TEXTILE PRINTING

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRINTING & DYEING

DYEING PRINTING
Mono color application Mono or multi-color application
Dyes are applied in liquid form Dyes are applied in paste form
Salt is required Salt is not required
Temperature is used for better Temperature is not used during
penetration during dyeing printing.

Water plays an important role in Thickening agent plays an

dyeing important role
Percentage shade is calculated on Percentage shade is calculated on
the weight of material the weight of paste
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRINTING & DYEING

Continued…..

DYEING PRINTING
Time is required for better Less of time is required since color is
penetration applied on the surface of the fabric only
Half bleached fabric is used for Full-bleached fabric is used for printing
dyeing

The fabric is handled either in The fabric is handled only in open width
open width or in rope form form
The fabric may be in wet/dry The fabric is to be in dry condition only
condition during dyeing during printing

Uniform color application on both Due to single face printing, printed side
the sides of fabrics will be darker than other side
 AUXILIARIES USED IN TEXTILE PRINTING

Dye stuff or Pigment

• Used as a coloring matter depending on the nature of the fiber.
• Selected on the basis of cost, fastness & shade requirement.

Thickener
• Prevents the spreading of the color on the cloth by capillary action.
• Eg. CMC, Indalca, Tracaganth, British gum, Sodium Alginate, Emulsion
thickener etc.

Wetting agent
• Used to obtain a smooth paste of the dyestuff without formation of any
lumps.
• For insoluble dyestuffs like vats & Napthols, wetting agents are used to
facilitate wetting of the dyestuff
• For direct, acid, basic & reactive dyes, which are water soluble, a wetting
agent is normally not required.
 AUXILIARIES USED IN TEXTILE PRINTING

Dispersing agents
Used to prevent precipitation of dye particles as the concentration of the
dyestuff in the printing paste is high.
Examples: Di-ethylene glycol, Thio-di-glycol, Sodium benzyl sulphanilate .

Anti foaming agent

Used to reduce frothing in the printing paste

Fixation accelerators
Used to improve dyestuff fixation in printing as well as to shorten fixation
time.( swelling compounds)
Also effective in preventing fixation unevenness that may be caused due to
fluctuation in conditions (such as time, temp, humidity) during dye fixation
• p- phenyl phenol is applied for polyester,
• Thio urea is applied for polyamide,
• Resorcinal is applied for polyamide , cotton, acrylic fibers.
 AUXILIARIES USED IN TEXTILE PRINTING
Hygroscopic Agents
Used to take up sufficient amount of water during steaming.
Provides mobility to the dye molecules and enables them to transfer in to the
fiber.
Example: Urea, Glycerine, Di-ethylene glycol

Oxidizing agents
Required for printing certain classes of dyes & also in discharge & resist
printing.
Most commonly used oxidizing agents are:
• Chlorates
• Chromates and di-chromates
• Nitrates and nitrites of Sodium
• Potassium ferro cyanide

Reducing Agents
They are required for discharge and resist printing as a discharge chemicals
Example:
Sodium sulphoxylate Formaldehyde
Zinc sulphoxylate Formaldehyde
Styles of Printing

Direct style

Discharge style

Resist style
 DIRECT STYLE
• Also called as an application print.

• Design is printed directly onto a white fabric or over a

previously dyed fabric.

• In direct style of printing, the required class of dye along with

suitable thickener and other fixation additives are directly
applied to the fabric by suitable means.

• The printed cloth is dried, colors are fixed by steaming (or)

dry heat and washed if necessary.
 DISCHARGE STYLE
• Fabrics are dyed in a solid color prior to printing.

• The design is applied by screen or roller with a chemical (Sodium

sulphoxylate formaldehyde) a reducing agent

• White polka dot on a blue back ground can be made by first dyeing the
fabric with blue, then printing appropriate dots with the chemical which
removes the blue color.

• The colour-destroying chemical does not affect Vat dyes; they both may
be mixed together in the same print paste.

• When printing with this mixture, the colour-removing chemical removes

the previously dyed background colour while the vat dye colour is
simultaneously printed.

• A yellow polka dot on a blue background can be made by first dyeing the
fabric “Blue” then printing with a yellow vat dye mixed with the removing-
removing chemical
 RESIST STYLE

• Printing a pattern design on a white fabric with a chemical (wax-

like resinous substance) that will prevent or resist the penetration
of dyes.

• Piece – dyeing the fabric.

• Used where background colour in a fabric can not be discharged.

