then further treated
(steamed, washed etc.) so that finally it shows a white or light pattern on a coloured background.
Alternatively, a second dye resistant to the discharging agent can be incorporated in the paste and the
cloth printed with it yielding a two colour pattern which would almost be impossible by a double
printing of complementary patterns. The discharging agents may vary from oxidizing substances such as
potassium chlorate or potassium dichromate for discharging Indigo, to the more usual reducing agents
such as sodium bisulphate, stannous chloride, sodium hydrosulphite and its stabilised compounds such
as Rongalite C (sodium sulphoxylate formaldehyde) and safolin (zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde).
Sodium bisulphate is used in discharging naphtholated ground. It is used in combination with zinc dust
also as an effective reducing agent in discharge printing of silk dyed with acid dyes. Rangalite C is used
as a discharging agent for azoic dyed grounds as well as for direct, acid and reactive dyed grounds. Tin
salts are used mostly for coloured discharges.

Requirements of discharging agent:

In discharge style of printing discharging agent is used. The discharging agent should meet two
requirements,
1. Under steaming conditions it should destroy the dye at the printed portion.
2. The discharging agent itself should not decompose during printing and drying operation.

Requirements of dye to be used in dyeing for ground shade:

1. The dye should be decomposed by the discharging agent during steaming operation. In other
words dye should be sensitive towards discharging agent.
2. The decomposition products should be water soluble.
3. The decomposition products should be colourless.

All these three requirements are necessary to get satisfactory print effects. If the dye is not able to
decompose by discharging agent then white printed effect is not obtained. If decomposition products
are not water soluble then they will stay on the fabric and in that case also white discharge effect is not
obtained. The dye may decompose, the decomposition products may be soluble in water but if they are
not colourless, in that case perfect white print effect is not obtained. If both the discharging agent and
the dye meet the necessary requirement effect obtained is White print against coloured background
known as white discharge print and if this effect is obtained by sequence which is mentioned earlier
then this print is called white discharge print.

Suitable discharging agents:

There are two discharging agents which are very commonly used in commercial practice and these are:
1. Sodium sulphoxylate formaldehyde
2. Zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde

There are many other discharging agents available but these two are more popular on commercial
scale.

Chemical property: thermally stable, strong reducing agent.

Thermally stable: they do not decompose during the process of printing and during the process of
steaming.

Suitable dyes:

The dyes which are selected for the dyeing of fabric before printing in discharge style of printing have
to be dischargeable dyes and obviously are sensitive to the discharging agents. In general, the
dischargeable dyes have azo group in their structure and the property of azo group is that in presence
of reducing agent they get decomposed with the formation of primary amines which are water soluble
so this azo dyes or azo structure are easily affected by reducing agent and the decomposition products
are water soluble amines. So azo dyes are more commonly used as dischargeable dyes. Now according
to the dischargeability characteristic, the dyes used for printing can be put in three categories;

1. Dischargeable dyes
2. Partially dischargeable dyes
3. Non–dischargeable dyes

If we look at the manufacturers shade cards normally information about dischargeable dyes is
mentioned.

Colour discharge:

Colour discharge is also known as Illuminated Discharge and the effect obtained is colour print against
coloured background. In this case the sequence of printing is same as used in white discharge printing,
however in addition to discharging agent we incorporate suitable non-dischargeable dye.
Requirement for non-dischargeable dye:

The dye to be incorporated in the discharging print paste to get the colour discharge effect has to meet
certain requirement;

1. Should be stable to discharging agent i.e., it should not be decomposed by discharging

agent. Dye for dyeing should be affected while dye for getting print effect should not be
affected by the discharging agent.
2. During steaming the dye which is incorporated in the print paste should get fixed at the
printed portion. Thus the discharging agent is playing two roles simultaneously. First it is
destroying the dye which is applied during the dyeing operation and second, it is
allowing the fixation of dye which is incorporated in the print paste.

In general, the dye which is normally used to get colour discharge effect is vat dye as for fixation of vat
dye we need reducing agent. During steaming, in presence of reducing agent, it converts into its leuco
form by reducing agent used as discharging agent. The moment it converts into leuco form it becomes
soluble and diffuse in the fabric to give coloured print on coloured background.

Reducing Agents in Discharge Printing:

The following reducing agents are used in discharge printing:

Zinc dust and sodium bisulphate

Zinc dust consists of 80% metallic zinc; when mixed with sodium bisulphate it produces sodium
hydrosulphite which acts as a powerful reducing agent. It forms a very viscous sticky paste which is
suitable for block printing but is not suitable for screen or roller printing. It is widely used in discharge
printing of silk dyed with acid dyes. It is not stable and has to be used immediately.

Sodium- sulphoxylate formaldehyde

Sodium-sulphoxylate formaldehyde is one of the most powerful discharging agents and is very widely
used. It is sold under various trade names such as Rangolite C, Safolite, Arostit SR etc. Sodium
hydrosulphite, on account of its ease of oxidation is of less value for printing purpose and that is why its
stable compound has to be used in printing. In 1901 Bauman discovered a method for stabilizing
sodium hydrosulphite by combining it with formaldehyde. During steaming, it is hydrolysed into its
components-formaldehyde and hydrosulphite; hydrosulphite reduces and destroys the dyestuff on the
ground. When used in printing vat dyes, the hydrosulphite in presence of alkali reduces the dye to this
leuco form and fixes it on the cloth and is subsequently oxidized. It is highly hygroscopic and absorbs
moisture during steaming. This absorbed moisture produces haloing particularly if the weather is very
humid. It is sensitive to acids and is very effective under alkaline conditions.

Zinc Sulphoxylate formaldehyde

Zinc Sulphoxylate formaldehyde is used widely in the discharge printing of synthetic fabrics. It is sold
under the trade name safolin and decrolin. It is very effective under acidic conditions. It is much less
hygroscopic than rongalite C and therefore, does not cause haloing. It has better stability than
Rongalite C.

Stannous chloride

Stannous chloride is a mild reducing agent as compared to sodium or zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde.
It is not used for obtaining white discharge but is used in colour discharges. It is more stable than
Rongalite C after printing so that the printed goods can be stored for some time before steaming. This
is of advantage to hand block printers. On hydrolysis, it produces hydrochloric acid which corrodes the
steamer. To overcome this defect, ammonium sulphocyanide or sodium acetate is usually added to the
paste. It is buffered and marketed in encapsulated form.

Thiourea dioxide

Thiourea dioxide is marketed under the trade name Monofast, or as Reduction HF. It is acidic in nature
and stable at room temperature. On heating, it is converted into formaldehyde sulphinic acid which
acts as a reducing agent. It is a valuable reducing agent under acidic conditions. It is not oxidized by air.
The prints can be stored before steaming for one or two days. It can discharge direct, acid and metal
complex dyed grounds. It has a special advantage in the printing of vat dyes on silk from slightly acidic
medium.

