Printing of Synthetic Fabrics & Their Blends

(1) Printing of Polyester Fabric :

Preparation of fabric :
Pretreatment of polyester fabric, before printing, is necessary to remove added impurities, to
achieve desirable whiteness and to remove any protruding fibres on the surface.
(i) Singeing : In singeing the protruding fibres from the fabric surface are removed to produce an
even and smooth surface. This is necessary to produce sharp design prints. Since singeing leads
to harsh feel of fabric, it is sometimes omitted to retain the soft handle of the fabric.
(ii) Scouring : During scouring the added impurities of the spin finish and sizing chemicals are
removed from the fabric and required wettability for subsequent process i.e. printing has been
achieved. The scouring conditions of polyester fabrics are described in table – 1. After scouring
the fabric is washed thoroughly to neutral pH.

Table – 1 : Scouring of polyester fabric

Non-ionic Scouring
Non-ionic detergent – 2 to 5 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Temperature – 80 to 90oC
Time – 60 to 90 minutes

(iii) Bleaching : Sodium chlorite is the effective bleaching agent for 100 % polyester fabric. The
bleaching can be carried out as prescribed in table – 2.

Table – 2 : Bleaching of polyester fabric

Sodium chlorite – 1 to 2 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Sulphuric acid (Conc) – 1 to 2 cc/l
Sodium nitrate – 3 gpl
Temperature – 90oC
Time – 1 to 1.5 hours

(iv) Heat setting : Heat setting of polyester fabric is carried out to improve dimensional stability,
crease resistance and resistance to pilling. Heat setting is carried out mainly at 180 – 210oC for
15 – 30 seconds on pin stenter.
 DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Polyester fabric can be printed with disperse dye in direct style comfortably. The
steps involved are :
(a) Preparation & application of printing paste
(b) Fixation of dye on the fabric
(c) Aftertreatment

Ingredients : The ingredients required for polyester fabric (100 %), knitted or woven are as
follow:

(i) Dye : Disperse dyes are the most suitable for printing on polyester fabrics. The
characteristics of dyes required for printing can be summarized as follow

 They should have very good sublimation, light and washing fastness.
 They should have a high degree of dispersibility so that they can be easily dispersed in
water at 40 – 50oC.
 Disperse dyes in paste form are more preferable as they contain less amount of dispersing
agent and are very finely dispersed.
 For discharge print on polyester, azo chrompopheric dyes are suitable for ground colours
and anthraquinone based dyes should be used as illuminant colours.

(ii) Dispersing agents or solvents : Dispersing agent or solvent is added in printing of

polyester fabric to prevent agglomeration or crystallization or precipitation of dyestuff molecules
in the concentrated paste of the dye (Although the solid/liquid disperse dye contains 50 – 90 %
dispersing agent, still this amount is not sufficient to maintain the dye in fine dispersed form in
concentrated paste form). Addition of dispersing agent or solvent, increases the solubility of
disperse dye in printing paste. It should be compatible with the dye and other ingredients of the
paste, easily biodegradable and required in minimum necessary quantity.
Anionic dispersing agents give the best results. Non-ionic dispersing agent can also be used;
however, its cloud point should be high. Some of the non-ionic dispersing agents also lower the
rubbing fastness of print because the higher deposition of dye on the surface of the fabric.
Addition of solvent like, diethylene glycol, thiodiglycol, sodium benzyl sulfanilate etc. increase
the solubility of disperses dye in the paste. However, the use of solvents is not commercially
possible because of high cost, involvement of handling problems, limited solubility of most of
the dyestuffs in solvents etc.

(iii) Thickeners : Selection of thickener is important in polyester printing and depends on

methods of printing or fixation, type of fabric, style of printing, ingredients of printing paste etc.
The selection criteria’s of thickeners for polyester printing can be summarized as follow

 The thickener film should adhere well to the fabric and should produce an elastic film to
prevent cracking, splintering and dusting off.
 Level prints with sharp outlines should be produced.
 The thickener must be easily removable in the after-treatment.
  Thickeners with a High solid content bring less water on to the hydrophobic fabric and
produce sharper and more level prints than those with low solid content. Further,
thickeners with high solid content are less sensitive to crushing.
 Thickeners with low solid content behave better with respect to splintering and produce
better colour yield, but sharpness of print is not as good as with high solid content
thickeners.
 Disperse dyes are printed under mild acidic conditions (pH 5 – 6) and the thickener
should be stable and soluble under these conditions.
 It should be cheaper, easily available & non toxic.
Natural gums, starch ethers and modified locust bean gums (gum indalca) are the commonly
used thickeners in polyester printing. Sodium alginate is less suitable since it reduces the
brightness of the print with disperse dyes especially in the thermosol process. However, all these
thickeners are not much suitable when used alone. Combination of thickeners should give much
better results. Natural thickeners produce sharp prints and dried film is relatively more elastics.
But for blotch printing using natural thickeners, levelness is not satisfactory. Carboxyl mehyl
cellulose (CMC) produces level, sharp and good yield print, however, if quality of CMC is not
proper, some insoluble particles may remain, which can clog the screens. Starch ethers have been
most successfully used in polyester printing, but their wash off properties is poor. Emulsion
thickeners are better since the mineral spirits (used in emulsion thickener) are excellent wetting
agent for polyester fabrics. These thickeners increase levelness and penetration of the dye in the
fibres. They also minimize the colour transfer in roller printing and reduce screen frame marks in
screen printing. Thickeners with reducing nature (british gum) produces duller prints. Addition
of mild oxidizing agents (1 to 2 %) prevents this problem.

(iv) Carriers and mild oxidizing agents : The compact structure of polyester fabric, makes
it difficult for the dyes to penetrate inside the fiber structure. Therefore, carriers are added in the
paste. Addition of suitable carriers in the print paste of polyester accelerate the colour yield of
disperse dyes by swelling the fiber structure; however, different dyes behave differently towards
carries. In the case of fixation of disperse dye prints on polyester fabrics, diphenyl and o-phenyl
phenol are found to be the best carriers. After printing carriers should be removed completely
from the fabric because residual carrier may lower the light fastness.
In order to neutralize the reducing atmosphere in the fixation and to obtain better bright print of
disperse dye on polyester fabric, sometimes mild oxidizing agent is added in the paste. For this
purpose, sodium meta chloro nitrobenzene sulphonate (ludigol or resist salt etc.) is widely used
for the purpose. However, this oxidizing agent does not exhibit sufficient efficiency in acidic
media.

(v) Acids : Alkali sensitivity of disperse dyes make it essential to adjust the printing paste pH to
about 5. For this purpose acetic acid or acid liberating agent such as ammonium sulphate,
ammonium chloride etc are added in the paste. Many of the acid liberating inorganic salts cause
browning of the thickeners during high temperature fixation. Therefore, non volatile organic acid
such as citric acid, tartaric acid, glycolic acid etc are used for the high temperature fixation
method.
Procedure : The printing paste of disperse dye is prepared as per the methods of fixation
(Table–3). Disperse dyes are sprinkled in water with constant stirrer and with addition of
dispersing agent. Printing of polyester with conventional disperse dyes and thickeners gives
colour yields of only 60 – 80 %. Disperse dyes that are free from diluents will fix almost 100 %
on a scoured polyester fabric. The acid solution is added to the thickening while the mixture is
being stirred to avoid localized precipitation of the thickener by the acid.
After printing, the fabric is dried carefully at 80 – 100oC on stenter. As disperse dyes are most
susceptible to flushing during pressure steaming, it is advisable to slightly over dried the fabric.
After drying the printed fabric is fixed by any one of the fixation method.

Table – 3 : Printing paste formulation for polyester printing

Ingredients Atmospheric Pressure HT Steaming Dry Heat

Steaming Steaming Fixation
Disperse Dye X X X X
Water 100 – 150 100 - 150 100 - 150 100 – 150
Acid OR Acid Y Y Y Y
Liberating Agent
Solvent 0 – 50 0 – 50 - 50 – 100
Carrier 0 – 20 - 10 – 50 -
Mild Oxidising 0.5 – 5 0.5 – 5 - -
Agent
Thickener Z Z Z Z
Total 1000 1000 1000 1000

Fixation methods : There are four methods of fixation of disperse colour print on polyester
fabric.
(i) Atmospheric steaming : In this method printed fabric is fixed at steam temperature of 100oC
at atmospheric pressure. The conditions are : Temperature – 100oC, Pressure – Atmospheric
pressure, Time – 2 to 3 hours. This process is mainly operated in batch wise. Grey cloth required
for supporting the printed material and hence the cost of printing is high. Further this method is
time consuming process. However, this method gives good colour yield and disperse dyes of low
sublimation fastness can also be used. This method is mainly used for laboratory or small batch
fabric.
(ii) Pressure steaming : In this method printed fabric is fixed at steam temperature of 125 -
130oC at pressure of 20 – 30 psi. The conditions are : Temperature – 125 – 130oC, Pressure – 20
– 30 psi, Time – 20 to 30 minutes. This method involved simple equipment which is like
pressure kier in which dry steam is fed at the bottom and is kept under pressure after allowing all
condensate air to escape. The inside atmosphere should be completely free from wet moisture.
As the 100 % polyester fabric is printed in very small quantity, this method is more popular. A
wider range of dyes can be selected and deeper colours can be produced by steaming under
pressure. This method does not required addition of carrier and disperse dye of low sublimation
fastness can be used. The print obtain by this method is brighter and of full colour value. This
process is mainly operated in batch wise and grey cloth required for supporting the printed
material and hence the cost of printing is high and production rate is low. Further this method is
time consuming process and needs more labour.
(iii) High temperature steaming : In this method printed fabric is fixed at steam temperature of
165 - 180oC at pressure of 20 – 30 psi. The conditions are : Temperature – 165 – 180oC, Pressure
– 20 – 30 psi, Time – 1to 5 minutes. This is a continuous process and produced full colour yield
and bright print. The dyes having sublimation fastness better upto 180oc can be selected in this
method. In this method steaming is carried out under tensionless conditions, the feel of fabric
will be very soft.
(iv) Dry heat or thermo fixation : In this method printed fabric is fixed by subjecting to dry hot
air for shorter time. The conditions are : Temperature – 180 – 210oC, Time – 60 to120 seconds.
This is a continuous process of fixation, where flushing of print does not take place, even if the
printed fabric is moist. Since the fixation does not require steaming, the process can be carried
out on stenter or baking machine, where heat setting and thermo fixation was carried out.
However, the method cannot be used for dyes having low sublimation fastness properties.
Further, the finish on the material becomes slightly harsher and 10 to 15 % less colour yield is
obtained.

After treatment : In order to get desired brightness and fastness properties as well as handle of
the fabric, it is essential to remove all the unfixed dye and ingredients of the printing paste from
the surface of the fabric. The cycle of after treatments are as follow
Rinse with tape water
Rinse with hot water
Reduction cleared with 2 gpl caustic soda, 2 gpl sodium hydrosulphite and 0.5 gpl wetting agent
at 50 – 60oC for 10 – 20 minutes
Washing with water
Soaping with non-ionic detergent at 60 – 70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes
Washing to neutral pH and Drying

DISCHARGE STYLE OF PRINTING ON POLYESTER FABRIC

Principle : Polyester fabric can be dyed with selected disperse dyes (Easily dischargeable) by
carrier or exhaust methods and printed with discharge paste. After proper fixation method it is
possible to get discharge print on dyed polyester fabric. This method of printing is mainly used
for batch wise (small lots) printing of polyester fabric.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for polyester fabric (100 %), knitted or woven for
discharge print are as follow:
(i) Dye : Disperse dyes have following requirements for this particular print.
(a) Dyes which are of azo chromopheric groups (easily dischergable) should be used as ground
colour and antraqunone chromopheric group dyes (non – dischergable) should be selected as an
illuminant colour. However, auxochromic groups also effects on discargebility of azo group
dyes.
(b) Dyes having high sublimation and washing fastness should be used in printing.
(c) Disperse dyes in paste form are more preferable as illuminant colour than powder form.

(ii) Solvents : Addition of solvent like, diethylene glycol, thiodiglycol, sodium benzyl
sulfanilate etc. increase the solubility of disperses dye in the paste. However, the use of solvents
is not commercially possible because of high cost, involvement of handling problems, limited
solubility of most of the dyestuffs in solvents etc.

(iii) Carriers: The compact structure of polyester fabric, makes it difficult for the dyes to
penetrate inside the fiber structure. Therefore, carriers are added in the paste. Addition of
suitable carriers in the print paste of polyester accelerate the colour yield of disperse dyes by
swelling the fiber structure, however, different dyes behave differently towards carries. In the
case of fixation of disperse dye prints on polyester fabrics, diphenyl and o-phenyl phenol are
found to be the best carriers. After printing carriers should be removed completely from the
fabric because residual carrier may lower the light fastness.
(iv) Discharging agent : Normally, reducing agents are used as discharging chemicals in the
print paste. For this purpose zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde (Rongalite – Z), Thioure dioxide,
Stannous chloride, Benzyl peroxide etc can be used as discharging agents in polyester print.
(v) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effective in alkaline and/or reducing conditions
can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean gum etc can
be used for this purpose.

Procedure : In this style of printing polyester fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable
disperse dyes either by carrier method or HT/HP method (table – 4). After dyeing the fabric is
reduction cleared, washed, soaped, washed thoroughly and dried. It is then printed with any one
of the discharge paste prescribed in table – 5.