• Performed as craft or hand printing rather than on large scale

production basis; e.g. Batik prints, tie-dye prints and ikat prints.
 Methods of Printing
Block Printing

Hand Screen Printing

Automatic Flatbed screen Printing

Automatic Rotary Screen Printing

Roller Printing/Gravure Printing

Heat Transfer Printing

Digital Inkjet Printing

 BLOCK PRINTING

• It is an oldest and simplest method of printing.

• The design to be printed are first carved on wooden timber.

• Colour in the form of thickened paste is applied to the raised

parts of the block and impression of the design is obtained by
stamping the block by hand with a wooden hammer on the
cloth.

• Each shade of a colour requires a separate block.

BLOCK PRINTING
 BLOCK PRINTING
• Designs in any number of colours and on any scale can be reproduced.

• Block prints possess richness, fullness and purity of colour.

• The prints produced by this method are of great decorative value.

• The method is slow and production cost is high.

• It is not possible to obtain fine sharp outlines.

• Repeat marks are visible due to separate impressions of the block.

• There is no limiting factor in respect of size of repeat.

• Large repeat size blocks is not possible.

• Since it is manual method, it is therefore quite laborious.

 HAND SCREEN PRINTING

• Screen is made up of tightly stretched nylon gauze.

• Design is transformed on the screen with photo emulsion.

• Screen is placed above the cloth and printed with rubber squeezes
manually.

• After printing each colour, the print is dried by steam pipes or hot air
blower
HAND SCREEN PRINTING
 HAND SCREEN PRINTING
• Best suited for economical printing of small lots.

• Simple equipment, easy to install & less maintenance as well as low cost.

• Damages can be easily controlled.

• Unlimited colours can be printed.

• Cut- garment prints can be possible.

• Adaptable for both woven and knitted fabrics

• Half tone designs not possible.

• Fine-line paisley prints not possible.

• Lengthwise stripe designs not possible.

• Slow production, time consumption and low productivity.

AUTOMATIC FLATBED SCREEN PRINTING

• Fabric feeding unit

The cloth from the batch roll is taken through guide rolls, tension bars, and
fabric guider and is pressed to the blanket by means of feed roll.

• Printing unit
This unit consists of an endless synthetic rubber blanket, which supports
the fabric during printing & returns to feed position after washing.
• Printing station

According to the capacity of the machine, 8-16 printing stations are

available
• Once the fabric is fed, printing stations are switched on. It gets printed
sequentially at various printing units & and moves to the drier unit, gets
dried & plaited on trolleys.
 AUTOMATIC FLATBED SCREEN PRINTING
• Over all & cross border designs are printed.

• Better colour definition than roller prints

• Adaptable to both wovens and knits.

• Rapid changeover of designs possible.

• Best machine registration.

• Cost of screen preparation and special mountings are costlier than hand
screen.

• Not adaptable to low yardage.

• Half-tone designs and fine-line paisley prints are not possible.

• Lengthwise stripes not possible.

AUTOMATIC FLATBED SCREEN PRINTING
AUTOMATIC ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING

• Printing is continuous; Up to 40-inch repeat size are possible and

larger than roller printing, but smaller than flat bed screen.

• Lengthwise stripe effect possible.

• Fall-on designs possible.

• Adaptable to all woven & knits.

• Cleaner and brighter colours than roller print.

• Excellent colour definitions, but less than flat bed screen prints.

• Rapid change over of designs possible.

• Efficient for long runs and moderately small (1000 yards) runs.
AUTOMATIC ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING
AUTOMATIC ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING
AUTOMATIC ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING

• Cross border designs and Fine-line paisley prints are not

possible

• Half tone designs not as effective as in roller printing.

• Uneconomical for short runs

• Colour penetration is difficult for thicker fabrics.

• Colour consumption and wastage is higher.

• Design repeat size is smaller than flat bed printing.

 HEAT TRANSFER PRINTING
Working Principle

• In this method, the vapour phase transfer takes place by

heating under pressure at 180-200⁰C for 20 seconds.
The dye sublimes under heat from the paper and is
absorbed by thermoplastic substrates.

• The colouring matter & the thermoplastic binder are

transferred to the fabric under heat & pressure.

• After the release of the film, paper is removed when the

design is completely transferred to the fabric.
 HEAT TRANSFER PRINTING
• Produces sharp and clear fine-line designs

• Ability to print cut garment parts and small items

• Adaptable to long and short yardage runs

• Rapid pattern changeover possible

• Simple and low-investment installation

• Heat setting is also accomplished

• Lead-time for paper preparation can cause problems in high fashion

markets

• Fiber content in fabric should be minimum 50% of synthetic fiber.

• Over print only on pastel colour background is possible or else print

design will not completely cover the original colour.
HEAT TRANSFER PRINTING