Advantages of Discharge Style of Printing:

A great advantage of discharge style of printing is that it allows white and coloured patterns being
produced on dyed grounds. By dyeing, we can obtain depth of shade and fullness and richness of colour
unapproachable by any process of printing. It is, therefore, of great advantage to be able to print upon
dyed cloth a substance which will destroy the colour from printed parts. It enables production of
coloured blotches with sharp outlines, generally difficult to obtain by the direct style, employing low
coverage printing of discharge paste. The process produces almost the same white or coloured
discharge effect on both sides of the cloth so much so that it becomes difficult to distinguish the
printed side from the other.
Limitations of Discharge Style of Printing:

The main limitation of this style is that only those colours which can be discharged have to be used
since all colours are not dischargeable. Hence selection of dyes for dyeing as well as illuminant for this
style is critical. The process sequence is quite elaborate and costly.

4. Resist or Reserve Style

The resist style, like the discharge style, relates to the production of white and coloured patterns on
variously coloured grounds but the difference between the two is that, in the case of discharge style,
the discharging agent is applied to the cloth after it has been dyed (or mordanted) whereas in the resist
style, the resist is applied to the cloth before it undergoes any dyeing (or Mordanting). Thus in resist
printing, the printed portions are so treated that dyes will no longer “take” on them and a white
pattern will be formed on the background of the dye. When a pattern of two colours is to be printed,
the ‘resist’ material is first printed in admixture with a dye which withstands its action, which will give a
coloured pattern. The whole fabric is then dyed with e.g., a dark back ground such as aniline black. This
will not ‘go’ on printed pattern owing to the presence of the ‘resist’ and after washing, a coloured
pattern on a dark background will suit. The resisting agents may either be mechanical or chemical or
both. In the famous ‘tie and dye’ process and ‘Bandhani’ printing, a portion of the hank or cloth is tied
by rubber bands or cotton thread before dyeing it to resist the bound portions (which remain white). In
this case, the rubber band or the thread acts as a Mechanical Resist. Similarly in Batik printing, portions
of the cloth which are required to remain undyed, are treated with wax and the whole cloth is then
dyed with a dyestuff which can be dyed at a temperature below the melting point of wax. In this case,
wax acts as a mechanical resist. Stannous chloride (tin salt) and citric acid may be cited as chemicals
which are used as resists. Thus tin salt is used as a resist while printing with diazo salt. It produces diazo
hydrine which prevents the coupling with naphthol. Similarly citric acid is used as a resist in printing
with reactive dyes: the presence of acid prevents the development of the reactive dye.

Printing sequence:

White fabric  print with resisting agent  dry  nip pad through dye solution  fixation  wash 
dry

Properties of resisting agent:

Resisting agent is a chemical which will not allow the fixation of dye at the portion where it has been
printed. This is the property of resisting agent and to meet this requirement it needs the condition
exactly opposite to those required for dye fixation.
Example: if we want to prevent the fixation of reactive dye on cotton fabric the conditions required for
the fixation of reactive dye onto cotton are (alkaline medium for fixation), if we want to resist the
fixation of dye in case of reactive cotton system then the resisting agent will be some suitable organic
acid rather than inorganic acid and at the same time we have to make sure that the acid which is used
should not chemically degrade the cotton fabric.

Printing sequence:

Cotton fabric(white)  print with organic acid (citric acid)  dry  nip-pad through reactive dye
solution  Dry  fixation(steaming)  wash  soap  wash  dry

Padding:

Padding is not just passing the fabric through the mangle but saturating the fabric by dye solution and
then squeezing out the excess liquor. This type of padding is known as dip padding.

Nip padding:

In nip padding the trough carrying the dye liquor is absent. In nip padding, the lower roller of padding
mangle is covered by 3-4 layers of absorbent fabric and is moving in contact with dye solution. The
fabric which has been printed with resisting agent is fed or is passed directly through the nip of the
roller. While passing the fabric through the nip of the roller we have to make sure that the printed side
is in contact with the top roller.

In case of dip padding we are saturating the fabric with dye solution and squeezing out the excess dye
solution whereas in nip padding we are saturating the lower roller by means of layer of absorbent
fabrics by a dye solution and then carrying out the transfer of dye onto a fabric which directly passes
through the nip.

If we follow dip padding method i.e., if we are saturating the fabric with dye solution then the resisting
agent which is also water soluble chemical will be leached out into dye bath and the desired print will
not be obtained, so dip padding will not be suitable for resist printing. Spreading is also prevented by
nip padding by applying controlled quantity of dye solution to the printed fabric which is essential to
prevent the spreading of resisting agent. After nip padding, drying of the fabric is carried out. Resist
effect will take place at the stage of fixation. After steaming and washing we will have the white print
on dyed background; this is known as white resist.
Colour Resist:

The print and background both will be coloured. We need to incorporate a colour which is compatible
with the resisting agent and then nip padding with reactive dye solution. Resist conditions are acidic so
the selected colour should fix under acidic conditions. Pigment fixes under acidic condition. At the time
of steaming, citric acid which is used as a resisting agent has two functions. (i) It will prevent the
fixation of reactive dye at printed portions (ii) It will allow the fixation of pigment onto the printed
portion. After steaming, soaping and washing, we can see that pigment is fixed and reactive dye is not
fixed. We get colour print effect on coloured background. This is called as coloured resist.

Advantages of Resist Style of Printing:

Like the discharge style, resist style has also the great advantage that it allows off-white and coloured
patterns being produced on dyed grounds. We can, therefore, obtain depth of shade and fullness and
richness of colour unapproachable by any process of printing. It is, therefore, of great advantage to be
able to print upon white cloth, a resist which will prevent fixation of colour in subsequent dyeing
operations.

A comparison of Discharge and Resist style:

The difference between discharge printing and resist printing is not so much of appearance as of
process, for in many cases the appearance of a resist print is identical with that of a discharge print.
Both styles produce similar effects but through exactly opposite mechanism. In discharge printing as
stated before, the discharging agent is applied to the cloth after it has been dyed whereas in resist
printing, the “resist” is applied to the cloth before it is dyed. A discharging agent acts by destroying
colour that is already fixed on the fibre while resisting agent acts by preventing the fixation of a colour.
Discharging agents always act chemically; resisting agents may act chemically or mechanically; very
often they do both.
 Table 1: Discharge vs Resist Printing

Discharge Printing Resist Printing

i) Discharge prints are always sharp in outline,
bright in appearance and give perfect and
sparkling whites due to the bleaching effect of
the discharging agent.
ii) Since the fabric to be discharged is fully
dyed, drastic chemical action is required to
destroy the colour.
iii) The cost of a discharge printing paste is
higher and the ingredients have to be selected
carefully to facilitate complete destruction of
colour.
iv) This method is applicable only to those
colours which can be discharged and has
limitations; also it is generally difficult to get
reproducible results in all operations.
v) In this method, the percentage of rejects is
higher as compared to the resist method
i) Resist prints are generally subdued and the
colours are less bright: the outlines of the printed
motifs are less sharp
ii) In resist printing, the ground is not dyed before
printing therefore, little or no chemical action is
involved to prevent fixation of colour.
iii) The cost of resist printing paste is lower
requiring less chemicals and auxiliaries, e.g. in
Bandhani printing only cotton thread is required
to tie the portions which are to be kept undyed.
iv) This method is effective in all cases as almost
all colours are capable of being resisted
v) In this method, the percentage of rejects is
lower than that in the discharge method.