Table – 4 : Methods of polyester fabric dyeing

Methods Dye Carrier Dispersing Acetic Sodium Temp

(dischargeable) (gpl) Agent Acid (cc/l) Acetate (oC)
(gpl) For pH = (gpl) (pH &
4–5 Buffer) Time
(min)
Carrier X% 1–5 1–5 1–5 1–5 100 / 60
HT/HP X% - 1–8 1–5 1–5 130 / 60
Thermosol X gpl Thickener 1–5 1–5 1–5 180 / 45-
(5 gpl) 60 Sec
 Table – 5 : Print paste formulation for discharge print on polyester fabric

Ingredients Zinc Thioure dioxide Stannous Benzyl peroxide

sulphoxylate chloride
formaldehyde
(Rongalite – Z),
Disperse dye X X X X
Water 100 100 100 100
Solvent 50 – 100 50 – 100 50 – 100 50 – 100
Thickener 500 – 600 500 – 600 500 – 600 500 – 600
Carrier 50 - - -
Discharging 200 200 150 300
agent
pH Weak acid Neutral Acidic Weak acid

In all the above pastes, for white discharge print, no disperse dyes are added in printing paste.
After printing on dyed fabric with any one of the above paste, it is dried at 100oC, and then fixed
by any one of the methods namely, high pressure/high temperature steaming (120 – 130oC for 20
– 30 minutes), high pressure/very high temperature steaming (160 – 180oC for 1 to 5 minutes)
and thermosol process (180 – 210oC for 30 to 60 secconds).

After treatment : In order to get desired brightness and fastness properties as well as handle of
the fabric, it is essential to remove all the unfixed dye and ingredients of the printing paste from
the surface of the fabric. The fabric is rinsed with water, reduction cleared with 2 gpl caustic
soda, 2 gpl sodium hydrosulphite and 0.5 gpl wetting agent at 50 – 60oC for 10 – 20 minutes,
washing with water, soaping with non-ionic detergent at 60 – 70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes, washing
to neutral pH and drying

RESIST STYLE OF PRINTING ON POLYESTER FABRIC

Principle : In this method of printing, polyester fabric is first padded with disperse dye solution
and dried. The drying is carried out in such way that ground colour will do not develop. The
fabric is then printed with resist paste formulation, dried and fixed (both ground and print)
mainly by continuous method.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for polyester fabric (100 %) for resist print are as follow:
(i) Dye : Disperse dyes have following requirements for this particular print.
(a) Any disperse dye can be used as ground colour in this print. The illuminant colour will stable
to the print formulation.
(b) Dyes having high sublimation and washing fastness should be used in printing.
(c) Disperse dyes in paste form are more preferable as illuminant colour than powder form.

(ii) Solvents : Addition of solvent like, diethylene glycol, thiodiglycol, sodium benzyl
sulfanilate etc. increase the solubility of disperses dye in the paste. However, the use of solvents
is not commercially possible because of high cost, involvement of handling problems, limited
solubility of most of the dyestuffs in solvents etc.
(iii) Resisting agent : In this method resisting agents which prevent the development of disperse
dye are selected in this print. The various resisting agents used are, mechanical resisting
(albumin, zinc salt etc), alkalis (sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate etc), metallic salts (copper,
cobalt salts), reducing agents (sodium sulphoxylate formaldehyde, thiourea dioxide, stannous
chloride etc).
(iv) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effectiveness in alkaline and/or reducing
conditions can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean
gum etc can be used for this purpose.

Procedure : In this style of printing polyester fabric is first padded any disperse dyes with
following solution.
Disperse dye (Preferably easily dischargeable) – X gpl
Dispersing agent – 5 to 10 gpl
Migration inhibitor (Sodium alginate) – 5 to 15 gpl
Acetic acid – 1 to 5 cc/l (To maintain pH = 4.5 – 5.)
After printing fabric is dried at 100oC to avoid premature development of disperse dye which is
difficult to convert into white ground. It is then printed with white or coloured resist paste
prepared as prescribed in table – 6.

Table – 6 : Resist paste formulation

Ingrients White resist Colour resist

Resist stable disperse dye - X
Water Y Y
Solvent 30 50
Dispersing agent - 30 – 40
Resisting agent 100 – 200 100 – 200
Thickener Z Z
Whitening agent 50 -
Acid or Alkali 20 – 30 20 – 30
Total 1000 1000

After printing, fabric is fixed either by high temperature steaming i.e. 160 – 180oC for 1 to 5
minutes or by thermo fixation method i.e. 180 – 210oC for 30 to 60 seconds. Finally, the fabric is
rinsed with water, reduction cleared with 2 gpl caustic soda, 2 gpl sodium hydrosulphite and 0.5
gpl wetting agent at 50 – 60oC for 10 – 20 minutes, washing with water, soaping with non-ionic
detergent at 60 – 70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes, washing to neutral pH and drying
 Table – 7 : Comparison of various discharging / resisting agent for polyester print

Name of chemical Mechanism Dischargeable Non- Remarks

dischargeable
Benzoyl peroxide Dischargeability Anthraquinone Very few dyes Combination of
With sodium by strong oxiding blue, purple & are suitable to benzoyl peroxide
chlorite agent violet dyes this chemical & & sodium
conditions chlorite in 3 : 1
Thio-urea dioxide Discharging Choice of dye is Proper selection Moderate
effect by mild important criteria of dyes are reducing agent &
reducing agent essential rarely used as
alone
Alakali Discharging due Dyes having Having no ester Sometime alkali
to hydrolysis of ester group in group in damage the
ester groups structure are used structure polyester fiber
Alkali salts Chelate Selection of dye Dyes which do Suitable for azo,
formation which which form not form chelate anthraquinone,
has low affinity chelation tri & di
for th fiber phenylmethane
which form
chelate
Zinc sulphoxylate Discharging Most dyes are Limited choice Used in alkaline
formaldehyde effect by strong suitable for pH & high –Ve
reducing agent dischargeable & redox potential
good for white (- 500 mV)
discharge
Stannous chloride Discolouration of Azo class dyes Anthraquinone Moderate
dye by reduction are suitable dyes can be used reducing agent &
used for colour
discharge
Sodium Discharging Most dyes are Limited choice Used in alkaline
sulphoxylate effect by strong suitable for pH & high –Ve
formaldehyde reducing agent dischargeable & redox potential
good for white (- 870 mV)
discharge
 (2) Printing of Acrylic Fabric :
Pretretment : Acrylic fabric can be pretreated before printing as follow
(i) Singeing : In singeing the protruding fibres from the fabric surface are removed to produce an
even and smooth surface. This is necessary to produce sharp design prints. Since singeing leads
to harsh the feel of fabric, it is sometimes omitted to retain the soft handle of the fabric.
(ii) Scouring : Acrylic fibres turn yellow and get degraded when treated with alkali at
temperature higher than 70oC. Therefore, anionic detergent can be used only for mild scouring
i.e. upto 70oC, while non-ionic detergent can be used upto 80 – 90oC. The scouring conditions of
acrylic fibres are described in table – 8.

Table – 8 : Scouring of acrylic fiber

Anionic Scouring Non-ionic Scouring

Anionic detergent – 2 gpl Non-ionic detergent – 2 gpl
Soda ash – 0.5 to 1 gpl Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Wetting agent – 0.5 gpl Temperature – 80 to 90oC
Temperature – 70oC Time – 45 to 60 minutes
Time – 60 minutes

(iii) Bleaching : Sodium chlorite is the effective bleaching agent for acrylic fibres. The
bleaching can be carried out as prescribed in table – 9.
Table – 9 : Bleaching of acrylic fibre

Sodium chlorite – 1 to 2 gpl

Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Sulphuric acid (Conc) – 1 to 2 cc/l
Sodium nitrate – 3 gpl
Temperature – 90oC
Time – 1 to 1.5 hours

DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Acrylic fabric can be printed with various dye in acidic medium with direct style
comfortably and fixed by steaming.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for acrylic fabric (100 %) for direct print are as follow:
(i) Dye : Cationic, disperse and vat dyes are suitable for printing acrylic fabric in direct style.
Cationic dyes are most widely used for printing acrylic fabric. They have very good fastness on
acrylic fabric and produce brilliant shades. Disperse dyes produce subdued shade on acrylic
fabric and their fastness properties are not as good as with cationic dyes. They produce pale to
medium shades on acrylic fabric in satisfactory level. A large number of vat dyes may be used
for printing on acrylic fabric. These print show good light and wet fastness properties but their
rubbing fastness is poor. They cannot be produced along with the cationic dyes.
(ii) Thickeners : Since acrylic fabrics are hydrophobic in nature, the thickener should be
carefully selected taking following considerations.

 The thickeners should not affect the colour yield.

 The thickeners should not cause bleeding of the dyestuffs.
 The thickeners should be stable to acidic medium used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be compatible with the other chemicals used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be easily removable during washing treatment.
Modified guar gum, gum tragacanth, british gum, etc are the suitable thickeners for printing on
acrylic fabrics.
(iii) Acids : The printing paste consists acetic acid as well as tartaric acid to improve the
solubility of the dyestuffs and to maintain pH of the paste. Since acetic acid evaporates during
steaming (due to its volatile nature), non volatile acids like tartaric acid, oxalic acid etc is
preferable in the printing paste.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent increase the volume of open structure of the
fiber as well as decrease the glass transition temperature of the fiber. Resorcinol, phenol or
benzyl alcohol may be added as fiber-swelling agent to increase the penetration of dye in the
fiber. The excessive use of solvent may result in increased bleeding with certain cationic dyes.
Addition of swelling agent and/or oxidizing agent decreases the solubility of dye. For this
purpose and to increases solubility rate with low content of water, solvent is added in the print
paste. Thiodiethylene glycol, glycerine, acetone etc can be used as solvent in printing paste.
(v) Mild oxidizing agent : In order to neutralize the reducing atmosphere in the fixation and to
obtain better bright print of disperse dye on polyester fabric, sometimes mild oxidizing agent is
added in the paste. For this purpose, sodium meta chloro nitrobenzene sulphonate (ludigol or
resist salt etc.) is widely used for the purpose. However, this oxidizing agent does not exhibit
sufficient efficiency in acidic media. Sodium chlorate can also be used in the print paste as it has
effectiveness in acidic medium also.

Procedure :
(1) Printing with cationic dye :
The print formulation for acrylic fabric printing with cationic dyes can be prepared as in
prescribed in table – 10.
The fabric is printed with above paste, dried in hot flue dryer, and steamed in star or rapid ager at
102 – 105oC for 30 – 40 minutes. Steaming above 105oC may change the feel of the fabric,
bleeding of the colour and shrinkage increases. After steaming, fabric is rinsed in water, soaped
with non-ionic detergent (1 – 5 gpl) at 60oC for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.
 Table – 10 : Print formulation for acrylic fabric with cationic dyes
Cationic dye – X Parts
Acetic acid (50 %) – 20 to 30 Parts
Thidiethylene glycol – 20 to 30 Parts
Tartaric acid (50%) – 20 Parts
Sodium chlorate – 4 to 8 Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Resorcinol or Phenol – 20 to 30 parts
Total – 1000 Parts

(2) Printing with disperse dye :

The print formulation for acrylic fabric printing with disperse dyes can be prepared as in
prescribed in table – 11.

Table – 11 : Print formulation for acrylic fabric with disperse dyes

Disperse dye – X Parts
Acetic acid (50 %) – 20 to 30 Parts
Dispersing agent – 2 to 5 Parts
Tartaric acid (50%) – 20 Parts
Resist salt – 4 to 8 Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Carrier (optional) – 2 to 3 parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Addition of thiourea (20 gpl) improves the colour yield. The printed fabric is dried carefully and
prints are fixed by steaming for 30 minutes at a pressure of 0.5 – 0.7 kg/cm2. Alternatively,
super heated steam at 125 – 160oC for 1 minute can also be used. Fixation by dry-heat treatment
is not recommended, since the acrylic fabric turns yellower and feel becomes harsh at higher
temperature (190 – 210oC).
After fixation of the print, fabric is rinsed with water, reduction cleared with 2 gpl caustic soda, 2
gpl sodium hydrosulphite and 0.5 gpl wetting agent at 50 – 60oC for 10 – 20 minutes, washing
with water, soaping with non-ionic detergent at 60 – 70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes, washing to neutral
pH and drying.

(3) Printing with Vat dye :

The print formulation for acrylic fabric printing with vat dyes can be prepared as in prescribed in
table – 12.
 Table – 12 : Print formulation for acrylic fabric with vat dyes
Vat dye (paste form) – X Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Glycerine – 20 to 40 Parts
Sodium carbonate – 50 to 60 Parts
Sodium sulphoxylate formaldehyde – 100 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Fabric is printed with the above paste, dried and steamed for 10 monute at atmospheric pressure.
It is then washed, and oxidized with hydrogen peroxide at 60oC for 10 minutes. The fabric is
then washed, soaped (with non-ionic detergent), and dried.

DISCHARGE STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Acrylic fabric can be printed with easily dischargeable cationic dyes and printed
with discharging agent and/or non dischargeable cationic dyes, it is possible to produce white
and/or colour discharge effect on acrylic fabrics. Colour discharge effect can also be produced by
dyeing with easily dischargeable disperse dyes and printing with discharge resistant disperse
dyes.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for acrylic fabric (100 %) for discharge print are as
follow:
(i) Dye : Cationic and disperse dyes which are easily dischargeable are suitable for the ground
colours and non dischargeable dyes are used as illuminant colours.
(ii) Discharging agent : Normally, reducing agents are used as discharging chemicals in the
print paste. For this purpose zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde (Rongalite – Z), Thioure dioxide,
Stannous chloride, Benzyl peroxide etc can be used as discharging agents in polyester print.
For colour discharge on acrylic fabric tin or stannous salts, which are stable to acidic medium are
used as discharging agents.
(iii) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effective in alkaline and/or reducing conditions
can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean gum etc can
be used for this purpose.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent (solvent) increase the volume of open structure
of the fibre, increases the solubility of dye and decrease the glass transition temperature of the
fiber. Resorcinol, phenol, thiodiethylene glycol, glycerine, acetone etc or benzyl alcohol may be
added as fiber-swelling agent to increase the penetration of dye in the fiber. The excessive use of
solvent may result in increased bleeding with certain cationic dyes.

Procedure :
(1) White and colour discharge print with cationic dye :
The fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable cationic dyes (discharging index = 5) as per the
procedure described in table – 13.

Table – 13 : Dyeing procedure of cationic dye on acrylic fabric

Chemicals Conc (gpl) / Parameters

Cationic dye X%
Cationicretarder 5 to 10
Acetic acid 0.5 to 1 (To maintain pH 5 to 6)
Temperature 90 – 100oC
Time 60 minutes

After completion of dyeing, acrylic fabric is printed with following white or colour discharge
paste prepared as per prescribed in table – 14.

