Printing Flow Chart
Printing Flow Chart
when printing textiles, the dye or pigment is not in an aqueous liquor, instead, it is usually finely
dispersed in a printing paste, in high concentration
Textile Printing
The dye or pigment paste is applied to the substrate using different techniques, which are
discussed below
Fixation
Immediately after printing, the fabric is dried and then the prints are fixed mainly with steam or
hot air (for pigments). Note that intermediate drying is not carried out when printing carpets (too
much energy would be needed for removing the highly viscous liquor)
After-Treatment
This final operation consists in washing and drying the fabric (it is not necessary when printing
with pigments or with other particular techniques such as transfer printing).
Pigment Printing
Pigment printing has gained much importance today and for some fibers (e.g. cellulose fibers) is
by far the most commonly applied technique. Pigments can be used on almost all types of textile
substrates and, thanks to increased performance of modern auxiliaries, it is now possible to
obtain high-quality printing using this technique.
Pigment printing pastes contain a thickening agent, a binder and, if necessary, other auxiliaries
such as fixing agents, plasticizers, defoamers, etc.
White spirit-based emulsions, used in the past as thickening systems, are used only occasionally
today (mainly half-emulsion thickeners).
After applying the printing paste, the fabric is dried and then the pigment is normally fixed with
hot air (depending on the type of binder in the formulation, fixation can also be achieved by
storage at 20C for a few days). The advantage of pigment printing is that the process can be
done without subsequent washing (which, in turn, is needed for most of the other printing
techniques).
Printing Paste Preparation
Dye Printing process traditionally starts with the preparation of the paste. Compared to pigment
printing, the composition of the pastes is more complex and variable, being determined not by
the dye used, but by the printing technique, the substrate, the application and the fixation
methods applied.
Apart from the dye, printing pastes contain a thickening agent and various other auxiliaries,
which can be classified according to their function as follows:
Oxidizing agents (e.g. m-nitrobenzenesulphonate, sodium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide)
Reducing agents (e.g. sodium dithionite, formaldehyde sulphoxylates, thiourea dioxide,
tin(II) 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, ethylen 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.).All the necessary ingredients are metered (dosed) and mixed together in a mixing
station. Since between 5 and 10 different printing pastes are usually necessary to print a
single pattern (in some cases up to 20 different pastes are applied), in order to reduce
losses, due to incorrect measurement, the preparation of the pastes is done in automatic
stations. In modern plants, with the help of special devices, the exact amount of printing
paste required is determined and prepared in continuous mode for each printing position,
thus reducing leftovers at the end of the run.
It is common practice in many printing houses to filter the printing pastes before application,
using for example a filter cloth. This operation is especially important for thickeners to prevent
free particles from blocking the openings of the screens.
Printing (Paste Application)
After preparation, the paste is applied to specific areas of the textile using one of the following
techniques:
Direct printing (which also includes digital and transfer printing)
Discharge printing
Resist printing.
In the case of direct printing the dye is applied to specific areas of a pretreated textile substrate,
which can be white or pre-dyed (in light colours).
Read more: http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/2011/07/textile-printing-what-is-
textile_6758.html#ixzz3436pG6T3