Textile Printing

 Localized dyeing
 Involves a thickened paste of colorant
 Same dyes can be used for printing as for dyeing
 Both have same mechanism of dye fixation
 However dye solubility is critical in printing as there is only a small amount of water in the
print paste. And also at the fixation stage, the dye has to be redissolved in a small volume of
condensed steam.

Difference between dyes and pigments

 Two fundamental operations

 Impression – mechanical and physical application of color
 Colouration – selection of suitable dyes/pigments, chemical conditions of applications,
fixation and aftertreatments

Two industrial markets

 Industrial textile printing – apparel, home furnishings and technical textiles

 Soft signage printing – graphic advertisements printed on textile substrates such as banners,
corporate flags

Sub-processes

Printing techniques

• Relief printing;

• Gravure printing;

• stencil printing;

• Surface printing;

• Instant printing (e.g. ink-jet printing).

Relief, gravure, stencil, and surface printing are techniques in which a printing form is used to apply
the printing paste onto the substrate. Instant printing techniques are techniques in which the
pattern is applied without use of a printing form.

- flexography - a printing activity using an image carrier of rubber or elastic photopolymers on which
the printing areas are above the non-printing areas, using liquid inks which dry through evaporation,

- Laminating associated to a printing activity - the adhering together of two or more flexible
materials to produce laminates,

- Rotogravure - a printing activity using a cylindrical image carrier in which the printing area is below
the non-printing area, using liquid inks which dry through evaporation. The recesses are filled with
ink and the surplus is cleaned off the non-printing area before the surface to be printed contacts the
cylinder and lifts the ink from the recesses,

- rotary screen printing - a web-fed printing activity in which the ink is passed onto the surface to be
printed by forcing it through a porous image carrier, in which the printing area is open and the non-
printing area is sealed off, using liquid inks which dry only through evaporation. Web-fed means that
the material to be printed is fed to the machine from a reel as distinct from separate sheets,

- varnishing - an activity by which a varnish or an adhesive coating for the purpose of later sealing
the packaging material is applied to a flexible material.

Textile Printing Technologies

Fabric Preparation

Printing methods

 Block printing
 Engraved copper printing
 Screen printing
o Table
o Flat bed
o Rotary
 Transfer printing
 Digital ink jet
Choice of printing method

 Short-run productions
 Sustainable printing conditions
 Quick response time
 Customized printing products
 New design possibilities

Printing styles

Direct printing

Colorants are applied to the cloth in a single operation (with the appropriate fixation and washing
processes)

Localized dyeing - where the colorants are restricted to certain areas of the fabric

Formulate print pastes that will not bleed or wick through the fabric

Conventional textile printing, the print pastes consist of:

• The colorants (pigment or dyes),

• A thickening agent, and

• The fixing agent.

Indirect printing styles

 Time consuming
 Expensive
 Novel printed textiles for niche markets

Resist Printing

Printing a resist agent on to the cloth prior to coloring. Since the resist agent prevents the fixation of
the colorant, the areas where it is applied will remain unaffected, and the uncolored areas create the
pattern.
The resist agent can be

 Physical
o Physical resists include waxes, resins, thickeners, pigments, etc., which create
physical barriers that prevent any interaction between the cloth and the coloring
matter.
 Chemical.
o Chemical resists are composed of chemical compounds that prevent the
development of chemical bonds during the fixation process. Such compounds
include acids, alkalis, salts, reducing agents, etc., and are chosen depending on the
specific textile coloration chemistry.

Depending on the way the process is carried out, one can speak of pre-printing, intermediate or
over-printing resists. One common procedure is the wet-an-wet process in which the resist paste is
initially printed. The material is then overprinted with full cover screen and finally fixed and washed.

Over-printing resists can be applied only if the dye, already present in the previously dyed and dried
fabric, is still in its unfixed form, as in the case of developing dyes.