Table – 14 : Discharge print formulation on acrylic fabric

Name of chemical White discharge Colur discharge

Discharge-resistant cationic dye - X Parts
Solvent 50 – 60 Parts 80 – 90 Parts
Water Y Parts Y Parts
Thickener Z Parts Z Parts
Rongalite – Z 40 – 80 Parts -
Mild alkali 20 Parts -
Tin Salts (1 : 1) - 100 – 200 Parts
Tartaric acid - 5 – 10 Parts
Total 1000 1000

After printing, fabric is dried and steamed at 102 – 150oC for 20 minutes. The fabric is then
rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.

(2) Colour discharge print with disperse dye :

The fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable disperse dyes (discharging index = 5) as per the
procedure described in table – 15.

Table – 15 : Dyeing procedure of disperse dye on acrylic fabric

Chemicals Conc (gpl) / Parameters

Disperse dye X%
Dispersing agent 1 to 5
Acetic acid 0.5 to 1 (To maintain pH 5 to 6)
Temperature 100 – 110oC
Time 60 minutes
After completion of dyeing, acrylic fabric is printed with following colour discharge paste
prepared as per prescribed in table – 16.

Table – 16 : Discharge print formulation on acrylic fabric

Name of chemical Colur discharge

Discharge-resistant disperse dye X Parts
Solvent 20 – 40 Parts
Water Y Parts
Thickener Z Parts
Tin Salts (1 : 1) 100 – 200 Parts
Tartaric acid 5 – 10 Parts
Total 1000

After printing, fabric is dried and steamed at 102 – 150oC for 20 minutes. The fabric is then
rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.

(3) Printing of Polyamide Fabric :

Pretretment : Nylon – 6,6 and 6 fabrics can be pretreated before printing as follow
(i) Singeing : In singeing the protruding fibres from the fabric surface are removed to produce an
even and smooth surface. This is necessary to produce sharp design prints. Since singeing leads
to harsh feel of fabric, it is sometimes omitted to retain the soft handle of the fabric.
(ii) Scouring : Nylon fabrics contain spin-finish, coning oils, tinting colours, and dirt . These
added impurities are to be removed before printing by scouring process. Anionic detergent has
affinity for nylon and turn yellow and get degraded at temperature higher than 80oC. Therefore,
non-ionic detergent can be used upto 80 – 90oC. The scouring conditions of nylon fabrics are
described in table – 17.

Table – 17 : Scouring of nylon fiber

Non-ionic Scouring
Non-ionic detergent – 2 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Temperature – 80 to 90oC
Time – 45 to 60 minutes

(iii) Bleaching : Nylon has a good natural whiteness and not bleached except for slight
yellowing cause by heat setting or white ground is required. Sodium chlorite is the best bleaching
agent for good whiteness on nylon fabrics without any damage. The bleaching can be carried out
as per the process prescribed in table – 18.
 Table – 18 : Bleaching of nylon fabric
Sodium chlorite – 1 to 2 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Formic acid (Conc) – 1 to 2 cc/l (For pH = 4.0)
Sodium nitrate – 3 gpl
Temperature – 80oC
Time – 1 to 1.5 hours

(iv) Heat setting : Nylon fabric is heat set for 30 – 45 seconds at 150 – 180oC to get dimensional
stability.

DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Nylon fabric can be printed with various dye in acidic medium with direct style
comfortably and fixed by steaming. Printing on nylon fabric differs from dyeing in the following
ways.

 Dyes of various classes can be applied in conjunction with each other.

 Barriness (light and deep lines of coloured yarns at regular intervals across the fabric
width) of the material is of little significance
 No blocking effects occur
 Colour build up is of great importance in producing full shades
 Fastness to water, sea water, persiparation and chlorine is most essential to the most
fabrics.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for nylon fabric (100 %) for direct print are as follow:
(i) Dye : Dyes selected for nylon printing should have following properties

 The dye should have very good washing and light fastness properties.
 The dye should produce sharp prints of good coverage with speck free prints.
 The dye should be easily fixed and produce good yield in deep shades.
 The stability and solubility of dye in the printing paste should be higher.
Acid dyes, 1:1 and 1:2 metal complex dyes, disperse dyes and reactive dyes can be used for
printing of nylon fabrics. Acid and metal complex dyes are widely used because of their
versatility for different percentage shades, better fastness properties and brightness of the colour.
Disperse dyes are used principally for producing prints of medium and pale shades on nylon
fabrics. They have good leveling properties and hence, are of special interest for blotch prints.
However, these dyes are not suitable for producing heavy shades because of the poor washing
fastness and improper brightness.
Hot brand reactive dyes can be fixed on nylon fabric at pH 7.5 and can be used. Specially
developed neutral reactive dyes are also used for printing of nylon. Reactive dyes produce duller
shades with poor fastness properties and mainly used for pale shade.
(ii) Thickeners : Since nylon fabrics are hydrophobic in nature, the thickener should be carefully
selected taking following considerations.

 The thickeners should not affect the colour yield.

 The thickeners should not cause bleeding of the dyestuffs.
 The thickeners should be stable to acidic medium used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be compatible with the other chemicals used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be easily removable during washing treatment.
 The thickeners should have high solid content.
Crystal gums produce print of good colour value and excellent print and may be easily washed
off. However, they have drawback that blotches dried in hot air becomes brittle, and may cause
fiber damage if over-dried. This drawback can be minimized by adding low viscosity sodium
alginate, starch ethers, etherified locust bean gums etc along with the above thickeners.
Modified locust bean gums print well and do not become brittle when dried.
British gums produce prints of good colour value and the pastes are not coagulated by addition of
solvents.
Emulsion thickeners produce prints of good sharpness, which wash easily. However, they may
produce prints of poor colour value.
(iii) Acids : The printing required acidic medium for fixation of colour on nylon fabrics. For this
purpose, weak acids like tartaric acid, or acid liberating agents like, ammonium sulphate,
ammonium chloride, ammonium tartarate, etc can be used.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent increase the volume of open structure of the
fiber as well as decrease the glass transition temperature of the fiber. For this purpose, resorcinol,
phenol or benzyl alcohol may be added to increase the penetration of dye in the fiber.
In order to increase the solubility of dye in limited amount of water, solvent is also added in the
printing paste. For this purpose, urea, acetone, glycine etc can be used. Now, a day a single
chemical is used as solvent as well as swelling agent for printing of nylon fabric.
(v) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.

Procedure :
(1) Printing with acid and metal complex dyes :
The print formulation for nylon fabric printing with acid or metal complex dyes can be prepared
as prescribed in table – 19.
The fabric is printed with paste, dried in hot flue dryer, and steamed in star or rapid ager at 102 –
105oC for 30 – 40 minutes. After steaming the printed fabrics are rinsed with water, soaped with
non-ionic detergent (1 – 5 gpl) at 60oC for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried. One of the
drawbacks of polyamide printing with acid or metal complex dye is staining of white ground.
This can be minimized by treating the fabric with suitable chemical before printing or added in
washing-off liquor.

Table – 19 : Print formulation for nylon fabric with acid and metal complex dyes

Acid or metal complex dye – X Parts

Thioureadioxide – 20 to 50 Parts
Phenol – 20 to 30 Parts
Ammonium sulphate – 40 to 50 Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Antifoaming agent – 1 to 5 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

(2) Printing with disperse dye :

The print formulation for nylon fabric printing with disperses dyes can be prepared as in
prescribed in table – 20.

Table – 20 : Print formulation for acrylic fabric with disperse dyes

Disperse dye – X Parts
Urea – 200 to 300 Parts
Dispersing agent – 2 to 5 Parts
Thickeners – 400 – 600 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Carrier (optional) – 2 to 3 parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying the print can be fixed by any one of the following methods.
(i) Pressure steaming : Steaming at pressure of 0.5 kg/cm2 for 30 minutes.
(ii) Superheated steam : Steaming at temperature of 160 – 180oC for 1 – 2 minutes
(iii) Dry-heat fixation : The fixation at 170 – 200oC for 30 to 60 seconds.
After fixation of the print, fabric is rinsed with water, reduction cleared with 2 gpl caustic soda, 2
gpl sodium hydrosulphite and 0.5 gpl wetting agent at 50 – 60oC for 10 – 20 minutes, washing
with water, soaping with non-ionic detergent at 60 – 70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes, washing to neutral
pH and drying.

(3) Printing with reactive dye :

The print formulation for nylon fabric printing with reactive dyes can be prepared as in
prescribed in table – 21.
 Table – 21 : Print formulation for nylon fabric with reactive dyes
Reactive dye – X Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Glycerine – 20 to 40 Parts
Sodium bicarbonate – 50 to 60 Parts
Diammonium citrate – 100 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Fabric is printed with the above paste, dried and steamed for 30 - 45 minute at atmospheric
pressure in star ager. It is then washed, and oxidized with hydrogen peroxide at 60oC for 10
minutes. The fabric is then washed, soaped (with non-ionic detergent), and dried.

DISCHARGE STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : It is possible to obtain white and colour discharge effect on polyamide fabric using
suitable discharging agent. The polyamide fabric is dyed with dischargeable acid dyes and
printed with paste containing discharging agent and/or non-dischargeable dyes for the production
of white and/or colour discharge print.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for polyamide fabric (100 %) for discharge print are as
follow:
(i) Dye : Acid, disperse and metal complex dyes which are easily dischargeable are suitable for
the ground colours and non dischargeable dyes are used as illuminant colours.
(ii) Discharging agent : Normally, reducing agents are used as discharging chemicals in the
print paste. For this purpose zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde (Rongalite – Z), Thioure dioxide,
Stannous chloride etc can be used as discharging agents in polyamide print. For colour discharge
on polyamide fabric non dischargeable acid dyes are used as illuminant colour.
(iii) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effectiveness in alkaline and/or reducing
conditions can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean
gum etc can be used for this purpose.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent (solvent) increase the volume of open structure
of the fibre, increases the solubility of dye and decrease the glass transition temperature of the
fiber. Resorcinol, phenol, thiodiethylene glycol, glycerine, acetone etc or benzyl alcohol may be
added as fiber-swelling agent to increase the penetration of dye in the fiber. The excessive use of
solvent may result in increased bleeding with certain cationic dyes.

Procedure :
The fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable acid, metal complex or disperse dyes
(discharging index = 5) as per the procedure described in table – 22.
Table – 22 : Dyeing procedure of acid/metal complex and disperse dye on polyamide fabric

Chemicals For Acid/Metal Complex For Disperse

Dye X% X%
Levelling agent 5 to 10 gpl 1 to 2 gpl
Acetic acid 1 (To maintain pH 4 to 5) 0.5 to 1 (To maintain pH 5 to 6)
Temperature 100 – 110oC 100 – 110oC
Time 60 minutes 60 minutes

After completion of dyeing, polyamide fabric is printed with following white or colour discharge
paste prepared as per prescribed in table – 23.

Table – 23 : Discharge print formulation on acrylic fabric

Name of chemical White discharge Colur discharge (With Colur discharge

Acid Dye) (With Disperse Dye)
Discharge-resistant dye - X Parts X Parts
Solvent 50 – 60 Parts 80 – 90 Parts 20 – 30 Parts
Water Y Parts Y Parts
Thickener Z Parts Z Parts
Rongalite – Z 100 – 250 Parts 100 – 250 Parts -
Thio Urea Dioxide 20 Parts - 150 – 300 Parts
Optical Brightening 3 – 5 Parts - -
Agent
Tartaric acid 5 – 10 Parts 5 – 10 Parts 5 – 10 Parts
Total 1000 1000

After printing, fabric is dried and steamed at 102 – 150oC for 15 – 20 minutes. The fabric is then
rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.

(4) Printing of Cellulose Acetate Fabric :

Pretretment : Cellulose acetae (1o Acetate) fabrics can be pretreated before printing as follow
(i) Singeing : In singeing the protruding fibres from the fabric surface are removed to produce an
even and smooth surface. This is necessary to produce sharp design prints. Since singeing leads
to harsh feel of fabric, it is sometimes omitted to retain the soft handle of the fabric.
(ii) Scouring : Cellulose acetate fabrics contain spin-finish, coning oils, tinting colours, and dirt .
These added impurities are to be removed before printing by scouring process. Non-ionic
detergent can be used upto 80 – 90oC for the scouring of Cellulose acetate fabric. The scouring
conditions of cellulose acetatefabrics are described in table – 24.
 Table – 24 : Scouring of cellulose acetate fabric

Non-ionic Scouring
Non-ionic detergent – 2 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Temperature – 80 to 90oC
Time – 45 to 60 minutes

(iii) Bleaching : Cellulose acetate has a good natural whiteness and not bleached except for
slight yellowing cause by heat setting or white ground is required. Sodium chlorite is the best
bleaching agent for good whiteness on cellulose acetate fabrics without any damage. The
bleaching can be carried out as per the process prescribed in table – 25.

Table – 25 : Bleaching of cellulose acetate fabric

Sodium chlorite – 1 to 2 gpl

Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Formic acid (Conc) – 1 to 2 cc/l (For pH = 4.0)
Sodium nitrate – 3 gpl
Temperature – 80oC
Time – 1 to 1.5 hours

(iv) Heat setting : Cellulose acetate fabric is heat set for 30 – 45 seconds at 180 – 210oC to get
dimensional stability.

DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Cellulose acetate fabric can be printed with disperse dye in acidic medium with
direct style comfortably and fixed by steaming.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for cellulose acetate fabric (100 %) for direct print are as
follow:
(i) Dye : Cellulose acetate fabric is thermoplastic fiber and relatively hydrophobic in nature.
Therefore, its printing depends on the use of special classes of dyes and/or by special methods.
Disperse dyes are the most widely used for printing of cellulose acetate fabric. However, the
wash fastness of disperse dye prints are poor, and can be improved by some special after
treatment.
To obtain good fastness of to washing on cellulose acetate fabric, acid, chrome, direct and metal
complex dyes can be used. However, most of these dyes have no affinity for cellulose acetate
fabric if applied by conventional process. They are printed by using swelling agent.
(ii) Thickeners : Since nylon fabrics are hydrophobic in nature, the thickener should be carefully
selected taking following considerations.
  The thickeners should not affect the colour yield.
 The thickeners should not cause bleeding of the dyestuffs.
 The thickeners should be stable to acidic medium used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be compatible with the other chemicals used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be easily removable during washing treatment.
 The thickeners should have high solid content.
Crystal gum, locust bean gum derivatives, and CMC alone or in admixture with each other and
also with half emulsion can be used for printing of cellulose acetate fabric. If the thickeners have
too much body, the print becomes too brittle during drying. Therefore, such thickeners are
suitable only for small designs.
(iii) Acids : The printing required acidic medium for fixation of colour on nylon fabrics. For this
purpose, weak acids like tartaric acid, or acid liberating agents like, ammonium sulphate,
ammonium chloride, ammonium tartarate, etc can be used.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent increase the volume of open structure of the
fiber as well as decrease the glass transition temperature of the fiber. For this purpose, acetic
acid, ethyl lactate, thiodiethylene glycol, diaacetone alcohol etc may be added to increase the
penetration of dye in the fiber.
In order to increase the solubility of dye in limited amount of water, solvent is also added in the
printing paste. For this purpose, urea, acetone, glycine etc can be used. The best results obtained
by dissolving the dye in 75/25 methylated spirit/water mixture.
(v) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.

Procedure :
(1) Printing with disperse dyes :
The print formulation for cellulose acetate fabric printing with disperse dyes can be prepared as
prescribed in table – 26.
The fabric is printed with paste, dried in hot flue dryer, and steamed in star or rapid ager at 102 –
105oC for 30 – 40 minutes. Thermo fixation or high temperature steaming cannot be used due to
the tendering of the fiber under this condition. After steaming the printed fabrics are rinsed with
water, soaped with non-ionic detergent (1 – 5 gpl) at 60oC for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and
dried.
 Table – 26 : Print formulation for cellulose acetate fabric with disperse dyes
Disperse dye – X Parts
Thiodiethylene glycol – 20 to 50 Parts
Ammonium sulphate – 40 to 50 Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Antifoaming agent – 1 to 5 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

(2) Printing with acid, metal complex, chrome dyes :

The print formulation for cellulose acetate fabric printing with all other dyes (except disperses
dyes) can be prepared as in prescribed in table – 27.

Table – 27 : Print formulation for cellulose acetate fabric with other dyes
Dye – X Parts
Urea – 200 to 300 Parts
Swelling agent – 10 to 20 Parts
Solvent – 20 to 50 Parts
Thickeners – 400 – 600 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Ammonium sulphate – 40 to 50 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

The fabric is printed with above paste, dried and steamed in star or rapid ager at 102 – 105oC for
30 – 40 minutes. Thermo fixation or high temperature steaming cannot be used due to the
tendering of the fiber under this condition. After steaming the printed fabrics are rinsed with
water, soaped with non-ionic detergent (1 – 5 gpl) at 60oC for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and
dried.

DISCHARGE STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : It is possible to obtain white and colour discharge effect on cellulose acetate fabric
using suitable discharging agent. The cellulose acetate fabric is dyed with dischargeable disperse
dyes and printed with paste containing discharging agent and/or non-dischargeable dyes for the
production of white and/or colour discharge print.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for cellulose acetate fabric (100 %) for discharge print
are as follow:
(i) Dye : Disperse dyes which are easily dischargeable are suitable for the ground colours and
non dischargeable disperse or some specific direct dyes are used as illuminant colours.
(ii) Discharging agent : A white discharge effects can be produced on cellulose acetate fabric by
zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde (Rongalite – Z). Colour discharge effect can be produced with
thioure dioxide because many disperse dyes withstand action of the said reducing agent.
(iii) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effectiveness in alkaline and/or reducing
conditions can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean
gum etc can be used for this purpose.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent (solvent) increase the volume of open structure
of the fibre, increases the solubility of dye and decrease the glass transition temperature of the
fiber. Resorcinol, phenol, thiodiethylene glycol, glycerine, acetone etc or benzyl alcohol may be
added as fiber-swelling agent to increase the penetration of dye in the fiber. The excessive use of
solvent may result in increased bleeding with certain cationic dyes.

Procedure :
The fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable disperse dyes as per the procedure described in
table – 28.

Table – 28 : Dyeing procedure of disperse dye on cellulose acetate fabric

Chemicals For Disperse

Disperse dye X%
Dispersing agent 1 to 2 gpl
Acetic acid & sodium acetae 0.5 to 1 (To maintain pH 5 to 5.5)
Temperature 110 – 120oC
Time 60 minutes
After completion of dyeing, polyamide fabric is printed with following white or colour discharge
paste prepared as per prescribed in table – 29.

Table – 29 : Discharge print formulation on cellulose acetate fabric

Name of chemical White discharge Colur discharge (With Disperse Dye)

Discharge-resistant dye - X Parts
Solvent 50 – 60 Parts 20 – 30 Parts
Water Y Parts
Thickener Z Parts
Rongalite – Z 150 – 250 Parts -
Thio Urea Dioxide 20 Parts 150 – 300 Parts
Optical Brightening 3 – 5 Parts -
Agent
Sodium acetate 5 – 10 Parts 5 – 10 Parts
Dispersing agent - 10 – 20 Parts
Total 1000

After printing, fabric is dried and steamed at 102 – 150oC for 15 – 20 minutes. The fabric is then
rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.
 (5) Printing of Cellulose Triacetate Fabric :
Pretretment : Cellulose triacetae (3o Acetate) fabrics can be pretreated before printing as
follow
(i) Singeing : In singeing the protruding fibres from the fabric surface are removed to produce an
even and smooth surface. This is necessary to produce sharp design prints. Since singeing leads
to harsh feel of fabric, it is sometimes omitted to retain the soft handle of the fabric.
(ii) Scouring : Cellulose triacetate fabrics contain spin-finish, coning oils, tinting colours, and
dirt . These added impurities are to be removed before printing by scouring process. Non-ionic
detergent can be used upto 80 – 90oC for the scouring of Cellulose acetate fabric. The scouring
conditions of cellulose triacetate fabrics are described in table – 30.

Table – 30 : Scouring of cellulose triacetate fabric

Non-ionic Scouring
Non-ionic detergent – 2 gpl
Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Temperature – 80 to 90oC
Time – 45 to 60 minutes

(iii) Bleaching : Cellulose triacetate has a good natural whiteness and not bleached except for
slight yellowing cause by heat setting or white ground is required. Sodium chlorite is the best
bleaching agent for good whiteness on cellulose acetate fabrics without any damage. The
bleaching can be carried out as per the process prescribed in table – 31.

Table – 31 : Bleaching of cellulose triacetate fabric

Sodium chlorite – 1 to 2 gpl

Wetting agent – 1 gpl
Formic acid (Conc) – 1 to 2 cc/l (For pH = 4.0)
Sodium nitrate – 3 gpl
Temperature – 80oC
Time – 1 to 1.5 hours

(iv) Heat setting : Cellulose acetate fabric is heat set for 30 – 45 seconds at 210 – 230oC to get
dimensional stability.

DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : Cellulose triacetate fabric can be printed with disperse dye in mild acidic medium
with direct style comfortably and fixed by steaming.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for nylon fabric (100 %) for direct print are as follow:
(i) Dye : Disperse dyes are most widely used for printing of cellulose triacetate fabric. If pressure
steaming is used for fixation of print then dyes of high sublimation fastness are used.
(ii) Thickeners : Since cellulose triacetate fabrics are hydrophobic in nature, the thickener
should be carefully selected taking following considerations.

 The thickeners should not affect the colour yield.

 The thickeners should not cause bleeding of the dyestuffs.
 The thickeners should be stable to acidic medium used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be compatible with the other chemicals used in print formulation.
 The thickeners should be easily removable during washing treatment.
 The thickeners should have high solid content.
Crystal gum, locust bean gum derivatives, methyl cellulose, sodium alginate and CMC alone or
in admixture with each other can be used for printing of cellulose triacetate fabric.
(iii) Acids : The printing paste required acidic medium for fixation of colour on cellulose
triacetate fabrics. For this purpose, weak acids like tartaric acid, or acid liberating agents like,
ammonium sulphate, ammonium chloride, ammonium tartarate, sodium acetate etc can be used.
(iv) Sweliing agent : Swelling agent increase the volume of open structure of the fiber as well as
decrease the glass transition temperature of the fiber. For this purpose, Diethylene glycol,
polyethylene glycol, zinc thiocynate, acetic acid, ethyl lactate, thiodiethylene glycol, diaacetone
alcohol etc may be added as swelling agent.
(v) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.

Procedure :
The print formulation for cellulose triacetate fabric printing with disperses dyes can be prepared
as prescribed in table – 32.

Table – 32 : Print formulation for cellulose triacetate fabric with disperse dyes
Disperse dye – X Parts
Thiodiethylene glycol – 20 to 50 Parts
Ammonium sulphate – 40 to 50 Parts
Thickeners – 500 Parts
Antifoaming agent – 1 to 5 Parts
Water – Y Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying, the print can be fixed by any one of the following methods.
(i) Festen steamer continuously
(ii) Star steamer at 103oC for 45 minutes at atmospheric pressure.
(iii) Steam under pressure at 170 – 200oC for 10 to 15 minutes.
After fixation of the print, fabric is rinsed with water, soaping with non-ionic detergent at 60 –
70oCfor 10 – 20 minutes, washing to neutral pH and drying.

DISCHARGE STYLE OF PRINTING

Principle : It is possible to obtain white and colour discharge effect on cellulose triacetate
fabric using suitable discharging agent. The cellulosetriacetate fabric is dyed with dischargeable
disperse dyes and printed with paste containing discharging agent and/or non-dischargeable dyes
for the production of white and/or colour discharge print.

Ingredients : The ingredients required for cellulose triacetate fabric (100 %) for discharge print
are as follow:
(i) Dye : Disperse dyes which are easily dischargeable are suitable for the ground colours and
non dischargeable disperse or some specific direct dyes are used as illuminant colours.
(ii) Discharging agent : A white discharge effects can be produced on cellulose acetate fabric by
zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde (Rongalite – Z). Colour discharge effect can be produced with
thioure dioxide because many disperse dyes withstand action of the said reducing agent.
(iii) Thickener : Thickeners having stability and effectiveness in alkaline and/or reducing
conditions can be used in this printing. For this purpose, crystal gum, gum Arabic, Locust bean
gum etc can be used for this purpose.
(iv) Sweliing agent & solvents : Swelling agent (solvent) increase the volume of open structure
of the fibre, increases the solubility of dye and decrease the glass transition temperature of the
fiber. Resorcinol, phenol, thiodiethylene glycol, glycerine, acetone etc or benzyl alcohol may be
added as fiber-swelling agent to increase the penetration of dye in the fiber. The excessive use of
solvent may result in increased bleeding with certain cationic dyes.

Procedure :
The fabric is first dyed with easily dischargeable disperse dyes as per the procedure described in
table – 33.

Table – 33 : Dyeing procedure of disperese dye on cellulose triacetate fabric

Chemicals For Disperse

Disperse dye X%
Dispersing agent 1 to 2 gpl
Acetic acid & sodium acetae 0.5 to 1 (To maintain pH 5 to 5.5)
Temperature 110 – 120oC
Time 60 minutes
After completion of dyeing, polyamide fabric is printed with following white or colour discharge
paste prepared as per prescribed in table – 34.
 Table – 34 : Discharge print formulation on cellulose acetate fabric

Name of chemical White discharge Colur discharge (With Disperse Dye)

Discharge-resistant dye - X Parts
Solvent 50 – 60 Parts 20 – 30 Parts
Water Y Parts
Thickener Z Parts
Rongalite – Z 150 – 250 Parts -
Thio Urea Dioxide 20 Parts 150 – 300 Parts
Optical Brightening 3 – 5 Parts -
Agent
Sodium acetate 5 – 10 Parts 5 – 10 Parts
Dispersing agent - 10 – 20 Parts
Total 1000

After printing, fabric is dried and steamed at 102 – 150oC for 15 – 20 minutes. The fabric is then
rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.

Figure – 1 : Printing of synthetic fibres

 Printing of blended fabrics
(1) Printing of Polyester / Cotton blend fabrics :
Pretreatment : Pretreatments are essential before printing of poy/cot blend to remove natural
and added impurities so that the sharp, uniform, deep, and without any fuzzy or spread prints are
produced. The pretreatment sequence of poy/cot blended fabric is decided by the proportions of
the blend. If the cotton portion is dominant in the blend, the pretreatment followed mainly on
cotton route and vice-a-versa. The normal pretreatment sequences used for poy/cot blended
fabric is as follow:
(a) Desizing : Generally, the size for poy/cot blends consist of acrylic copolymer or polyvinyl
alcohol together with carboxyl methyl cellulose, starch and lubricants such as fats, tallow and
waxes. Polyvinyl alcohol and acrylic copolymers are removed by a simple hot wash or during
scouring. However, if starch based starch is used then enzymatic desizing is carried out. The
conditions of enzymatic desizimg are prescribed in table – 35.

Table – 35 : Desizing conditions for starch based size

Parameters/Chemicals Conditions
Enzyme 5 – 10 gpl
Sodium chloride 5 – 10 gpl
Wetting agent 1 – 2 gpl
pH 7
Temperature 40 – 50oC
Time 6 – 12 hours

(b) Scouring : Scouring of blended fabric is essential to remove natural oils, pectins, proteins,
waxes etc from cotton and added spin finish and other impurities from polyester materials.
Polyester loses the weight and strength on treatment with caustic soda. It is therefore, essential to
optimize the scouring process in terms of minimum degradation of blended fabric with
maximum absorbency. Sodium carbonate is a safer alkaline agent for scouring of poy/cot
blended fabric. The conditions of scouring are reported in table – 36.