In practice the choice of style is governed by the class of dyes and the type of fibre; e.g. in the case of
naphthol dyed shades on cotton, the discharge style is preferred, whereas the resist style is more
popular with reactive dyes. Both discharge and resist styles are employed when using disperse dyes on
polyester.

5. Special Styles of Printing

Conversion Style

This is actually a classical discharge or discharge-cum-resist style which essentially involves the use of two
or more colours one of which will be destroyed by the discharging agent while the other will remain
unaffected. Thus, if a ground shade is produced from a combination of red dye (non-dischargeable) and
blue dye (dischargeable) and is then overprinted with a white discharge paste, the result will be a red
illuminant print on a violet ground, the violet colour in the pattern being converted into red by destroying
mixture of Naphthol AS-G and Naphthol AS-D and developed with Fast red RC salt giving a red shade
(superimposed on yellow). When this cloth is overprinted with a white discharge paste, the red colour
(obtained with napthol AS-D combination) will be destroyed whereas the yellow colour (obtained with
naphthol AS-G combination) will remain unaffected, thus producing a yellow print on a red ground (since
yellow is non-dischargeable).
The conversion effect may be illustrated with some more examples. A mixture of Indigo blue and vat
yellow may be used to form an olive green shade fast to light and washing. In this mixture, the blue can
be destroyed by oxidizing agents whereas the yellow cannot be destroyed. Thus when the olive green
dyed cloth is printed with a paste containing potassium dichromate and then passed through a cutting
bath of Sulphuric acid and oxalic acid, the Indigo blue gets destroyed where the dichromate is printed,
leaving a bright yellow thus producing a green and yellow conversion effect.

If the cloth is dyed with indigo blue and a mixture of Indigo and Indanthrene yellow is used as above to
print a green and then the cloth is over-printed with postassium dichromate with a different design and
passed through a cutting bath of Sulphuric acid and oxalic acid, a four colour effect is produced viz., blue
(the ground colour), green, yellow and white (a portion of the ground colour is destroyed). If the pattern
printed is green is check and the pattern in white is a large spot, the effect produced is that of a yellow
and white check spot on a blue and green check ground, the check being continuous all over.

Thus conversion style of printing is nothing but a discharge style and is an important style for producing a
variety of beautiful multi-coloured effects on cloth.

Dyed Style

The terms ‘dyed style’, ‘dyed work’, and ‘dyed way’ were formerly applied exclusively to goods
mordanted with iron and aluminium and dyed up afterwards in Madder, Logwood or other vegetable
dyestuffs. The dyed style now comprises all classes of work in which any mordant whatsoever is first
applied to cloth and subsequently combined in the dyebath with a colouring matter capable of forming
an insoluble coloured lake or compound with it.

The dyed style is the oldest style which was largely practiced in this country by ancient Hindus. It differs
from the direct style in that the colours and mordants instead of mixing together are applied separately
in two distinct stages known as Mordanting and Dyeing. The mordant is first applied on the cloth by
printing, dried, fixed with a fixing agent and washed well to remove excess of the fixing agent. Finally
cloth is dyed till the required depth of shade is obtained. During this operation the dyestuff combines
with the mordant to form an insoluble colour lake. On leaving the dyebath, the whole surface of the cloth
gets more or less stained with the colour; but the colour on the unmordanted i.e., unprinted portions
only adheres mechanically and can be entirely removed by washing and soaping the goods, thus leaving a
coloured design on a white ground. The essential operations in the dyed style are;
 1. printing of the cloth with a thickened mordant;
2. fixing of the mordant;
3. washing out the excess of the fixing agent;
4. dyeing; and
5. washing and soaping of the dyed cloth to remove all loosely adhering colour and to clear
the white parts of the pattern.

Figure 1: Dyed style of printing

The dyed style, at one time, was the most important of all styles. It afforded the dyer ample scope to
produce a good range of rich, full colours varying from bright yellows to black with excellent fastness to
light and washing. Alizarine, which is the best mordant colour, yields the most varied range of bright and
fast colours with different mordants. Its alumina lake is red, its iron lake is black or purple; its tin lake is
orange and its chromium lake is claret. The dyed style consists of several distinct processes of which the
most important are (a) the Madder style (b) the Basic style and (c) the Chrome Mordant style.

The mordant colours have been displaced for the most part by their more permanent synthetic
competitors with the result that they have lost the importance which they enjoyed at one time.

Madder style which is nothing but a dyed style, is called the Madder style because it is associated with
Madder, the chief dyestuff used in its production. It still retains its own name, although Madder has
been superseded. The dyestuff is obtained from Madder root and the red colouring matter of this root is
chemically identical with its synthetic competitor Alizarine. The Madder style is the oldest, the most
important and was the most largely practiced of the dyed styles in olden days. It yields an extensive
range of exceedingly fine colours fast to light and washing and it possesses an advantage over all other
dyed styles in that various shades of red, pink, maroon, chocolate and purple together with black can all
be associated in a multi-coloured pattern and dyed simultaneously by one operation done with the
single dyestuff.
Discharge-cum-Resist style

A discharge-cum-resist style is one which avoids the use of fully fixed (or fully dyed) grounds and relies on
the simultaneous fixation of ground shade where no agent is present, destruction of the ground shade
where the agent is used and development of any illuminating colours. This style of printing has assumed
great importance particularly in the printing of polyester fabric for producing white or coloured
discharges. Polyester fabric which is fully dyed is not quite suitable for classical discharge because in the
course of dyeing the fabric, the dye dissolves in the fibre forming an extremely fast shade so that it is very
difficult to destroy the dye by discharging agents; high energy i.e., large amount of reducing agent is
required to partially destroy the dye. Therefore, instead of printing a fully dyed fabric, the fabric which is
unfixed or partially fixed with the colour is printed with a chemical which destroys the unfixed colour and
thus resists the development of the colour in the printed portions.

Thus when printing polyester by this style, the fabric is first padded with a dispersion of the disperse dye
and dried carefully at a low temperature (100°C) when the dye is in the unfixed state. It is then printed
with a paste containing a discharging agent such as safolin (zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde); for coloured
discharge, a paste containing stannous chloride and a non-dischargeable illuminating colour is used. The
fabric is then dried and steamed at 180°C with super heated steam for 8 minutes; during steaming, the
ground colour gets fixed. At the printed portions, the colour gets destroyed and illuminant colour, if used,
gets fixed.

A similar technique is employed in discharge printing of aniline black ground. Here, the cotton fabric is
first padded with aniline liquor and is carefully dried so that the fabric does not develop a green tinge. It
is then printed with a paste containing sodium thiosulphate, dried and steamed and then oxidised with
potassium dichromate and Sulphuric acid whereby the ground (black) shade is developed and the colour
is not developed at the printed portions. The style is also known as over-printed resist style.

