Styles of Printing

1. Direct Printing
2. Discharge Printing
3. Resist Printing

Direct Style
 Dyes are printed directly on the fabric.
 Dye is applied in the form of a thickened solution
 One or more dyes may be applied
 The ground may be white or colored

Discharge Style
 The fabric is dyed in a solid shade
 Printed with a discharging agent
 The discharging chemicals(oxidizing or reducing agent) destroys the color in the
printed areas
 A steaming process is required to effect the discharging action in a reasonable
time
 A good washing is done to remove the by-products of the reaction
 A white discharge is produced on a colored fabric
 The paste of discharging chemicals may incorporate a dye that is resistant to the
action of the discharging chemicals and can be fixed at the same time
 A colored discharge is produced on a dyed fabric
 The ground color should be easily and completely dischargeable otherwise pure
white effects or pure colored effects cannot be obtained
 This style is more expensive in labor and capital than direct style
 The discharging of synthetic fabrics is more difficult than cotton
 For good discharge printing, dye selection is critical. A typical example of
 discharge printing involves printing a cotton fabric already dyed with azo dyes
with
 a paste containing a strong reducing agent. During steaming the reducing agent
 destroys the azo dye, reducing it to simpler amines. Washing removes these
leaving
 a white design on the coloured fabric. Dye manufacturer’s shade cards give useful
 information on the ease of discharge of colour. Dyes are rated on a 1 to 5 scale, a
 grade of 5 indicating the most easily discharged. A dye with a rating of 5 would
 give a good white print, whereas a dye with a rating of 1 would be a suitable
 illuminating colour for a coloured discharge. Illuminating colours are often vat
 dyes. During steaming, the reducing agent generates the leuco compound that
 dyes the cotton. Air oxidation then regenerates the parent pigment.
 The most common reducing agents are the various salts of
formaldehydesulphoxylate
 (HOCH2SO2–). On heating, these decompose liberating
 formaldehyde and the sulphoxylate ion (HSO2–), a powerful reducing agent
  (Scheme 23.2).


 The decomposition of thiourea dioxide also generates
 sulphoxylate. On heating, thiourea dioxide first rearranges to formamidine
 sulphinic acid, which then hydrolyses to urea and sulphoxylic acid (Scheme 23.3).

 The insoluble zinc and calcium formaldehyde-sulphoxylates and thiourea dioxide

 are useful in printing fabrics made of synthetic fibres. Their low water-solubility
 minimises capillary flow of reducing agent solution along the non-absorbent fibre
 surfaces. Such flow reduces print definition and can produce a coloured halo
effect. Stannous chloride is also an effective reducing agent for azo dyes. It has
the
 advantage of being a somewhat weaker reducing agent than the sulphoxylates so
 that it has less effect on illuminating dyes. These are often not completely inert
 towards strong reducing agents and their colour intensity will be greater when
 using a less powerful discharging agent.

Resist Style
 Applicable to those classes of dyes which require two or more chemical processes
to effect fixation
 Dye is applied onto a fabric
 Fixation is not carried out
 Printed with a resist paste
 Submitted to fixation
 Dye is not fixed at the places where resist paste is printed
 This unfixed dye is washed away
 A white pattern is obtained on a dyed ground
 Preprint process---resist agent is applied before the application of dye
 Overprint process---resist agent is applied after the application of dye
 Colored resist effects can be produced on a differently colored ground