Table – 36 : Scouring of poy/cot blend fabric

Parameters/Chemicals Conditions
Detergent 0.2 – 0.5 %
Soda ash 0.5 – 1 %
Temperature 90 – 100oC
Time 60 – 120 minutes

(c) Singeing : Pol/cot blend fabric is singed carefully to remove loose protruding fiber from the
surface. The singeing of poy/cot blend fabric is carried out after shearing and cropping. Burners
of short and even flames are used for blend fabric.
(d) Bleaching : It is essential to bleach poy/cot blend to obtain bright print effect and white
ground. For fabrics that are to be printed in deep shades, bleaching is carried out with sodium
hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide. For the fabric to be printed in light shade, bleaching is done
with either hypochlorite or sodium chlorite followed by hydrogen peroxide. The bleaching
conditions with various chemicals are described in table – 37.

Table – 37 : Bleaching conditions of poy/cot blend fabric

Chemical/parameters Sodium hypochlorite Hydrogen peroxide Sodium chlorite

Bleaching agent 1 – 3 gpl avilable Cl2 2 – 5 gpl (35 %) 1 – 5 gpl
Soda ash 5 – 10 gpl (for pH-10) - -
Sodium hydroxide 1 – 2 gpl (for pH-10) 0.5 – 1 gpl -
Sodium silicate - 2 – 4 gpl -
Wetting agent 1 – 2 gpl 1 – 2 gpl 1 – 2 gpl
Sodium nitrate - - 1 – 2 gpl
Formic acid - - 2 gpl (for pH – 3)
Temperature (oC) RT 90 – 95oC 60
Time (minutes) 4 – 8 hours 90 – 120 60 – 90

DIRECT STYLE OF PRINTING

Poy/cot blend fabric can be printed by various methods.

(1) One dye and one step process : In this method of printing a single dye or colour and
single step process for fixation is used for both the fiber components. The various dyes/colours
used for this process are as follow.

(i) Pigment colour printing :

Advantages :

 The single pigment can be used for any proportion of the blend.
 The cost of printing is very low.
 The process of printing is very simple i.e. print – dry – cure, no special wet after-
treatment.
 The print effect can be visualized immediately.
 Extensive colour range with good light fastness properties is available.

Limittions :

 Poor rubbing fastness properties.

 Objectionable stiff handle of the fabric.
 Poor dry-cleaning fastness.
 The use of solvent (white spirit or kerosene) for making emulsions introduces several
problems sucs as inflammability, odour, air and water pollution and high cost.
Ingredients :
(a) Pigments : Specially developed pigment colours for poy/cot blend fabric are used for the
printing. Pigments used in printing of poy/cot fabric should have very good fastness to light,
washing, gas fading, chlorine, acids, alkalis, peroxides, perspiration, solvents and to abrasion.
(b) Binder : Binders play important role in pigment printing for achieving optimum fastness
properties. Earlier, polyvinyl acetate was consider as good binder. However, it produces too stiff
finish. Acrylate resins are also used as binder, but pigments bound with them were not fast to
rubbing. Emulsion copolymer binders of vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate with mixer of urea-
formaldehyde produces print of good wash fastness properties.
(c) Catalyst : Acid liberating agent is used as catalyst for fixation of pigment printing. For this
purpose ammonium sulphocynide, diammonium phosphate can be used for this purpose.
(d) Thickeners : Cellulose derivatives such as hydroxylethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose etc,
sodium alginate, good quality tragacanth are suitable thickeners for pigment printing. They
increase the water content of the paste and prevent the drying up of the paste. However, they
produce continuous films, which affect the soft handle of the print. Therefore, they should not be
used in quantities more than 0.3 % (on the weight of total solids).
(e) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.
Procedure : The ready for printing fabric is printed with a paste prepared as described in table–38

Table – 38 : Pigment printing formulation

Chemicals Proportion (Parts)

Pigment X
Binder Y
Emulsion thickener 500 – 700
Acid-liberating agent 1–5
Total 1000

After printing and drying the fabric is cured at 160 – 170oC for 4 – 5 minutes. Aftercuring
mainly no after treatment (washing & soaping) is required.

(ii) Polyestren dyes :

Principle : Polyestren is a special type of vat dye (Manufactured by Casella) used for printing of
poy/cot blend fabric. These dyes are suitable only for producing pale to medium shades. The
shades produced on polyester are slightly duller and the dyes are expensive.
Ingredients :
(a) Dyes : Specially developed polyestren dyes are developed mainly in paste form and in
various colour range to obtain solid shade on poy/cot blend fabric.
(b) Thickener : Thickeners used for printing of this colours are crystal gum, british gum, gum
tragacanth, sodium alginate, cellulose ether and starch ethers. Sharp outlines are obtained by
using crystal gum but a thickener with less body may also be used to produce more elastic film to
prevent cracking off after drying.
(c) Aditives : Textile printing oil (Hoechst) is an anionic dark brown oily solution which yields
stable clear emulsions when stirred into water at room temperature. It is an auxiliary specially
used to improve smoothness and finishing properties of printing paste.
(d) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.
Procedure : The ready for printing fabric is printed with a paste prepared as described in table–
39

Table – 39 : Polyestren dye printing formulation

Chemicals Proportion (Parts)

Dye X
Thickener 600 – 700
Defoamer 5–7
Printing oil – H 10 – 20
Water Y
Total 1000

After printing and drying the fabric is subjected to heat setting at 205 – 210oC for 45 – 60
seconds. During heat setting the printed face is kept down so that the cracked up particles do not
adhere to the cloth surface, where they may be absorbed by the fibre and appear as specks. The
fabrics are then rinsed well to remove the thickening agent and reduction cleared in following
bath.

Sodium hydroxide (70oTw) - 3 c.c.

Sodium hydrosulphite - 2 gm

Levelling agent - 1 c.c.

Water - 1 litre

The fabric is then rinsed, soaped with non-ionic detergent, washed thoroughly and dried.
(iii) Dybln or Cellestren dyes :

Principle : Dybln or Cellestren dyes are selected disperse dyes developed by Dupont and BASF
respectively for printing of poy/cot blend fabric. They are applied in presence of water-miscible
high boiling solvents, in hot air at temperature of at least 210oC. The function of the solvent is to
maintain the cotton in the swollen state and dissolve the disperse dye during fixation.

The importane advantages and disadvantages of the said dyes are as follow

Advantages :

 The process is very simple i.e. only one class of dye is used with one stage of fixation for
both polyester and cotton component.
 No binder is required (as in case of pigment printing), hence the handle of the printed
fabric do not changed.
 Fastness to rubbing, washing and dry-cleaning is superior to that of pigment printing.
 Staining of white ground is absent.
 The colour yield is very good.
 Effluent load is low in after wash.

Disadvantages :

 The wet fastness and brightness of prints on cotton is not as high as that of reactive and
vat dyes.
 Ranges of colours are limited.
 The printing paste consists about 10 % of the solvent which increase the cost of printing.
 Blends of polyester with regenerated cellulose can not be printed because the solvent
swelling effect is inadequate.

Ingredients :

(a) Dye : Dybln or celestren dyes mainly in paste form is used for printing of this blend fabric.

(b) Thickener : Thickeners used for printing of this colours are crystal gum, british gum, gum
tragacanth, sodium alginate, cellulose ether and starch ethers.
(c) Solvent : Solvent is added in the paste to increase the swelling of polyester and cotton
component, so that the dye penetration increases. For this purpose, glycerine, glydote, diethylene
glycol etc can be used.
(d) Acids : The printing required acidic medium for fixation of colour on nylon fabrics. For this
purpose, weak acids like tartaric acid, or acid liberating agents like, ammonium sulphate,
ammonium chloride, ammonium tartarate, etc can be used.
(e) Mild oxidizing agent : In order to neutralize the reducing atmosphere in the fixation and to
obtain better bright print of disperse dye on polyester fabric, sometimes mild oxidizing agent is
added in the paste. For this purpose, sodium meta chloro nitrobenzene sulphonate (ludigol or
resist salt etc.) is widely used for the purpose. However, this oxidizing agent does not exhibit
sufficient efficiency in acidic media. Sodium chlorate can also be used in the print paste as it has
effectiveness in acidic medium also.
(f) Antifoaming agent : The addition of certain surfactant and constant stirring produce foam in
the paste. This produce faulty prints and increase the wastage of colour. To avoid this sometimes
antifoaming agent is also added in the printing paste. For this purpose, silicone defoamers,
tributyl phosphate, turpentine, benzene, emulsified pine oils etc can be used.

Procedure :

The printing paste is prepared as follow

Sodium alginate thickener – 400 to 500 Parts Printing paste

Resist salt – 10 Parts
Citric acid – 5 Parts Dye – X Parts
Antifoamig agent – 5 to 10 Parts Stock thickener – 700 Parts
Starch ether thickener – 200 Parts Solvent – 50 to 100 Parts
Luprintan HDF (Dupont) – 5 to 10 Dupont Total – 1000 Parts
Total (with water) – 1000 Dupont

The poy/cot blend fabric is printed with above paste, dried and thermofixed at 210 – 215oC fo 1
minute or at 190oC for 5 minutes in superheated steam. The fabric is then rinsed, soaped with
non-ionic detergent (1-5 %, 60oC, 20 minutes), washed thoroughly and dried.

(2) Two dye and one step process : In this method of printing, two different dyes for both
the component of blend are selected and single step process for fixation is used. The various dyes
used for this process are as follow.

(i) Disperse / Reactive dye mixture :

Principle & procedure : In this method of printing combination of disperse and reactive dyes
are used for polyester and cotton component respectively and fixed in one step process.
Readymade dye combination with special trade names is also manufactured by dyestuff
manufacturers.

Naviron – Indian Dyestuff Industries Ltd., Mixture of Naviline disperse dye and Navictive reactive dyes.

Teracron – Ciba-Geigy, Mixture of Terasil disperse dye and Cibacron reactive dyes.

Remaron – Hoechst, Mixture of Samaron disperse dyes and Remazol reactive dyes.
The important highlights of these dyes can be summarized as follow

 This dye combination gives bright and excellent fastness properties without affecting the
feel of the fabrics.
 The cost of printing is higher and light fastness properties of prints are poor.
 The colour yield of the print is poor because of the poor fixation of reactive dye in dry
heat conditions.
 Disperse dyes which are resistant to alkali and having very good sublimation fastness
properties can only be selected in this process.

In the actual printing process the print paste of the both the dyes are prepared separately and
mixed before printing according to the blend proportion of two fibres. The alkali required for the
fixation of reactive dye is incorporated in the said colour printing paste. The printing paste is
prepared as described in table – 40.

Table – 40 : Print formulation

Disperse paste Reactive paste

Disperse dye – X1 Parts Reactive dye – X2 parts
Water – 150 Parts Water (Hot) – 150 Parts
Resist salt – 10 Parts Urea – 50 Parts
Swelling agent – 5 Parts Resist salt – 10 Parts
Thickener – Y1 Parts Thickener – Y2 parts
Total – 1000 Parts Sodium bicarbonate – 10 to 20 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Fabric is printed with above paste, dried and fixed by any one of the following method

(i) Steaming under pressure at 130oC at 25 to 30 psi pressure for 30 minutes.

(ii) Thermofixation at 210oC for 45 seconds.

The fabric is then washed, soaped and dried.

Procilene dye :
Principle : Liquid brand mixtures of disperse and acid-fixing reactive dyes are also developed
and marketed as one pack liquid dye. The reactive dye used in the mixture can be fixed under
acidic conditions and produces very good colour yield. The stability of printing paste is very
good.

Procedure : The printing paste consists procilene dye (combination of disperse and acid fixing
reactive dye), swelling agent and thickener. The paste is prepared as prescribed in table – 41.
 Table – 41 : Print formulation

Prociline dye – X Parts

Thickener – 600 Parts
Water – 150 Parts
Swelling agent – 5 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying the print is fixed either by saturated steam (175 – 180oC) for 5 – 10
minutes or by thermo fixation at 210 – 220oC for 30 – 60 seconds. The fabric is then washed,
soaped and dried.

(3) Two dye and two step process : In this method of printing, two different dyes for both
the component of blend are selected and both the dyes are fixed separately as per their fixation
process.

(i) Disperse / Reactive dye mixture :

Principle & procedure : In this method of printing combination of disperse and reactive dyes
are used for polyester and cotton component and alkali does not use in printing paste. After
printing, the disperse dye is fixed first and subsequently reactive dye is fixed by passing in
alkaline solution.

The important highlights of these dyes can be summarized as follow

 As the alkali does not use in the print paste the stability of paste is very good i.e. it can be
stored for long period.
 Any disperse dye can be selected in this method as no alkali in the printing paste.
 The colour yield of the print is very good, as both the colours are fixed separately.
 The cost of printing is high as separate fixation methods are employed.
 The fastness properties are excellent.

In the actual printing process the print paste of the both the dyes are prepared as described in
table – 42.
 Table – 42 : Print formulation

Disperse dye – X Parts

Reactive dye – Y parts
Water – 150 Parts
Resist salt – 10 Parts
Swelling agent – 5 Parts
Thickener – 600 to 700 Parts
Acetic acid – 10 to 20 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying the fabric is thermo fixed at 190 – 210oC for 60 – 90 seconds for
fixation of disperse colours on polyester component. It is then chemical padded in a liquor
containing

0 – 6 % Sodium hydroxide

10 – 15 % Sodium carbonate

15 – 20 % Sodium chloride

The padded fabric is then flash aged for development of reactive colours. The fabric is then
rinsed with cold water to remove hydrolyzed reactive dyes, rinsed with hot water, soaped at 80 –
90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

(ii) Disperse / Vat dye mixture :

Principle & procedure : In this method of printing combination of disperse and vat dyes are
used for polyester and cotton component and alkali does not use in printing paste. After printing,
the disperse dye is fixed first and subsequently vat dye is fixed by passing in caustic and hydro
sulphite solution.