Crimp or Crepon Style

Crepe fabrics can be produced in two ways; firstly by using fabrics containing yarns of high twist and
secondly, by using chemical reagents which exert a strong swelling action on the fibre and cause it to
shrink. Crimp or crepon style envisages the production of crepe effect without the use of highly twisted
yarns in the fabric by chemical means i.e., by using reagents which cause shrinkage of the treated parts.
In this style, the object is to shrink the goods at some parts giving a sort of shriveled or crimped
appearance to those parts. The best illustration of this type of shrinkage is by use of caustic soda solution
of mercerising strength without tension, on cotton goods. This method is used for producing crepe
effects on cotton fabric by printing by what is known as crimp or crepon style. The fabric is printed with
thickened caustic soda solution of 55° to 60° Tw in a striped pattern covering about 50% of the surface of
the fabric. On immersing in water, the cloth shrinks in the printed portions thus giving a ‘crimped’ or
‘cockled’ effect. Alternatively, the cloth may be printed with a resist and the whole fabric treated with
caustic soda solution of mercerising strength so that on immersion in water the printed portions do not
shrink but the remaining cloth crumples or shrinks producing a crimp effect. Seersucker, plisse and crinkle
crepes are produced by this method.

Fabrics containing more than one type of fibre e.g., cotton and silk or cotton and acetate can be treated
with caustic soda to produce crepe effects.

In the case of wool, advantage is taken of the fact that wool, when chlorinated, becomes anti-shrink.
Thus woolen fabric is printed with a paste containing sodium hypochlorite solution and is then passed
through Sulphuric acid bath when chlorine is liberated and the fabric is then rinsed. When this fabric is
subjected to milling, the printed portions which are chlorinated, do not shrink whereas the remaining
portions shrink and so create a crepon effect. Another method is to print the fabric in a striped pattern
with thickened Sulphuric acid and then pass through sodium hypochlorite solution, rinse and then subject
it to milling in soap solution. The printed portions which are chlorinated do not shrink whereas the
remaining portions shrink producing a permanent crimp effect.

Crepe effects by differential shrinkage can be produced on acetate rayon also. The fabric is first printed
with a suitable resist and is then treated with 38° Tw nitric acid for ½ to 1 minute; on washing, a cockled
effect is produced.

Figure 2: Crimp style

Carbonized Style or Burnt-out-style

Carbonizing or ‘burning-out’ is a process in which the cellulose portion of any polyester-cellulose blended
fabric is completely removed or chemically destroyed leaving a cent percent polyester fabric with the
desired resilient and silky handle. In general, this is most effectively accomplished by the use of strong
Sulphuric acid at strengths between 70 and 77 percent.

The term carbonization has been originally associated with wool for chemical destruction of vegetable
matter in it. Its use in printing, however, is associated with polyester cellulose blended fabrics. In the
actual process, the fabric is treated with 70% Sulphuric acid for about 45 minutes at room temperature
on a jigger or for 2 hours by using a padding mangle whereby the cellulosic portion is destroyed; the
degraded cellulose is then removed during washing. When treating the fabric on jigger, the trough of the
jigger is surrounded by ice for external cooling to prevent the temperature from rising because as the
reaction is exothermic, considerable heat is evolved during the treatment. In the padding method, the
fabric is padded with 70% Sulphuric acid containing 10 g/l urea and batched on a slowly rotating roller for
2 hours.

Sulphuric acid obtained as a by-product of fertilizer and rayon industries is usually employed for
carbonizing. This acid contains small quantities of nitrous and nitric acids. The presence of nitrous acid,
even in traces, affects the brightness of the prints because the amino groups present in the disperse dye
used in printing, get diazotised by nitrous acid thereby giving rise to severe dulling and browning of the
prints. In order to overcome this defect, 10 to 20 g/l urea (NH 2-CO-NH2) is added to the acid bath; the
nitrous acid attacks urea (which contains two NH2 groups) in preference to the disperse dye molecule.

After carbonizing, the fabric is washed thoroughly to remove degraded cellulose and Sulphuric acid,
neutralised with soda ash solution and bleached with hydrogen peroxide to remove the brownish tint
imparted during carbonization. The fabric is then washed again and dried.

Before carbonizing, the printed fabric should be reduction cleared and should not be soaped at boil as
the ground gets severely tinted. Further, if sodium chlorate is used in the print paste, then the fabric after
printing, should be washed to remove chlorate before carbonishing. If the printed fabric is carbonized
without washing, sodium chlorate will react with Sulphuric acid producing chlorine dioxide which
degrades almost all disperse dyes causing colour fading. Hence such fabric must be washed before
carbonizing.

Figure 3: Carbonized style

Brasso style

This style, is associated with the carbonized style. In carbonized style, the entire cellulosic portion of the
blended fabric is destroyed and removed whereas in this style, only a portion of the cellulosic component
viz., that in the printed part of the fabric is removed by using an acid liberating agent in the printing
paste. In other words, the carbonizing effect is limited to the printed portions of the fabric.

In this process, the fabric is printed with a paste containing;

200 parts aluminium sulphate
50 parts tartaric acid
550 parts Meypro gum paste (10%)
20 parts Noigen EL 40
180 parts water
1000 parts

After printing, it is dried and cured at 150°C for 5 minutes, washed, bleached with hydrogen peroxide,
washed and dried.

Figure 4: Brasso style

Raised style

This is one of the oldest styles for printing mineral colours like chrome yellow, chrome orange, iron buff
etc. The term ‘Raised’ signifies that the colour is made visible on cloth by a wet treatment. Thus, when a
colourless lead salt is thickened with gum and printed on white cloth and is then passed through a
solution of sodium dichromate, a beautiful yellow colour of lead chromate develops on cloth as if the
colour ‘Rises’ at those parts; hence the term ‘Raised’ style. Since the advent of azoic colours and
solubilized vat colours, the raised style has lost its importance and is almost obsolete.
 Figure 5: Raised style
Batik Style

Batik printing is a process for production of printed patterns by a peculiar kind of resist work or resist
style. The special feature of Batik printing is that fine lines of colour can be seen running irregularly across
the resisted parts of the pattern in the fabric. This artistic effect is brought about by wax which is used as
a resist. When portions of cloth which are to remain undyed are resisted by applying molten wax and
when the wax has hardened, the cloth is dyed with dyestuffs dyeable in cold (below 40°C). During the
handling of the cloth in the dyeing process, the wax being brittle, cracks and the dye liquor penetrates
through these ‘cracks’ of wax and becomes fixed on cloth, thus causing the curious veins or marble-like
lines on it. Sometimes, a fine network of two or three different colours is seen over the white portion of
the design giving to the whole fabric an extremely rich and beautiful appearance.

Batik printing which has been practiced in Java from olden times, has attained a high degree of perfection
and has been developed there into a mighty industry. The word Batik is derived from the Javanese word
‘ambatik’ which envisages the whole operation.

