PRINTING and its different

styles
 INTRODUCTION
 The art of printing fabric was known as early as 300
B.C.
 Printing is the art of colouring the surface of any item.
 Tattooing of body is one of the most common printing of
olden days.
 The impression of object dipped in dyes on fabric is the
basic technique of printing.
 Textile printing is defined as the ‘localized dyeing’ or
restricted form of dyeing a particular area of cloth or
design.
 Dyes or pigments are applied to produce attractive
patterns or designs with one or more colours.
 Printing is quicker and cheaper method of colouring
fabrics.
 Generally a pigment or paste is needed to print
textiles.
 Printing is carried by different methods namely
block, screen, stencil etc.
 PRINTING PASTE
 In printing, dyes or pigments are applied in the gel form
to prevent the flowing of print design during printing
and subsequent drying.
 Dyes are thickened by mixing it with gums or starches.
 This thickened dye solution is called as print paste.
 Print paste is composed of dyestuff, thickener,
hygroscopic agents and auxiliary chemicals.
 Thickeners are added to improve the viscosity and
better penetration of the dyestuff into the fabric.
 The thickener used for print paste preparation may be
natural like starch, gum Arabic or synthetic polymers
like polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylamide.
 Hygroscopic agents used for print paste preparation
are water soluble substances like urea and glycerine.
 They help the dye to enter into the fibre structure for
fixation.
 Auxilliary chemicals such as solvents improve dye
solubility and colour yield.
 Additional chemicals may be added depending on the
fibres and dyes.
 For example, citric acid may be added for acid dyes
or alkali added for reactive dyes.
 Thickness and freshness of the printing paste are two
important aspects to be considered for the quality and
durability of printing.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DYEING AND
PRINTING
DYEING PRINTING
 The process of imparting  Pigments or dyes are applied
colour to the fabric is called locally or discontinuously to
dyeing. produce different designs on
the fabric is known as printing.
 It is performed on fabric,  It is performed on fabric in dry
yarn or fibre in wet condition.
condition.  Full-bleaching with optical
 Half bleaching is enough for whitener is essential.
fabric preparation.
 Printing is done on fabrics
 Dyeing can be done on fibre, only.
yarn and fabric.
 Colour is applied in form of
 Colour is applied in the form
thick paste.
of solution.
 For dyeing there is no design.  For printing there is a
specific design.
 Dyes are applied on both the  Dyes are applied on single
sides of the fabric. side of the fabric.
 Only one colour is generally
 One or more colours are
used for dyeing
used in printing process.
 In dyeing process, colour
penetrates through the fibre  Colour is applied only on
or fabric. the surface.
 A particular temperature is
maintained in the dyeing  Carried out at room
process.
temperature.
 Thickener is not used.
 The density of dye solution is  Thickener must be used.
low.  The density of dye solution
is high.
 Generally after dyeing,  After printing, steaming and
steaming, and curing are not curing is must for fixing the
required. dye to the fabric.
 Dyed fabrics are soft to  Printed fabrics are harsh to
touch. touch.
 Water consumption is high.  Water consumption is low.
 Huge time is required for  Less time is required for
dye application. printing process.
 Liquor ratio is high.  Liquor ratio is less.
 STYLES/ Techniques OF PRINTING

Fabrics can be printed in three different styles

 Direct
 Discharge and
 Resist styles.
 Direct Style of Printing
 The most common style of printing textile fabric is direct
printing.
 In this method the dye is directly applied onto the fabric.
 Dyes are used in paste form.
 It is the simplest and oldest style of printing.
 It can be done on a white fabric or coloured fabric.
 The dye is imprinted on the fabric in paste form and any
desired pattern may be produced.
 Dark colour prints in lighter background is the
characteristic feature of direct style printing.
 In this style of printing, the printing paste is
transferred to the selected areas of the fabric and the
pigments adhere to the fabric surface.
 Direct style of printing is used in block printing,
screen printing or roller printing methods.
 easiest style of printing
 economical
 This style is easy, economical and
suitable for printing both simple
and complicated designs.
2. Discharge Style of Printing
 In this method, the fabric is printed on a dyed fabric.
 The printing paste used in this method contains a
discharging agent, which will bleach or destroy the
colour from the dyed fabric in the printed areas.
 The resulting white area is brighten the overall
design.
 Sometimes the base colour is removed and another
colour is printed in its place.
 The discharging agent is an oxidizing or reducing
agent capable of discharging colours by oxidation and
reduction.
 Potassium chlorate or sodium chlorate (oxidizing
agents) and stannous chloride (reducing agent) are
commonly used discharging agents.
 The effects produced are very striking as the white
area obtained brightens the overall design.
 This style of printing enabled intricate and fine
designs to be printed on the fabric.
 If the fabric is not thoroughly washed after printing,
the strength of the fabric may be affected due to the
use of discharging agents.
 The advantages of discharge style of printing
produces light, bright colour on a dark background,
printing is sharp and fine and easier to work.
 However the major disadvantages of this method is
the cost involved.
3.Resist Style of printing
 In this method, the bleached fabric is first printed with
a substance like wax, rice paste, china clay or
chemicals such as acids, alkalis and salts that resist dye
penetration and fixation.
 The printed fabric is then dipped in cold dye bath, so
that the resisting agent remains unaffected and only the
areas free of the resist agent are coloured.
 After dyeing process, the resist paste is removed,
leaving white or light coloured patterns on a dark
background.
 Batik, tie and dye are examples of resist printing.
 The durability of the fabric is not affected by
the resist method.

Resist style of printing