The important highlights of these dyes can be summarized as follow

 As the alkali does not use in the print paste the stability of paste is very good i.e. it can be
stored for long period.
 Any disperse dye can be selected in this method as no alkali in the printing paste.
 The colour yield of the print and penetration of colour is very good, as both the colours
are fixed separately.
 The cost of printing is high as separate fixation methods are employed.
 The selection of on tone colours for both the fibres are very complicated process.
 The quality of print in terms of fastness, sharpness and other parameters are excellent.
 The staining of white ground is very low.
In the actual printing process the print paste of the both the dyes are prepared as described in
table – 43.

Table – 43 : Print formulation

Disperse dye paste Vat dye paste

Disperse dye – X1 Parts
Water – 150 Parts Vat dye (paste form) – X2 Parts
Resist salt – 10 Parts Water – 20 Parts
Swelling agent – 5 Parts Thickener – Y2 Parts
Thickener – 600 to 700 Parts Total – 1000 Parts
Acetic acid – 10 to 20 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After mixing two pastes in proper proportion depending upon the blend composition, printed on
poy/cot blend fabric. After drying disperses dye is fixed by thermo fixation at 190 – 210oC for 30
– 60 seconds or by steaming under pressure at 130oC for 30 minutes. The fabric is then chemical
padded in a liquor containing

120 Parts Sodium hydroxide (38oBe)

80 – 100 Parts Sodium hydrosulphite

100 Parts Glauber salt

Total – 1000 Parts with water

The padded fabric is then flash aged for 30 – 45 seconds at 120oC. The printed fabric is then
rinsed with cold water and oxidized in hydrogen peroxide bath to develop vat dye. Finally fabric
is rinsed with hot water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 – 30
minutes, washed and dried.

(iii) Disperse / Solubilised vat (Indigosol) dye mixture :

Principle & procedure : In this method of printing, combination of disperse and solubilised vat
dye are used for polyester and cotton component and alkali does not use in printing paste. After
printing, the disperse dye is fixed first and subsequently solubilized vat dye is fixed by chlorate
or nitrite method.

The important highlights of these dyes can be summarized as follow

 As the alkali does not use in the print paste the stability of paste is very good i.e. it can be
stored for long period.
 Any disperse dye can be selected in this method as no alkali in the printing paste.
  The colour yield of the print and penetration of colour is very good, as both the colours
are fixed separately.
 The cost of printing is high as separate fixation methods are employed.
 The selection of on tone colours for both the fibres is very complicated process.
 The quality of print in terms of fastness, sharpness and other parameters are excellent.
 The staining of white ground is very low.

(a) Chlorate method : In the actual printing process the print paste of the both the dyes are
prepared as described in table – 44.

Table – 44 : Print formulation

Stock Thickening Print paste

Sodium chlorate – 40 Parts Disperse dye – X2 Parts
Ammonium sulphocyanide – 20 Parts Solubilised vat dye – Y2 Parts
Ammonium vanadate – 10 Parts Thiourea – 50 Parts
Liquor ammonia – 10 Parts Glycine – 50 Parts
Thickener – X Parts Water – 20 Parts
Water – Y Parts Stock thickener – Z Parts
Total – 1000 Parts Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying, both solubilised vat dye and disperses dye are fixed by thermo fixation
at 190 – 210oC for 30 – 60 seconds or by steaming under pressure at 130oC for 30 minutes. The
fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for
20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

(b) Nitrite process : In the actual printing process the print paste of the both the dyes are
prepared as described in table – 45.

Table – 45 : Print formulation

Stock Thickening Print paste

Sodium nitrite – 20 Parts Disperse dye – X2 Parts
Solvent – 10 Parts Solubilised vat dye – Y2 Parts
Thickener – X Parts Thiourea – 50 Parts
Water – Y Parts Glycine – 50 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts Water – 20 Parts
Stock thickener – Z Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

After printing and drying, both solubilised vat dye and disperses dye are fixed by thermo fixation
at 190 – 210oC for 30 – 60 seconds or by steaming under pressure at 130oC for 30 minutes. The
fabric is then passed in sulphuric acid solution (20 gpl) at 60oC for 30 to 40 seconds. The fabric
is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 –
30 minutes, washed and dried.

(2) Printing of polyester / wool blend fabric :

Principle : The printing of this poy/wool blend is not much popular. It can be printed with a
mixture of disperse and metal complex dyes and fixed the dyes in single step on both
components.

Procedure : The printing paste consists solvent comes hygroscopic agent for dissolution and
fixation of metal complex dye on wool fiber and carrier for better penetration of disperse dye on
polyester fiber. Ready – made mixtures of disperse and metal complex dyes (for e.g. Lanestren
Dye – Combination of disperse and metal complex dyes manufactured by BASF) are available
for printing of poy/wool blend fabric. Acetic acid is added to maintain pH of bath and acid stable
thickener is used. The print paste is prepared as prescribed in table – 46.

Table – 46 : Print formulation

Specially developed disperse and metal complex dye – X Parts

Water – 100 to 200 Parts
Solvent – 50 Parts
Urea – 50 Parts
Carrier – 40 Parts
Acetic acid – 40 Parts
Thickener – 500 to 700 Parts
Total – 1000 Pats

The ready for print fabric is printed with above paste, dried and steamed for 20 minutes at 102 to
105oC with steam pressure of 2 – 2.5 kg/cm2 for 20minutes. Alternatively, steaming may be
carried out at atmospheric pressure followed by thermo fixation at 180oC for 3 minutes. Finally,
the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %)
for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

(3) Printing of Triacetate / polyamide blend fabric :

Principle : The printing of this Triacetate / polyamide blend fabric can be printed with a mixture
of disperse and metal complex or acid dyes and fixed the dyes in single step on both components.

Ingredients : Following ingredients are used for producing print effect on Triacetate / polyamide
blend fabric.

(i) Dye : Disperse and acid or metal complex dye combination is used to produce print effects on
the said blend fabric. Disperse dyes give very good fixation and fastness on triacetate component
but on polyamide they produce poor wet fastness. Therefore, proper selection of disperse dye is
very important. Acid or metal complex dyes give better result on both the component but
swelling agent should be added for fixation of disperse dye on triacetate component.

(ii) Thickener : The most commonly, used thickeners for printing of Triacetate / polyamide
blend fabric are starch ethers, locust bean gum and guar gum. Thickeners must not turn yellow or
brown during steaming and be easily removed after fixation of dye.

(iii) Carrier : Cellulose triacetate required addition of carrier for better dye penetration.

Procedure : The print paste is prepared as prescribed in table – 47.

Table – 47 : Print formulation

Disperse colour paste Acid / metal complex dye paste

Disperse dye – X1 Parts Dye – X2 Parts
Water – Y1 Parts Water – Y2 Parts
Solvent – 10 Parts Hygroscopic agent – 50 Parts
Resist salt – 50 Parts Solvent – 80 Parts
Swelling agent – 50 Parts Swelling agent – 30 Parts
Thickener – 500 to 600 Parts Acetic acid – 50 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts Thickener – 500 to 600 Parts
Thickener – 1000 Parts

After proper mixing of the above paste according to the blend proportion, printed on fabric. After
printing and drying the print is fixed in high pressure steaming at 130oC for 20 – 30 minutes.
Finally, the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1
– 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

(4) Printing of acrylic / wool blend fabric :

Principle : The blend of acrylic-wool fabric can be dyed with the combination of cationic dyes
and acid or metal-complex dyes. However, these two dyes combination cannot be used for
printing because they interact with each other and precipitate in printing paste. Selected vat dyes,
which can give solid shades on acrylic and wool fiber, can be used for the printing of this blend
by using a special reducing agent called manofast. This reducing agent is acidic in nature and
does not require sodium carbonate which damage wool.

Procedure : The printing paste consists solvent comes hygroscopic agent for dissolution and
fixation of dye, acid stable reducing agent and thickener. The print paste is prepared as
prescribed in table – 48.
 Table – 48 : Print formulation

Special vat dye (paste form) – Y Parts

Water – 100 to 200 Parts
Solvent – 50 Parts
Thickeners – 500 to 600 Parts
Manofast (reducing agent) – 50 to 60 Parts
Total – 1000 Pats

The ready for print fabric is printed with above paste, dried and steamed for 15 – 30 minutes at
atmospheric pressure. Finally, the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with
non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

(4) Printing of acrylic / cellulose blend fabric :

Principle : A combination of cationic and reactive dyes cannot be used for printing because they
interact with each other and precipitate in paste. Further, fixation of reactive dyes requires
alkaline conditions and fixation of cationic dyes require acidic condition. However, disperse dyes
which are stable in mild alkaline medium can be used for acrylic component and reactive dyes
are used for cellulosic component.

Procedure : The printing paste consists solvent comes hygroscopic agent for dissolution and
fixation of dye, mild alkali, and thickener. The print paste is prepared as prescribed in table – 49.

Table – 49 : Print formulation

Reactive dye – X Parts

Disperse dye – Y Parts
Water – 100 to 200 Parts
Solvent – 50 Parts
Thickeners – 500 to 600 Parts
Sodium bicarbonate – 5 to 20 Parts
Total – 1000 Pats

The ready for print fabric is printed with above paste, dried and steamed for 15 – 30 minutes at
steam pressure of 0.5 – 0.7 kg/cm2. Finally, the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at
80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

Carbonized prints on polyester/cellulose blend fabric

Carbonization means destruction or hydrolysis of cellulosic component with the use of strong
mineral acids, mainly sulphuric acid or with acid liberating agent. In this method, the cellulose
component of the blend is destructed (hydrolyzed) fully or partially with the sulphuric acid.
According to methods of hydrolysis of cellulose component, carbonized print is divided into two
groups.

(1) Burn – out style of printing :

Principle : Fine – count 100 % polyester saris and dress materials are manufactured from
poy/cot blend fabric by removing the cotton component with a treatment of sulphuric acid (70
%) after printing with suitable disperse dyes. Such style of printing is called burn out style of
printing.

Ingredients and procedure : All the ingredients used are similar to that used for disperse colour
printing on polyester. The print paste is prepared as prescribed in table – 50.

Table – 50 : Print formulation

Disperse dye – X Parts

Water – Y Parts
Carrier – 50 Parts
Thickener – 500 to 600 Parts
Acetic acid – 20 to 30 Parts (To maintain pH – 4.5 to 5.5)
Total– 1000 Parts

The Poy/cot blend fabric is first printed with the above paste. After printing the fabric is dried
and treated with saturated steam at 170 – 180oC for 10 minute or by dry heat steaming at 170 –
180oc for 30 – 45 seconds. Finally, the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC
with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes and washed. The carbonization is then
carried out either on a jigger machine or by pad – batch process with 70 % sulphuric acid
solution. Addition of urea or sulfamic acid to the sulphuric acid bath is suggested to prevent
dulling of the print during carbonization. In the jigger process, the fabrics are run in sulfuric acid
at 20 – 30oC for jigger process for 30 – 45 minutes. In the pad-batch process, the printed fabric is
padded with 70% sulphuric acid solution contains 0.5 % urea at 20 – 30oC. The fabric is then
batched on a rotating trolley for about 2 hours. In either process, after acid treatment, the fabrics
are washed; neutralized with sodium carbonate, partially bleach to remove the brownish tint
imparted during the carbonization process with hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite.
Finally, the fabric is washed, soaped and dried.

(2) Brasso style of printing :

Principle : In this style of printing the cellulosic component of the poy/cot blend fabric is burn
out from certain portion by printing with a paste contain acid-liberating agent. Initially this style
was invented for cotton fabric (100 %) to produce novel dress materials.
Ingredients and procedure : The ingredients used are acid liberating agent such as ammonium
sulphate, alluminium sulphate, sodium bisulfate etc, wetting agent (stable to acidic conditions) to
increase penetration of acid and strong acid stable thickeners. The print paste is prepared as
prescribed in table – 51.

Table – 51 : Print formulation

With aluminium sulfate With sodium bisulfate

Aluminium sulfate – 50 to 100 Parts Sodium bisulfate - 100 to 200 Parts
Tartaric caid – 50 Parts Water – 150 Parts
Water – Y Parts Wetting agent – 20 Parts
Wetting agent – 20 Parts Thickener – 500 to 600 Parts
Thickener – 500 to 600 Parts Total– 1000 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Poy/cot blend fabric is first dyed with disperse dye by any conventional dyeing method. The
fabric is then printed with above paste, dried and cured at 150 – 180oC for 4 – 5 minutes. During
this process the liberated acid burn out cellulosic component from the printed poy/cot portion.
Finally, the fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1
– 3 %) for 20 – 30 minutes, washed and dried.

Brasso style of printing is also possible on polyester and wool blend fabric. In the said process,
poy/wool blend fabric is first dyed with disperse dye by any conventional process. It is then
printed with a paste consists of sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide at higher temperature
remove or hydrolyse the wool component from the blend material.

The paste consists

Gum aerabic – 500 Parts

Water – 200 Parts

Sodium hydroxide – 300 Parts

Total – 1000 Parts

The fabric after dying is printed with above paste, dried at 100oC, cured at 150oC fo2 – 3
minutes. During this process, the woolen component is removed from printed areas. Finally, the
fabric is then rinsed with cold water, soaped at 80 – 90oC with non-ionic detergent (1 – 3 %) for
20 – 30 minute s, washed and dried.
 Transfer printing :
Definition and introduction : Transfer printing was first developed in 1930 for acetate rayon
fabric in U.K. Then after world war – II, in 1956 developed for polyester fabric and
commercialization starts in 1968. Transfer printing is also known as vapour phase printing, or
dry heat printing, or sublimation printing. In this printing technique, a design is printed on a
paper with a suitable volatile dye and is then transferred on to a respective fabric under
controlled conditions of temperature, pressure and time.

Sublimation transfer : This method depends on the use of a volatile dye in the printed design.
When the paper is heated the dye is preferentially adsorbed from the vapour phase by the textile
material with which the heated paper is held in contact. This is commercially the most important
of the transfer printing methods.

Melt transfer : In this method the design is printed on paper using a waxy ink and a hot iron
applied to its reverse face presses the paper against the fabric. The ink melts on to the fabric in
contact with it. This was the basis of the first commercially successful transfer process. It is used
in the so called ‘hot-split’ transfer papers extensively used today in garment decoration.