Discharge Printing

Two types of discharge printing processes

White discharge

In white discharge printing, the ground fabric is first dyed with a coloring matter that can be
chemically bleached out by the discharge agent. The dyed fabrics are printed with the paste
containing the discharge agents. During the fixation process, the discharge agent is chemically
activated and bleaches out the ground color, creating the pattern.

Color discharge

Color discharge printing is similar to the white discharge process with pre-dyed fabrics, where the
dyes can be chemically destroyed by the discharge agents. However, instead of printing with a paste
containing only the discharge agent, additional colorants, called illuminating colors are applied.
These illuminating colors are not chemically destroyed by the discharge agents, but introduce
additional colors in the fixation process.

Discharge printing has the advantage over direct printing of being able to print bright and vivid
colors on evenly dyed dark backgrounds. Moreover, because of the chemical reaction of discharging,
the penetrations of the colorants are greater than direct printing. Discharge printed textiles
therefore present visually appealing results and have been used for high-end fashion and home
furnishing textiles.

Burnout (devore’)

The print paste contains a chemical compound that destroys or dissolves away one or more types of
fiber in a blended fabric. After printing, the fixation process activates the chemical reaction that
burns out the fibers. A typical application is to burn out the cellulosic fiber from a blend of cellulose
and polyester, using aluminum sulfate or sodium hydrogen sulfate. After a dry heat fixation process,
the cellulose fibers are dissolved away, leaving only polyester fibers.

Auxiliaries in textile printing

Apart from the dyestuff, printing pastes contain a thickening agent and various other auxiliaries,
which can be classified according to their function as follows:

• oxidising agents (e.g. m-nitrobenzenesuiphonate, sodium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide);

• Reducing agents (e.g. sodium dithionite, formaldehyde sulphoxylates, thiourea dioxide, tin(lI)
chloride);

• discharging agents for discharge printing (e.g. anthraquinone);

• Substances with a hydrotropic effect, like urea;

• dye solubilisers, which are polar organic solvents like glycerine, ethylene glycol, butyl glycol,
thiodiglycol, etc.;

• resists for reactive resist printing (e.g. sulphonated alkanes);

• defoamers, (e.g. silicon compounds, organic and inorganic esters, aliphatic esters, etc.).

The composition of the pastes is even more complex and variable when printing with dyes.
Important factors determining the composition are beside the dye itself, the printing technique, the
substrate, the application, and the fixation methods applied.
In principle a distinction can be made between printing processes based on pigments, which have no
affinity for the fibre, and dyes, which have such an affinity.

The essential auxiliaries for pigment printing are necessary to adhere the pigments permanently to
the fibre, they remain on the fibre and give colour fastness:

- thickening agents

- Binders

- fixing agents

- hand modifiers

- Emulsifiers

- Other additives such as antifoaming agents and acid donors (in solvent-based printing)

In the case of dyes with an affinity for the fibre, the auxiliaries are generally removed from the fabric
in a final wash:

- thickening agents

- oxidising agents

- reducing and discharging assistants

- Auxiliaries for discharge printing

- Fixation auxiliaries

- dye solubilising and dispersing agents

- Auxiliaries for reactive resist printing

. Auxiliaries for burn-out printing

- Aftertreatment agents and detergents

Other auxiliaries such as preservatives (e.g. formaldehyde in natural thickeners), coagulation agents
(e.g. borax or aluminium sulphate for flash-age printing of vat dyes), acids (e.g. citric acid or
ammonium sulphate when printing with disperse and cationic dyes), antifoams, "print oils" (mineral
oils for reduced mechanical friction) may also be add to either pigment or dyes printing paste.

Textile printing adhesives have further to be add when screen printing techniques are used, in order
to prevent moving of the textile goods during the process

Pigment printing
Textiles and Fashion. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-84569-931-4.00020-9

https://www.cottonworks.com/topics/sourcing-manufacturing/printing/printing-types/