In the actual process, a mixture of one part of bees wax and 4 parts of paraffin wax is taken and melted; it
is kept in molten state over a low flame; (if it becomes too hot, it starts giving out vapours and when
applied on cloth it does not give good cracks). The melted wax is poured over those portions of the cloth
which are to be resisted i.e., are required to remain undyed. If it is desired to have a pronounced
“cracking” effect, then the proportion of paraffin wax in the mixture is increased; higher the proportion
of paraffin wax in the mixture, the more brittle the print. Various instruments are used for applying wax
to the cloth; the simplest ones consist of a pointed bamboo stick, bamboo spoons and bamboo squills of
various sizes. A small pen of copper fixed into a bamboo handle is also used. An iron pencil fixed with a
bamboo handle round which a wad of human hair or strips of cloth is wrapped which serves as a kind of
wax container. When this drawing pen is dipped into the wax pot, the melted wax is absorbed by the wad
from which it flows slowly towards the end point of the pen. The “T jap” is a metallic block; T jap printing
is, therefore, block printing with wax and it saves considerable amount of time. “T janting” consists of a
small copper cup with one or more tubular spouts fitted with a handle of bamboo. ‘ T janting’ with 2 to 5
or even 7 spouts are used for drawing a number of dots and lines at equal distances. A ‘ T janting’ with a
very slender spout is used for forming a wax stroke of 0.1 cm width. Batik is traditionally done on cotton
or silk.

The wax printed goods are often allowed to hang for a few days during which time the wax hardens and
becomes more brittle. If the hardening or setting of the wax is not complete, the final ‘cracking’ effect
which is the hall-mark of first rate Batik work, will be lacking. When the wax has set, the goods are dyed
in cold by colouring matter which can be applied at a temperature low enough to prevent the melting of
wax and confine the dye to the un-waxed portion. Further waxing and re-dyeing is usually carried out to
build up a variety of shades, for increasing depth as well as for super-imposition of colours. The wax is
afterwards removed by treating the dyed material in boiling water and then with water containing soda
ash (so as to form an easily removable emulsion) and washed and dried.

Figure 6: Batik styles

In olden days, only vegetable dyes were used for Batik work. Indigo was almost invariable used. Later,
synthetic indigo, alizarine and aniline black were used more and more in place of the vegetable dyes.
Only those dyestuffs which are capable of being applied from a cold dyebath are suitable for Batik work
since hot-dyeing dyestuffs would remove the wax resist. The following classes of synthetic dyes are used
nowadays for batik printing.
1. Azoic dyestuffs
2. Indigo and other cold dyeing vat dyestuffs
3. cold dyeing reactive dyestuffs and
4. Solubilised vat dyestuffs

Azoic dyes:

These dyestuffs are most widely used for Batik work as the naphtholated fabric can be waxed and
cracked and then developed with a diazotised solution of a base. They produce deep shades of high
fastness and remarkable brilliancy. Although a large number of combinations of naphthol and base are
available, the more substantive naphthols are mainly used as they give satisfactory rubbing fastness. The
naphthol solution can also be applied by brushing it on to the cloth. Nylon brushes are used for this
purpose as brushes with natural bristles are attacked by caustic soda present in the naphthol solution.
The diazotised base should be kept cool by adding ice during diazotisation and surrounding the container
with ice water.
Indigo and cold dyeing vat dyestuffs:

Indigo has been used from very early times in Batik work. It is cheap and easy to apply in bulk dyeing
once the dyebath has been correctly prepared. Indigo is first vatted with caustic soda and sodium
hydrosulphite after pasting with turkey red oil, at 50°C for 20 minutes and then the dyeing is carried out
at room temperature. The vatted dyestuff can also be applied by brushing the solution on to the fabric.
Here, also nylon brushes are used as brushes made of natural bristles are affected by caustic soda
present in the dye solution. Common salt need not be added to the dyebath for dip dyeing and for brush
work. Anthraquinonoid vat dyes have better fastness than Indigo and such dyes which can be dyed in
cold i.e., those belonging to IK or IW group can be used. Vat dyestuffs which are reduced at 50°C and
dyed in cold are quite suitable for Batik work; (some of these are Vat Golden Orange 3G, Golden Yellow 5
GK, Pink RL, Brilliant Violet R, Brilliant Violet 3R, Jade Green XN, Olive R, and Brown R).

Reactive Dyes:

Hot-dyeing reactive dyes are not suitable for Batik work; only cold-dyeing reactive dyes are used as they
are sufficiently reactive to fix at room temperature. These dyes can be mixed with one another in any
proportion. Deeper shades of these dyes can be obtained on mercerized cotton cloth and rayon cloth by
building up the shade with several dips. Unmercerised cotton cloth is not used as far as possible. A
number of bright shades can be produced with these dyes by using dip dyeing technique or by brush
dyeing locally over the waxed areas.

For purpose of dyeing, the dyebath is prepared as follows:

25 g urea is dissolved in
300 ml boiling water and allowed to cool to 60°C.
15 g of reactive dye is added in portions with stirring and then
500 ml cold water is added under stirring to make up to
------
900 ml
-------

Immediately before dyeing, an alkaline solution is prepared as under:

4 g anhydrous sodium carbonate and

 8 g sodium carbonate are dissolved in
88 ml cold water and made up to
-----
100 ml with stirring

This solution is added to the dye liquor making the dyebath to 1000 ml. This liquor is used for dyeing.
Once the alkali is added, the dyebath is suitable only for 2-3 hours. Without addition of alkali, the dye
solution can be stored for 2-3 days.

Solubilized Vat Dyes:

These dyes which are water-soluble derivatives of vat dyes are eminently suited for Batik work; they give
very fast shades. They can be applied in cold to cotton, rayon, silk or wool material. The sodium nitrite
method is used for developing the colour. The fabric is dipped in a cold solution of the dyestuff
containing 5g of sodium nitrite per litre, squeezed and then developed in a solution containing 20 ml
Sulphuric acid (168° Tw) per litre for a few minutes. Sodium nitrite may be omitted from the dyebath and
instead added to the developing bath. Some dyestuffs require to be developed in the hot at 60 to 80°C.
After developing, the fabric is washed thoroughly so that no acid is left in it. The dye liquor can also be
applied by means of brush. Only light to medium shades can be obtained with these dyestuffs.

Foam Printing

Printing with a paste containing foam as a thickener is a novel idea which has been put into practice
recently. In the conventional method of preparing a printing paste, thickeners like gums and starches are
used to prevent spreading of the colour beyond the boundaries of the design and transfer it to the fabric.
However, in foam printing, the thickener is dispensed with and foam is generated in the system to work
as a thickener; all the other ingredients are incorporated in the paste as usual. Thus the cost of the
thickener in the printing paste is saved and there is saving in energy during the subsequent drying
operation of the printed material as the paste contains less liquid than that present in the conventional
paste. This is particularly important in pigment printing where more than 60 percent kerosene is used in
preparing the colour paste; in foam printing, no kerosene is required.

In preparing the paste for foam printing, foam is generated from a solution of the dye itself by means of a
foaming agent by incorporating air in the system. Since air, which has virtually no weight, is used to
expand the system, the printing paste becomes much lighter in weight. Sodium dodecyl sulphate is
normally used as a foaming agent. The foam is generated upto a desired limit called the ‘blow ratio’ i.e.,
the extent to which the volume of the liquid can be increased. Thus, a blow ratio of 1:3 means that the
system contains 1 part of liquid diluted by 3 equal parts of air; this blow ratio has been found to give
satisfactory results. For generating foam, it is necessary to blow air through the solution or agitate it
mechanically or bubble gas through it by chemical reaction in situ either, in plastic or stainless steel
vessels with markings indicating volume. During foam generation, care is taken to see that the volume of
the foam increases constantly and no defoaming takes place with the addition of colour and other
ingredients. Its stability and extent of dilution are also very important. If the foam is not stable, its
application will not be possible as the bubbles will collapse before application. Stabilizers are, therefore,
added to make the foam stable and control it to permit uniform application; it is not made too stable as a
highly stable foam may not collapse uniformly over the fabric.