This printing consists two steps :

(i) The desired print is first produced on a paper using special inks containing volatile non-ionic
or ionic dyes.

(ii) The printed paper is then placed on the fabric and heat as well as pressure is applied to the
back sides of the paper. The dye on the paper sublimes and diffuses in to the interior of the fiber.
After completion of this step, printed paper is separated out, and can be used for another fabric
sample still the design does not show the change in depth of colour. The printed fabric does not
require any after treatment.

The important characteristics of transfer printing can be summarized as follow :

Advantages :

 This is a dry process. This printing does not require steaming, washing off and no
effluent problems.
 The over low cost of printing because of the low cost of labor, capital, training of
operators, inventory, and misprinted materials.
 Better control in terms of stocks of printed material, repeat order (sample production in
30 – 90 seconds), quick delivery, almost no down time and continuous or batch wise
production is possible.
 Better quality of print in terms of limitless design variations, outstanding with perfect
fittings, freedom for designs, brilliant pints, printing on both sides, garments or blankets
can also be printed and better coverage of poor or irregular materials.
 Highly skilled operators do not require, only careful control of the temperature is
necessary.
 The proportion of sub-standard quality is very low (< 2%).
 The method is highly effective for printing checks and suiting designs, which present
problems in conventional printings.
 It gives good prints on well prepared knitted materials.

Limitations or disadvantages :

 Choice of fiber is limited, only hydrophobic fibres can be used in this printing method.
On the blend fabrics, the skitter prints will obtain and for cellulosic fibres pretreatment
are essentials.
 The colour range and fastness properties of prints are limited. Special formulations are
required and therefore, all the conventional dyes cannot be used.
 Expensive paper required special pretreatment and finish and recycling of paper is not
possible. Paper width and fabric width have also limitations.
 Process is longer hence low rate of production. Also colour and design cannot be
modified on printed paper at a later stage, exclusive designs are expensive and skill labor
and special machineries for printing of papers are required.
 Feel of the fabric becomes glassy, penetration of colour into the fabric is poor, texurised
materials lose some crimp and bulk and combination with other styles of printing is not
possible.
 Responsibility is divided between paper printer and processors for faults in printing.

Ingredients : The printing ink for paper printing required following ingredients.

(i) Dye formulations : Mostly non-ionic dyes are used in transfer printing. The following
characteristics of dyes are required for transfer printing.

 It should have poor sublimation fastness and high other fastness properties.
  In combination all the dyes should have similar sublimation and diffusion characteristics.
 It should not be bleed in durable press finishes
 It should not be sensitive to minor differences in temperature during heat transfer.
 It should be in highly concentrated form i.e. free from additives like dispersing agent.
 It should have low molecular weight i.e. in the range of 230 to 370.

Initially only four dyes were invented and available but now days number of dyes are available
for transfer printing. However, the important turquoise colour is missing in transfer printing. The
trade names of disperse dyes suitable for transfer printing are

 Tera print from Ciba – geigy

 Intrathene from Crompton & Knowles Corporation
 Transforon from Sandoz
 Sublaprint from L B Holliday
 Resolin from F Bayer

(ii) Vehicle or medium (solvent) : The vehicle or medium for ink preparation is a liquid such as
water, glycol, toluene etc. The solvents should be volatile and its selection mainly depends on the
methods of paper printing (Toluene for gravure, ethanol/water mixture for flexography, dying oil
for lithography, water in screen printing methods). The dye formulation should be dissolve or
dispersed in the said vehicle or media.

(iii) Thickener : The printing ink also contains a binding agent (thickener) which holds the dye
on paper and to give viscosity to the ink. For this purpose, alkyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, acrylic
resins, polyvinyl acetate can be used.

The printing ink is prepared by dissolving or dispersing the colour in solvent and thickener is
added with constant stirring.

Procedure : Transfer printing on fabric involved following steps.

(i) Preparation of printing paper : Good quality, bleached, having weight from 35 to 115 g m-
2 and crafted paper is clay coated and machine glazed so that the dye does not diffuse inside the
paper. The surface of the paper should be non-fibrous and non-absorbent so that the ink remains
on the surface only. The paper should be dimensionally stable during the printing process in
order to preserve register.

Since the cost of paper is high, attempts have been made to use low-cost paper. A coat of gelatin
or sodium alginate on the paper makes the surface impermeable to the dye. Reusing of the paper
after stripping the residual ink is not possible because the paper is cut to the required size during
heat transfer.
(ii) Printing of paper : The paper for transfer printing can be printed by several methods used in
graphic industries.

 Gravure method.
 Flexography method.
 Lithography method.
 Flat screen print method.
 Rotary screen printing method.

Gravure, flexography and rotary screen printing methods are used for continuous web (paper)
printing, while flat screen and lithography printing methods are used for the batch wise paper
sheet printing. The most commonly used method is rotogravure printing method (90 % of papers
for transfer printing are prepared by this method). The important advantages of this method are

 It measured and transferred exact amount of inks on the paper.

 Textile industry is already familiar with this method i.e. roller printing method.
 Half tone and fine can be produced exactly.
 Best registration of the design.
 No contaminations of printing plates or rollers.
 No need to stop the machine for correction of faulty registration.
 Unlimited number of colours can be coupled together.
 Minimum use of ink, low wastage and low printing cost.

However, the method has following limitations

 It needs very smooth paper.

 The high cost of engraving.
 The ink is solvent based.
 Doctor blade defects such as streaks and scrumming can be possible.

Very deep engraving may not release the ink and heavier layers of ink may flake off as the dried
paper is flexed. Therefore, a thin film is applied to the paper and ink prepared should be
concentrated to build up depth of shade on the fabric. This is best done with solvent based inks
and dye formulations should be free from any diluents.

The paper is printed by any one of the above method, and dried at a minimum temperature. Each
colour print is dried between each colour application. After printing and drying, the paper is
coated with resins or lacquers. The coat is called a tack. This tack is essential for the paper to
stick to the fabric during transfer for true contact and without any relative movement of the paper
and the fabric during the dye transfer. The contact has to be as perfect as possible because the
rate of dye transfer decreases with the gap between the paper and the fabric. The tack material
should have thermal stability and should not possess any affinity to the dye, the paper, or the
fabric. When the paper is lifted from the printed fabric, the tack helps to restore the feel of the
crushed fabric by pulling out the surface of the fabric. Another advantage of the good contact is
that all the dye sublimed from the paper is taken up by the fabric and does not diffuse away. The
resistance to abrasion of the printed paper during storage is improved by the tack.

The cost of printing paper thus depend on a number of factors including the complexity of
design, the number of colours and the exclusive rights for the design.

(iii) Transfer of design on fabric : Transfer printing on fabric from the printed paper mainly
governed by three factors.

 Conditions that will rapidly sublime the dyes and their diffusion into the fibres.
 The gap between the paper and fabric to be printed has to be minimized.
 The process must result in a fabric with substantially unchanged textile properties.

Transfer of design on fabrics or garments can be carried out in a continuous or batch wise
processes using flat-bed or drum and calendar systems. In batch wise process, the fabric is placed
on the press bed, the paper placed on the fabric with the design portion on fabric surface side, hot
press head is then lowered onto the assembly. Printing time and temperature are varied according
to the types of fabric and design style from 15 to 30 seconds and 180 to 220oC temperature. The
production rate is of the order of about 1500 garments per shift.

In the continuous process, the fabric and the printed paper pass around a large cylinder (drum),
the contact is maintained by an endless blanket under tension. Control of the blanket tension is
vital to minimizing the flattening and glazing of the fabric which is to some extent inevitable
because of the operating temperatures and the thermoplastic nature of the fibres. The cylinder
diameter ranges from 0.5 – 2 meter and the width ranges up to 3 meters depending on the
machine. The cylinder is heated by circulating hot oil or by electrical heating. Assuming a
required contact time of 20 seconds, the larger machines will give a production speed of 15
meter/minutes.
Vacuum calendars were developed in order to increase the speed of these machines, to allow a
substantial reduction in temperature of the machine, and to effect better dye penetration. An
important machine belonging to this group is the Kannegiesser Vacumat Machine. In this
machine, the and the fabric is held against a perforated drum by the development of an internal
vacuum. Heating is from the external side and is done by infrared elements. The control of the
heating is done by measuring the temperature of the emerging paper. No pressure blanket is used
so that flattening of the fabric is eliminated. The penetration of the dye into the fabric is
excellent. The speed is around 150 – 200 meters/hour.

Mechanism of transfer printing : Transfer printing consists a graphic design on paper to

transfer the image through its vapor phase to a dye-receptive fabric under controlled conditions
of time, temperature and pressure. The important conditions required for transfer printing are

 A range of miscible dyes that sublime at high temperature, preferably in a narrow range.
 The dyes have substantivity for fibres to be printed but little or no affinity for the printed
paper.
 The fibres should have the necessary physical, chemical and thermoplastic properties to
withstand the high processing temperature.
 A method of printing of paper and transferring of the design from the paper should be of
high quality.

It has been assumed that adsorption of dyes by the fiber surface occurs mainly through vapour
phase by volatilization of the non-ionic dyes. Thus, the choice is restricted to dyes that have a
comparatively high volatility (vapour pressure) at the application temperature. The stages in the
migration of dyes on the fiber surface are :

 Sublimation of dye from the printed paper.

 Adsorption on the surface of the fabric
 Diffusion of dye vapour from the fiber surface into interior structure.
 Condensation of dye vapours on the available fiber sites.

When heat is applied to the printed paper in contact with the fabric, the temperature of the paper,
dye formulation and fabric rapidly approaches that of the heated surface. With increasing
temperature, the vapor pressure of the dye increase and a dynamic equilibrium is established
between the dye vapor flow rate to and from the solid dye crystal in the ink binders. The
sublimation process continues till the dye vapor atmosphere above the paper reaches super
saturation which is relieved by vapor condensation on the fiber surface. A concentration gradient
is set up on the fiber surface and the molecular diffusion of the dye in the interior of the fiber
begins. This dye transfer mechanism of sublimation, super saturation, condensation and polymer
diffusion proceeds in a state of dynamic equilibrium until the partial vapor pressure of the dye
vapor over the paper and over the dyed fiber reaches equilibrium.

Fabrics for transfer printing :

(i) Polyester : The transfer printing process has achieved success with polyester fabrics. Over 90
% of heat transfer printing is carried out on 100 % polyester fabrics. However, only about 8 % of
all printed polyester is produced by this method. The success of transfer printing on polyester is
due to the fact that disperses dyes, which are ideally, suited for the coloration of polyester, are
also suitable for transfer printing. Another reason for successful transfer printing on polyester
fabrics are that, unlike nylon – 6 or acrylic fabrics, polyester does not turn yellow or degrade
when it is heated to 200oC for 1 – 2 minutes. A wide variety of fabric constructions can be
transfer printed including, woven, knitted and non woven materials. The biggest success of
transfer printing has been in the field of polyester double knitted jersy fabrics.

(ii) Polyester – cellulosic blends : Blends of polyester component is more than 70 % can be
printed by the transfer printing technique in a manner similar to that for a fabric of 100 %
polyester. Since cotton and other cellulosic fibres in the blends remain undyed, blends with less
than 70 % polyester are not suitable for transfer printing by the conventional method. Transfer
printing of 50 : 50 polyester – cellulosic blends is difficult, because suitable dyes are not
available for printing the cellulosic component. This is because all the dyes with an affinity for
cellulosic fibres also have an affinity for the transfer paper which is cellulosic in nature.
Furthermore, the dyes used for the colouration of cellulosic fibres are not sufficiently volatile to
get transferred from paper to fabric.

(iii) Acrylic fibres : Acrylic fabrics can be printed with either disperse or cationic dyes. In case
of disperse dye; the dye transfer is carried out 195oC for 10 – 20 seconds. Higher temperatures
are not recommended because they cause yellowing of the fabric. Disperse dyes in general give
duller shade and poor wash fastness on acrylic fabrics. With the cationic dyes, transfer is carried
out at 185oC for 20 seconds. These dyes, produce extremely bright shades. However, the light
fastness is not very good.

(iv) Polyamide fibres : Nylon fabrics can be printed with disperse dyes by the transfer printing
process. The wet fastness of disperse dyes on nylon is relatively poor. The prints on the nylon 6,6
exhibits superior wash fastness and consequently, heat transfer printing is used for printing the
said fabric, which also has better thermal resistivity than nylon 6. Acid and metal complex dyes
which are commonly used for dyeing of nylon, cannot be used in transfer printing because of
high melting point and low vapour pressure.
 Conversion style
Definition : Printing of two or three colours together and by development in one process,
different colours are visualized in design portion is called conversion style of printing. Printing
of rapidogen, rapid fast and aniline black/indigosol colours in single development process are
mainly carried out by this style of printing.

Principle : Rapidogen, rapid fast and either indigosol or aniline black may be printed by the
conversion style. Here, a mixture of rapidogen and rapid fast colours are printed in a blotch
design, along with a resisting agent like zinc oxide, sodium thiosulphate, magnesium carbonate
etc (resisting agent for indigosol colour or aniline black colour). The fabric is then over printed
with indigosol or aniline black colour paste containing glycolic acid or other non – volatile
organic acid. The fabric is finally subjected to neutral steaming when the following reactions
take place at different areas.

(i) In the blotch area where the indigosol or aniline black is over printed, both rapidogen
and rapid fast colours are developed by the presence of organic acid in the paste of
indigosol/aniline black colour.
(ii) In the blotch area where over-printed is not done, nly the rapid fast colour is
developed since it does not require acid for its development, whereas rapidogen needs
an acidic conditions for the development.
(iii) Indigosol or aniline black colour printed outside the blotch is developed since its
development did not restricted at these areas.

Ingredients: Following ingredients are used in the printing of conversion style.

(i) Colour : Rapidogen, rapid fast and indigosolor aniline black colour : Any of the above
colours can be used for the printing of this style. Preferably the paste form is the best suitable.