It is claimed that the foam paste can be used for printing fabrics with hand screens and automatic fiat-
bed, roller and rotary screen printing machines. In block printing, the foam is not picked up evenly by the
blocks. Actually the conditions are so critical that the process has not yet found wide acceptance.

Advantages of Foam Printing:

i) Since no thickener is used in this process, other than foam, selection of an

appropriate thickener for a particular class of dye such as sodium alginate for
reactive dyes, does not arise. Owing to the absence of a thickener, there is reduction
in cost particularly so in pigment printing in which 60 to 70 percent of the paste
constitutes kerosene which is eliminated in foam printing and the pollution and fire
explosion hazards are minimised.
ii) Owing to absence of thickeners, more efficient use of dyes and chemicals is achieved.
iii) Since a part of water present in the dye solution is replaced by air, there is saving in
energy required for drying and consumption of water.
iv) Because of lower water consumption, the drying time is reduced and the production
rate is increased.
v) As the liquor pick-up in this process is not dependent on the moisture content of the
fabric, wet-on-wet application is possible.

Drawbacks of the Process:

i) Foam does not remain stable for more than a few hours without breaking. When it
collapses, it is of no use. In view of this, kerosene emulsions are still used in pigment
printing as they are quite stable even though a kerosene-less system is desirable.
ii) In block printing, the blocks do not pick up foam evenly; therefore, the process
cannot be used for this work.
iii) Uneven results are obtained if the foam does not collapse evenly on the fabric. If the
foam collapses any time during printing, the work has to be stopped as the paste
becomes of no use.
 Figure 7: Foam printing

Flock Printing or Velvet Printing

Flock printing is a process in which a ‘flock’ i.e., a mass of short fibres or fibre dust is fixed on to cloth by
means of an adhesive to form a printed pattern. It produces a pile or velvety effect on the fabric similar
to the pile obtained by raising the fabric by machines. The process is also called ‘velvet printing’.
Originally fibre dust obtained from the weaving shed was used as flock but now short fibres about 1 mm
in length cut from natural or man-made fibres are used because fibre dust is not able to meet the
demand. Two types of flock are used viz., random-cut and precision-cut flock. Random-cut flock is
obtained from waste fibre and fabric clippings which are reduced to a mass of very short fibres by cutting
or grinding and then screening to eliminate dust and unduly long fibres. Precision-cut flock is generally
obtained from rayon and nylon filaments by cutting the dyed tow in desired lengths. The flock i.e., short
fibres, has only two dimensions – length and thickness. It can, therefore, be fixed flat in the fabric with
the adhesive or one end of it can be fixed in the adhesive and the other kept floating in air like a pile.

The fabric is first printed with an adhesive paste containing a synthetic polymer which is self-reacting i.e.,
containing reactive monomers which cross link to form a three dimensional network within the polymer
film besides anti-foaming agent, like silicon, a plasticiser, a thickener, a catalyst like diammonium
phosphate, melamine formaldehyde to lower the curing temperature and glycerine to prevent the
adhesive from drying prematurely. The polymers commonly used as binders contain the monomers;
Acrylamide (CH=CH-CONH2) and N-methylol acrylamide. When the whole fabric is to be flocked, the
process is known as “flocking” in which the adhesive is applied by a doctor blade to the fabric. The fabric
is then dried by radio frequency drying (as it ensures uniform drying) and then cured at 150°C for 5
minutes.

The flock is applied to the printed or coated surface by two methods. Earlier it was applied by hand by
sprinkling it on the surface or through a sieve on the cloth. In this method the flock falls through air in a
loose form and some of it floats in air and is laid flat on the surface of the cloth as a result of which it
does not produce a pile effect. Further, in sprinkling there is no force; therefore, the flock is superficially
fixed and cannot withstand abrasion and wear. Therefore, this method is not used.

Two methods which are used currently are as under:

Beater Bar Method:

In this method, the coated fabric is held tight on a conveyor belt; the flock is fed to the cloth by means of
hoppers. The cloth is rapidly beaten by beater bars and vibrated to make the fibres stand on ends and
become firmly fixed in the adhesive. The beater bars below the cloth rotate rapidly and rub against the
backing material thereby generating static electricity which makes the fibres stand on ends. The unfixed
flock is removed by means of vacuum suction. The number of fibres that are oriented perpendicular to
the surface of the cloth by this method is not very high with the result that the flock density is low; on
account of this, a thick pile is not produced.

After the fabric is printed with flock, it is dried and then cured in a hot-flue oven or chamber at 150°C for
5 minutes.

Figure 8: Flock printing

Electrostatic Method:

In this method, tiny particles of flock are charged with high voltage electricity while the surface of the
fabric is earthed thus forming two electrodes having a high electrical potential difference between them.
The flock, before feeding it through hoppers is treated with ammonium chloride solution to render it
more conductive and also to minimise the adhesive of one fibre to another. The flock so treated is then
fed from the hopper and spread uniformly over the positively charged surface of the printed portions of
the cloth by means of a revolving brush. The electrical force orients the fibres in a perpendicular direction
to the fabric surface and fixes them into the adhesive in that state with the result that a thick pile is
produced. After printing and dyeing, the fabric is cured in a hot-flue oven or electrically heated chamber
at 150oC for 5 minutes.

A smooth pile surface resistant to abrasion and wear is obtained by the above method. Fabrics like mulls,
voiles, and organdie are flock printed on both side to give a velvety effect.
If instead of flocking only the printed portion, the whole fabric is flocked, the process is known as
“flocking”. This is achieved by coating the fabric by a knife coater. Primal TR-77 is used as an adhesive for
coating. In America, flocking of the whole fabric is quite popular. Flocked blankets are thus produced on
the large scale; an acrylic adhesive is applied to one side of the blanket and flocked with 5.5 denier nylon
flock, dried and then the other side is flocked in a similar manner. The blanket is finally cured at 150 0C for
5 minutes; these blankets resemble velvet fabrics but flocked apparel fabrics are not “breathable”
Flocking is however, a finishing operation even though it is closely related to flock printing.

Figure 9: Electrostatic method of printing

Damask Effect

Damask effect is nothing but a contrasting patterned effect produced on cloth by chemical means,
showing a matt (or delustred) pattern on a lustrous background (or a lustrous pattern on a matt
background) resembling a woven damask fabric. Originally ‘damask’ represented a silken fabric produced
by weaving figured patterns on sateen or satin weaves in which the background and figured pattern
shows contrasting effect as seen in the Figure 10 showing contrasting effect of lustrous background with
matt patterns of design.

Damask or mask effect can be produced by printing a lustrous fabric in three different ways as under:

i) By printing a fully lustrous fabric like viscose rayon or acetate rayon with a paste
containing TiO2 or other white opaque pigment and a binder suitably thickened,
followed by drying, curing and washing; thus leaving the fabric with a matt
pattern on a lustrous background i.e., with a damask appearance.
ii) By printing a lustrous fabric with a resist and then after drying and steaming,
treating it with a solution of chemicals which would precipitate an insoluble
pigment on the unresisted portions of the fabric thus producing brilliant lustrous
 patterns (white or coloured) on a dull matt ground. This process is known as
“luster printing”.
iii) By printing a lustrous fabric with a paste containing a chemical reagent which will
destroy the luster wherever it is printed. Thus acetate rayon fabric may be
printed with phenol or resorcinol or caustic soda, dried and washed; the luster of
the fabric in the printed portions is thus destroyed giving a matt pattern on a
lustrous ground. This method is rarely employed for the production of damask
effects owing to the insufficient contrasts obtained and partly due to the practical
difficulties encountered in the washing off operation during which there is a
tendency for the whole fabric to be affected and to become delustred.

The effects produced by methods (i) and (ii) mentioned above may be illustrated with examples.

i) Rayon fabric is printed with TiO 2 using a self-reacting acrylic emulsion as binder
to produce a damask effect. A 30 % binder emulsion is prepared as under:

300 parts Acramin SLN binder

5 parts Emulsifier W
50 parts urea
30 parts diammonium phosphate (1:3)
50 parts water
245 parts Kerosene under high speed stirrer
680 parts
The printing paste is prepared as under:

300 parts TiO2

680 parts binder emulsion prepared as above
20 parts Fixer CCL

1000 parts

After printing, the fabric is dried at 90 oC till free from Kerosene and is then cured at 140 oC for 5 minutes,
washed and dried, resulting in a damask effect.

Primal TR – 42 of Indofil Chemicals Ltd., which is an anionic cross – linking acrylic emulsion may be used
as a delustring agent.

ii) Resist printing or “lustre printing”: In this method an insoluble pigment like zinc
oxide is deposited on the fabric from zinc chloride solution after protecting the
 printed portions of a resist. Thus a fully lustered acetate rayon fabric is first
printed with gum arabic or British gum paste to act as a resist:

850 parts gum arabic (50 %) paste

150 parts water

1000 parts

The printed fabric is dried and steamed for a few minutes and then passed through solution containing:

1100 parts ZnCl2 (1780Tw)

125 parts glycerin and adding under stirring
156 parts ammonia (25%) and
35 parts water

The fabric is allowed to lie for 3-4 minutes and then washed and soaped lightly whereby a lustrous print
on a dull matt ground is produced. A coloured damask effect can be produced by adding a disperse dye to
the resist paste as under:

850 parts gum arabic paste (50 %)

30 parts glycerine
100 parts disperse dye (paste)
20 parts water

1000 parts

The printed fabric after drying and steaming is treated with zinc chloride solution as above.

Cotton, linen, viscose rayon, acetate and synthetic fabrics with damask effect are mainly used as
furnishing fabrics. These fabrics are cheaper than the woven damask fabrics and can also be produced
with greater ease than the latter.
 Figure 10: Damask Effect

Kalamkari Printing

The word ‘Kalamkari’ is derived from two Hindi words ‘Kalam’ and ‘Kari’ (or Karigari), ‘Kalam’ meaning
pen and ‘kari’ meaning hard work. Kalamkari printing, therefore, means printing carried out by hand by
means of a pen. But Kalamkari printing is done not only by pen but also by means of blocks. Kalamkari
printing has been practiced in this country from early times but its use has declined over the years and is
today confined to a few places like Machalipatnam, Kalahasti, Bagru, Sanganer, Palanpur and Faizabad.

The printing process is quite an elaborate one. It involves not only pre-treatment of cloth and preparation
of colours most of which are vegetable dyes. In the preparation of cloth for printing, the fabric is scoured,
bleached and mordanted by country methods which require more than a week to complete the
operations. Preparation of colours also takes a considerable time depending on the type of colour
required; for instance, black colour obtained from iron filings involves fermentation of the liquor for
about three weeks and indigo blue requires three weeks for reduction to leuco vat. The whole process is,
therefore, lengthy extending over days together and is also cumbersome.

Figure 11: Kalamkari Printing

Bubble printing or Bubble Dyeing

Printing of fabric with bubbles is a recent development in which bubbles of the dye liquor are used for
producing printed effect. It is different from foam printing in that the foam produced in foam printing is
used as a thickener in the print paste whereas in bubbles which are produced by means of a perforated
pipe are deposited and fixed on the fabric to give a novel, intricate and non-reproducible printed effect.

A simple three-bowl padding mangle is all that is required for printing. No blocks or screens or other
printing machines are needed. The dye liquor (usually of a disperse dye) is taken in the mangle: a non-
ionic or anionic surface active agent (30 – 60 g/l) is added to it to lower its surface tension to get
optimum bubble stability. A thickener can give good elasticity and thickness of the film is added to the
liquor so as to give a viscosity of 60 – 90 cps. in order to assist carry over of the bubbles by this fabric
without which the foam produced by the liquor would collapse when it touches the moving fabric surface
thus preventing the smudging effect. A galvanized iron pipe (about 2 cm in diameter) with perforations
(about 1 mm in dia) pointing downwards and spaced 2 to 5 cm apart is fitted at the bottom of the trough.
Air is supplied to the pipe from both sides. At the top of the trough there is a guide roller on which the
fabric to be printed moves at 25 to 30 m per minute. Polyester fabric free from spinning oil is used. When
the bubbles appear on the surface of the liquor, they get deposited on the fabric during its passage of 2
to 3 seconds. The fabric is then dried in an infra-red dryer and is then fixed. The liquor in the trough is
kept at a constant level by a level indicator attached to the trough. To prevent wastage of liquor by over –
flowing of foam bubbles, a metal cover is fixed over the trough so that a slit is formed on the trough
through which fabric comes out carrying bubbles. The width of the slit controls the foam or bubble pick –
up.

For multi-colour effect, 3 or more compartments are provided in the trough with different colours in each
trough: when the bubbles rise on the surface on the liquor, they do not get mixed up but produces
stripes of different colour bubbles. Animal skin effect, obtained by transfer printing, can be produced by
bubble printing by adding a discharging agent to the dye liquor and depositing the bubbles on dyed or
padded grounds, followed by drying and passing the fabric through hot-flue oven.

This technique is used to cover up faulty dyeing, stained goods etc., by over printing them to avoid
stripping and re-dyeing operations which are very expensive.
 Figure 12: Bubble Printing

Multi-colour Speck Printing

This is a novel technique which was first developed in Japan according to this method, various colours in
the form of specks can be printed simultaneously with the help of one screen or one roller only as against
a number of rollers or screens (depending on the number of colours) required in conventional methods.
The effect is produced by encapsulation of dye molecules. The encapsulated dyes do not mix with each
other in printing paste i.e., they retain their individual colour even when they are mixed with each other
because they are encapsulated; they are then printed on the fabric in speck form. The prints are fixed by
suitable after-treatment recommended for particular type of colour. Super-heated steaming in the case
of disperse dyes on polyester gives better appearance of specks.