(ii) Solvent : In order to dissolve the colour in small amount of water, solvent is used in the
printing paste. For this purpose, glycine, acetone, gldote etc can be used.

(iii) Thickener : Thickener which is stable in alkaline/neutral and reducing conditions can be
used in the present printing. Starch tragacanth, british gum etc can be used.

(iv) Resisting agent : This chemical is used in the printing paste of rapidogen and rapid fast
colours for resisting the development of indigosol or aniline black colour. Zinc oxide, sodium
thiosulphate, magnesium carbonate etc can be used for this purpose.
(v) Acid : Non-volatile organic acid is used in indigosol/aniline black colours paste for the
development of the said colours. Glycolic acid is the most commonly used for the same purpose.

Procedure : The cotton fabric first printed with paste prepared as prescribed in table – 52. After
printing and drying the fabric is over printed with indigosol or aniline black colour paste
prepared as prescribed in table – 53.
 Table – 52 : Print formulation of rapidogen and rapid fast colours

Rapidogen + Rapid fast colurs (1 : 1) – 80 Parts

Water – 100 Parts
Thickener – 400 Parts
Zinc oxide – 50 Parts
Sodium thiosulphate – 30 Parts
Water – 280 to 265 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

Table – 53 : Print formulation of indigosol/aniline black colour

Indigosol colour paste Aniline black colour paste

Indigosol colour – 40 Parts Aniline salt – 85 Parts
Solvent – 30 Parts Anilin oil – 5 Parts
Water – 445 Parts Neutral thickener – 350 Parts
Thickener – 350 Parts Potassium ferrocyanide in – 55 Parts
Ammonia – 30 Parts Water – 300 Parts
Glycolic acid – 30 Parts Sodium chlorate in – 35 Parts
Ammonium sulphocyanide – 40 Parts Water – 130 Parts
Sodium chlorate – 15 Parts Glycolic acid – 40 Parts
Ammonium vanadate – 20 Parts Total – 1000 Parts
Total – 1000 Parts

The fabric is then dried, steamed in rapid ager in neutral atmosphere, rinsed with water, soaped
with non ionic detergent at boil, washed and dried. The effects of print obtained is shown in
figure.

Table – 54 : Comparison of printing machines

Characteristics Roller ptg Flatbed screen Rotary screen Block ptg

machine Ptg machine Ptg machine Machine
Production speed (mt/min) 100 – 150 10 – 15 25 – 100 10 – 100
Minimum production range per design 10,000 1000 – 10,000 1,000 – 10,000 100
(meter)
Space requirements Small Large Small Large
Consumption of colour & chemicals Low Medium Low Medium
Colour depth & brightness Fair V Good Good Fair
Maintance of white ground Fair Good Good Fair
Crush effects High Low Low Low
Smudging Maximum Minimum Medium Low
Dot effects Good Good V Good Poor
 Carpet printing
Introduction : The carpet is mainly prepared by tufting processing. In this process to pierce a
carrier or backing fabric with a needle containing yarn, a lopper then catches the yarn, the loop is
released immediately or retained for later cutting, and then the process is gone through again and
endlessly (figure).

Figure : Tufted carpet

The main structural difference is that tufted carpeting lacks true interlacing of the piles within the
backing. The rubberized latex used in the bond, however, gives both adequate rigidity and tuft
bind. Higher speed and larger output account for the great expansion of the tufting process.
Carpets are also produced by some other techniques such as knotting, needle felt and so on.
Carpet printing: The development of carpet printing took place mainly in U K. By 1980 tufted
carpet constituted 80 % by area of all soft floor covering made in the U K and half of these were
printed.
Pretreatment : In general the pre-treatment process of carpet does not require because the
impurities are present only on the fibre and they do not effect on the absorption of the print paste
or on the fixation of dye. However, for the certain quality of carpet (in which the surface
appearance is important) scouring with non ionic detergent (2 – 5 gpl) at about 70 – 80oC for 30
– 60 minutes is carried out. This treatment produces bulking effect on the fibres which cannot be
achieved by steaming process. Yarns used for carpet manufacturing should be heat set as per
their types. In some cases only prewashing or prewetted carpets are printed for superior quality
i.e. higher penetration of dye/colour. After any wet treatment and before printing, the carpet is
passed over powerful extraction slots to reduce the residual moisture to between 50 – 80 %,
depending on carpet quality.
Printing of carpet: Polyester, nylon, acrylic, polypropylene and rayon fibres can be used as a
carpets. Nylon is the most widely used material as carpet (79 % approximately), due to its good
covering properties and versatility of colours. The demand of printed carpet increases due to the
following factors
 Carpet materials of simple construction, produced on high speed machine with one type
of yarn can be printed to produce range of qualities and patterns.
 It saves cost of yarn inventories and also it is possible to change rapidly to new pattern
and design.
 Inferior qualities of carpet can be cover up with printing process.
 Printed carpets have better soil hiding properties.
However, there are certain limitations of carpet printing
 Printing machines of carpets are quite expensive.
 Penetration of the printing paste down the pile is not always satisfactory.
  Selection of thickener is important otherwise uneven printing will result.
Ingredients of carpet printing :
(i) Dye : Nylon, the highest material used in carpet industries, printed with acid dyes and also
with a few direct dyes. A very wide range of such dyes is available so that selection on the basis
of many factors, such as fastness properties, solubility, fixation, wash-off etc. is possible. The
dye with low molecular weight fixes faster and penetrates better in carpet fabric. Problems of dye
compatibility do not generally do not arise in printing.
(ii) Thickeners : The important characteristics of thickeners required for carpet printing are
 Thickener should be cheap and probably dissolve in cold water because very high
quantity consumption of paste in the carpet printing (approximately 1500 lbs / hr).
 It should be compatible with the other ingredients of the printing paste.
 As carpet prints are steamed without intermediate drying, the thickened paste must
maintain a reasonable viscosity at 100oC to prevent flushing.
 After printing and fixation, only cold washing are performed and thickener must be
readily removable under these conditions.
 Low solid and high viscosity thickeners produce better results on carpet printing.
Modified locust bean, guar gum, modified guar gum etc are the most preferably used thickeners
in carpet printing.
(iii) Other chemicals : Acid dye fixation on nylon required acidic pH. For this purpose, acid
liberating agents such as ammonium sulphate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, ammonium
tartrate etc can be used. Sometimes organic acid namely, acetic acid, glycolic acid, formic acid,
citric acid etc can also used for lower pH of the bath.
There is problem of ‘frostiness’ defect on carpet printed nylon material. This effects is due to the
uneven dyeing of the surface. The effect is caused by the lack of a continuous film of dye liquor
or print paste on each individual fibre at the steam fixation stage. When the print paste is applied
to the carpet and wetting is complete, a continuous film of liquor will be formed and frostiness
can be minimised. In order to overcome this problem (frostiness), antifrosting agents are added
in printing paste. They act as wetting agent, film former and foaming agents during the steaming
stage. Thus they form continuous and elastic film of dye liquor over the fibres during printing
stage. For this purpose, non ionic fatty acid amides and ethoxylated compounds or anionic
products such as sulphonated alcohols can be used.
Methods of carpet printing :
(i) Roller printing method : The roller printing machine operates on a principle similar to the
relief printing machine. The raised pattern is produced by combining hard and soft rubber
materials such as natural sponge rubber or neoprene brands and mounting on a wooden roller.
These materials take up slightly thickened dye solutions from the trough and apply them to the
carpet surface. The machine can print 3 – 4 colours on a carpet of about 3 – 4 width. The
penetration of the colour is good. The speed of machine is about 9 mt/minutes.
The Stalwart roller printing machine : It consists of up to four print rollers, which run in
troughs containing a thin print paste, with the carpet pile to be printed being pressed against the
upper surface of the print roller from behind. The print rollers are arranged at 45o to the vertical,
one above the other. Maximum running speed is about 6 mt/minutes. The individual print rollers
consist of a steel centred wooden bowl on the surface of which a design is engraved. The design
is cut from thick rubber sheet covered with a nylon or polyester fibre pile. The machine is ideal
for the production of the so called shadow printed effects on long pile carpets. It is difficult to
obtain line definitions and 100 % coverage cannot be printed on this machine.
(ii) Flat bed screen printing method : This method is least expensive, gives good penetration of
colour in the carpet and large number of pattern with free flow. In one of the method (Peter
Zimmer TPA Flat bed Screen Machine), the print paste is pumped into the screen between the
rollers powerful electromagnets and are arranged under the screen so that they move across the
screen in longitudinal direction and pull the rollers along, which results in good pile penetration.
The screen is either polyester or metal with mesh sizes specially designed for carpets. The dye
paste is fed in from a series of sets of nozzles positioned above the screen. The carpet is
transported on an endless belt with small needles that penetrate in to the back of the carpet. The
machine can print 12 colours of 5 meter width at a speed of 4 – 5 mt/minutes. After printing the
carpet goes through a long horizontal steamer, multiple washing units with pressure water
sprays, and multiple nips to remove residual dye and to extract as much water as possible. This is
followed by drying.
BDA flat bed screen printing machine : In this machine a reservoir of dye was confined between
the blades of a double squeegee, and good penetration was obtained by applying a vacuum
beneath the strip of carpet over which the squeegee passed. To achieve this, the conventional
rubber transparent blanket was replaced by an endless belt or perforated metal plates, which
carried the carpet forward when the screens were lifted after each printing cycle. It was possible
to obtain good penetration on fairly long piled carpets by this machine. The maximum running
speed of the machine was about 5 mt/minute.
(iii) Rotary screen printing method : The main difference between rotary screen printing
machine for carpets and those used for textiles lies in the type of squeegee used. All carpet
squeegees are considerably larger and end rings with wider openings are used. The standard
width is usually 4 meters, so considerable storage space is necessary for the screens and designs
used by carpet factory. The screens are galvano nickel of a fairly heavy gauge (0.3 – 0.5 mm
thick) with a much coarser mesh (20 – 30 mesh) than used for flat screens. Standard rotary
screens give a pattern repeat of 1 meter length but larger screens to give repeat sizes upto 3
meters. The carpet is transported by means of an endless rubber blanket or rubber strips, carry
small pins on the surface to grip the carpet which may distort the carpet.
Rotary screen printers are considerably more productive than the older flat screen machines.
Print speed is about 15 – 30 mt/minute, the machine occupies much less space and labour and
costs are lower. With a special screen it is possible to print repeats of 2 – 3 meters. The
disadvantages include the higher cost of galvano screens and longer screen changing times.
There is also a tendency for carpet flow fairly easily through the coarse mesh screen whilst it is
stationary. The larger diameter roller squeegee allows space for the relatively large wedge of
print paste necessary to apply sufficient colour to carpets, particularly to dense high pile
constructions.
Flat bed screen required large screens for printing and occupy more floor space than rotary
screen machines. Furthermore, the screens may cause marks which can displace carpet and spoil
the designs. These defects are absent in rotary screen machines. In this method, the carpet moves
continuously rather than intermittently and therefore, higher speed is also possible. The main
limitation is low penetration of the colour compared with flat bed screen printing method. Rotary
screen machines for carpet employ the same basic principles as for textile fabric printing but
operate for larger widths. These special squeegee systems are available, namely, positive driven
squeegee, friction driven magnetic squeegee, print paste under hydrostatic pressure.
(iv) Jet spray printing method : Various spray and jet machines have been used to produce
multicolour effects on carpets, like spotted effect, blotch or streaked effects etc.
Millitron jet spray carpet printing machine :
It is a computer controlled, micro-jet, colour injection dyeing machine. It can reproduce any
colour or complicated printed pattern at the relatively high speed of 6 – 8 mt/min without the aid
of screens or pattern rollers. The design to be duplicated is carefully photographed, corrected and
transferred onto a magnetic tape with the help of computers. After the dye-liquors are fed to their
storage tanks and the carpet to be printed is shredded into the machine, the operations become
automatic and are controlled by the magnetic tape. The carpet is passed under a box like unit that
is over 5 meter long and approximately 60 cm wide. Within this area a series of air jets force teh
dye liquors into the carpet. Each jet is individually computer controlled; the dye penetration and
pattern definitions are outstanding. During printing nothing but dye liquor is in contact with the
face of the carpet and consequently, there is no pile distortion or crushing. This results in a very
attractive surface appearances and pattern clarity. After, printing the carpet is steamed, washed,
soaped, washed and dried as per the conventional procedures.
The important advantages of the said method are
 It is a universal printing/dyeing machine capable of producing both solid colours and
intricate patterns.
 There are no screens or pattern rollers, therefore, reduce the cost of screen preparation,
space and clean up time.
 The machine has the flexibility of changing both pattern and/or size of repeat within a
couple of minutes.
Fixation and after treatment of carpet print :
Unlike conventional textile fixation, dye fixation on printed carpets is carried out without
intermediate drying. This is because very high energy would be required to dry the carpet
because about 250 % pick up of the paste and steaming time is reduced when the process is
carried out on wet carpet. The main requirements are
 Steamer must capable of transporting the dye through its interior without affecting the
quality of the materials and without allowing unfixed dye to ‘ mark off ’on to the other
parts of the print.
 The steam quality must be such that dyes are fixed as rapidly as possible, without any
bleeding or loss of clarity of prints.
 At the production rates (10 – 20 mt/min) and steaming time (3 – 6 minutes), a carpet
steamer requires a capacity of 20 – 80 meters.
 For optimum dye fixation air free saturated steam at 98 – 100oC is required.

All the dyes after steaming do not fix on the carpets, therefore unfixed dye and residual
chemicals as well as thickening agent must be removed. For economy cold water is only used.
Two or three baths, preferably with counter current flow is used. To accelerate the removal of
unfixed dyes and chemicals, various agitator systems have been used. A good effect can be
achieved using perforated drum wash units in which the water actually passes through both the
pile and the backing of the carpet. When heavy shades are being produced, cross-staining of
washed off dye on to pile or white ground shades may occur. This can be avoided by passing the
carpet through a mildly alkaline bath as it leaves the steamer. This also improves wash fastness
of the prints.