Colloresin Process

Colloresin is methyl cellulose used as a thickener in printing vat dyes. Its special property is that when it is
boiled in water, it gets precipitated but dissolves again in water when it is cooled. Also it coagulates i.e.,
becomes insoluble in alkali but when the precipitate is washed free from alkali, it dissolves again in cold
water. The practical value of this property is that when a dyestuff thickened with Colloresin is printed on
the fabric and the printed fabric is subsequently passed through a hot alkaline solution of a reducing
agent for developing the dye, the dye does not bleed or mark-off in the developing bath because alkali
coagulates Colloresin which encloses the colouring matter in an insoluble envelope and prevents it from
spreading beyond the boundaries of the pattern and holds it firmly in its place until it is fully developed
and fixed. The Colloresin is then removed from the printed cloth by a thorough wash in cold water in
which it re-dissolves readily.

The process of printing vat dyes in which Colloresin is used as a thickener is known as the Colloresin
Process or Flash –Ageing process. The printing is carried out in two stages the cloth is first printed with a
finely dispersed vat dye pigment using a mixture of Colloresin and starch as thickener; in the second
stage, the printed fabric after drying, is developed in a hot alkaline solution of sodium hydrosulphite
followed by flash-aging i.e., steaming in the wet state at a high temperature for a short time. As the paste
does not contain alkali or reducing agent, the printed goods after drying can be allowed to lie in air,
before developing, for any length of time without harm. The undeveloped and unsteamed goods printed
by this process do not undergo any change on storage and may be kept without fear of injury until such
time as is convenient for their final development. This is of great practical advantage to block printers
and to roller printing in bulk because of the unrestricted interval allowed between the printing and
development of colours.
The printing paste is prepared by employing a mixture of Colloresin and starch or starch-tragacanth
paste. Colloresin alone is not used because it yields colours which are weaker in shade and less fast to
washing than those obtained by admixture with starch paste (or starch-tragacanth paste), the amount of
starch (10% paste) must not exceed 60%; a larger percentage of starch reduces the protective action of
Colloresin so much so that it fails to prevent marking off and bleeding during developing and steaming.
Usually not more than 50% starch thickening (calculated on the total weight of thickening) is employed.
Paste fine and powder fine brands of vat colours are most suitable for printing by this process.

After printing and drying, the colour is fixed by padding the cloth through an alkaline solution of
hydrosulphite at room temperature, steamed at once without drying in a festoon ager for 30 seconds at
110°C-115°C, washed, soured with acetic acid, oxidized with an oxidising agent (sodium perborate)
washed and dried.

The advantages of the process are as under:

1. The printing paste is perfectly stable and any number of pieces may be printed and
stored for any length of time as the undeveloped and unsteamed goods do not
undergo any change during storage.
2. The printed goods can be steamed and developed at any time at the printer’s
convenience.
3. The paste does not contain any alkali or reducing agent; therefore the printed goods
can be dried at any temperature (not injurious to the goods). Over heating does not
affect the colours.
4. It is a quick process (referred to as flash–aging process) for printing vat dyes
producing high quality prints with excellent fastness in a short time and requires
simple equipment resulting in saving in time; steam and labour.
5. Vat resists free from halo effect under Aniline black can be produced by this process.

Melange Printing (Vigoureaux Printing)

The word melange means varied mixture; melange printing therefore, means printing which produces a
varied mixture of colour effect. It is process of printing only wool silvers by a special type of printing
machine called the Vigoureaux printing machine invented by Vigoureaux, a French chemist. The design is
printed on the wool slivers in the form of thin and thick diagonal lines or cross-wise lines by rollers having
raised ribs (not by engraved rollers) on their surface; when the printed silvers are spun into yarn, these
designs disappear and produced by blending dyed and undyed woolen fibres. The yarn so produced is
called mélange yarn which is then used in making fabrics.
 Figure 13: Vigoureax Printing Machine

Two types of machine are used for printing the silvers viz., (i) Single Roller Vigoureaux Printing machine
and (ii) Double Roller Vigoureaux Printing machine. The single roller machine consists of one printing
roller with elevated ribs whereas the double roller machine consists of two printing rollers with elevated
ribs which is the main difference between the two. Just below the printing roller is a rubber roller. The
two rotate in contact with each other. Thin sheet of wool silver passes between these two rollers. The
rubber roller rotates in contact with another roller a wooden roller-below it which is partly immersed in
the printing paste placed in a colour box. The wooden roller transfers its colour paste to the rubber roller
and excess of the paste is removed by a doctor blade. The colour paste is transferred to the silver by the
pressure of the ribs of the printing roller; each rib is about 2.5 cm in width.

For preparation of colour paste, acid dyes are largely used; metal complex dyes and chrome dyes are also
used. British gum or gum tragacanth is used as a thickener. The paste is made as thin as possible; thus
instead of using a 6% paste of gum tragacanth, only a 2% paste is used so that the paste becomes very
thin. Glycerine or urea is added as hygroscopic agent to prevent drying of the paste before steaming.
Sodium chlorate is added to the paste to counteract the reducing influence of British gum during
steaming on dyes which are susceptible to reduction. After printing and drying, the sliver is steamed for
about 2 hours at 100-102°C and then back washed with warm dilute ammonia in the 1 st bowl, hot water
in the 2nd and 3rd bowl and dilute formic acid in the 4 th bowl. It is then dried in a hot air chamber. The
prints obtained are fast to light, washing, milling and perspiration.

Tie and Dye

Tie-dye is another form of resist printing in which dye penetration in the fabric is restricted by folding,
knotting, plaiting, tying, stitching or otherwise. It is an ancient craft which still forms a large part of
domestic markets in countries like India. The name given to it is Bandhani/Lahariyat/Ikat. The multi-
coloured effects are obtained with tie-dye are achieved in basically the same way that they are with
batik, using a resist and dyeing it from light to dark shade.

Figure 15: Tie and Dye prints

Marbling

The method which is used to produce marbled pattern on paper can also be used on fabric. It involves
the use of of very dilute solution of waterproof inks or dyes or enamel paint which are floated on water.
The pattern made by the inks on the surface of water is transferred to the fabric when it is laid on the
water and dried.

The dyes or inks/paints used for this technique are spirited based and hence are not washable. But these
inks modifies feel of the fabric. Hence only dilute solution of these inks are used.

Figure 16: Marble prints

Spray Printing
Spray printing is a form of hand painting in which colour is blown through a nozzle under air pressure
which is genrated by a compressor. Large spray guns can be used to cover broad areas with a dense
liquid (like dye solution or pigment pastes). They give a coarse spray when held near the fabric (stipped
effect) and fine coverage as the distance is increased.

Khadi Printing

In India there has been a similar method in vogue for printing pigments, metallic powders or foil, since
age. This method known as “Khadi” or “Tinsel printing”. In this method white or coloured pigments or
gold and silver powders or foils are printed on white or generally dyed grounds with the help of a
thickened oil known as Rogan to imitate brocade cloth. This printing is carried out with the help of brass
blocks.

Figure 17: Khadi printing

Plastisol Printing

It is intended mostly for hosiery & knit goods. Bright & soft stretch prints can be obtained on dark dyed
fabric. A typical receipe consist of titanium dioxide, high perfomance binder, elasticised homopolymer of
polyvinylacetate or polyvinyl chloride & additive for gloss, raise, shine & softener. Following printing,
each colour warrants immediate flash curing in case of oil base.