TEXTILE PRINTING

By
Asst. Prof. Pintu Pandit
NIFT, Patna
Introduction
raw cotton  spinning  weaving/knitting  grey fabric
for value addition of this grey fabric it is subjected to
chemical treatments.

• to remove natural as well as added impurites from the

fabric
(scouring, bleaching, mercerization)

• decolration of the fabric

(dyeing and printing)
Difference between dyeing and
printing
Dyeing Printing
1. Colouration of fabric is carried out 1. Colouration is carried out in localized
uniformly manner

2. Colouration takes place uniformly on 2. Colour is located mainly on face side

both sides of the fabric

3. In case of dyeing we don’t have the 3. there is possibility of applying more

opportunity of multicolor dyeing than one colour onto the fabric at a
time
4. Medium of application is of low 4. medium of application is of high
viscosity viscosity.
Medium of application
• In dyeing: viscosity of the medium needs to be low because
we want the colour to be distributed along the length and
width of the fabric.
(medium is water)

• In printing: viscosity of the medium needs to be high in order

to avoid the spreading of the print colour and to maintain the
sharpness of the print.
(medium is water)

So in case of printing we need high viscosity medium.

How to increase the viscosity water??

Thickener
The desirable viscosity of the water is obtained by using some
natural or synthetic polymers and this polymer which gives
viscosity to water are known as thickeners.

Thickeners are water soluble polymers which when dissolve in

water gives desirable viscosity to the water medium which is
essential for the printing of textile fabric.
Value addition of the fabric
Printing is not only the method by means of which
we can decorate the fabric, there are other processes
also.
•By the process of weaving

•By embroidery

•By knitting e.g. Socks

But compare to all this methods, printing is much
more common commercially
 Roller Printing
• Color for the design is applied to
fabric as it goes through a series of
rollers.
• Rollers are engraved (carved) with the
design to be printed.
• Each color has a different roller.
• Advantages include:
–Simple and fast
–Inexpensive
–Most common printing method
 Roller
Printing
 Screen Printing

• Done on flat screen frames and is

similar to stenciling.

• Each color has its own screen.

• Advantages include:
–Good for large designs
–Better quality designs than roller
printing method
• Disadvantages include:
–Slow printing method
Screen Printing by Hand
Screen Printing by Machine
 Rotary Screen Printing
• A combination of roller and screen
printing.

• Dye is transferred through screens

that roll over the fabric.
• Advantages include:
–Can print large designs
–Accurate and fast
–This method is gaining in popularity.
Rotary Screen Printing
Rotary Screen Printing
 Heat Transfer Printing
• The desired dyes and patterns are
placed onto paper using a rotary
screen printer. The paper is placed
on the fabric and with heat and
pressure the colors and patterns are
transferred to the fabric.
• T-shirts are printed using this
method.

• Like a “temporary tattoo” for fabric

Heat Transfer Printing
 Digital Printing
• The newest method of fabric
printing. It is like ink-jet printing with
a computer but rolls the fabric
through an extra-wide printer.
• Droplets of color are “spit” onto the
fabric.
• Advantages include:
–Fast
–Inexpensive
–Environmentally safe
–Can print small or large amounts of
fabric at the same time
Digital Printing
 by
Pintu Pandit
1. Direct style
2. Discharge style
3. Resist style
Styles of printing
Three major styles of printing

• Direct style
White or pale shade dyed fabric  print  dry  fixation  wash 
dry

• Resist style
Cotton fabric(white)  print with organic acid (citric acid)  dry 
nip-pad through reactive dye solution  fixation(steaming)  wash
 soap  wash  dry

• Discharge style
Dye the fabric  dry print with discharging agent  dry  steam 
wash  soap  wash  dry
Khadi (Opaque) printing
Resist and discharge print like effect can be obtained by
printing the fabric with white pigment (TiO2). This printing is
called as khadi printing

• Property of TiO2
it has high refractive index and therefore it has high hiding
power.
(commonly practiced on hosiery and knitted fabrics)

Printing sequence:
Print on dyed fabric  dry  bake(cure)
baking /curing : 140-150oC for 3-5 mins.
• Carbonizing or ‘burning-out’ is a
process in which the cellulose
portion of any polyester-cellulose
blended fabric is completely
removed or chemically destroyed
leaving a percent polyester fabric
with the desired resilient and silky
handle.

• The fabric is treated with 70%

Sulphuric acid for about 45
minutes at room temperature on a
jigger or for 2 hours by using a
padding mangle whereby the
cellulosic portion is destroyed; the
degraded cellulose is then
removed during washing.
• This style is associated with
the carbonized style. In
carbonized style, the entire
cellulosic portion of the
blended fabric is destroyed
and removed whereas in this
style, only a portion of the
cellulosic component which
is printed is removed by
using an acid liberating agent
in the printing paste.
 Multicolored brasso effect
Karara brasso
• The special feature of Batik printing
is that fine lines of colour can be
seen running irregularly across the
resisted parts of the pattern in the
fabric.

• This artistic effect is brought about

by wax which is used as a resist.

• In the actual process, a mixture of

one part of bees wax and 4 parts of
paraffin wax is taken
• In foam printing, the foam generated is
worked as a thickener; all the other
ingredients are incorporated in the paste as
usual.
• In preparing the paste for foam printing, foam
is generated from a solution of the dye itself
by means of a foaming agent by incorporating
air in the system.
• Sodium dodecyl sulphate is normally used as
a foaming agent.
• The word ‘Kalamkari’ is
derived from two Hindi
words ‘Kalam’ and
‘Kari’ (or Karigari),
‘Kalam’ meaning pen
and ‘kari’ meaning
hard work.
• Nowadays Kalamkari
printing is done not
only by pen but also by
means of blocks.
• It is different from foam printing.
In foam printing the foam
produced is used as a thickener in
the print paste whereas in bubbles
which are produced by means of a
perforated pipe are deposited and
fixed on the fabric to give a novel,
intricate and non-reproducible
printed effect.
• A simple three-bowl padding
mangle is all that is required for
printing . no blocks or screens or
other printing machines are
needed.
• Tie-dye is another form of
resist printing in which dye
penetration in the fabric is
restricted by folding, knotting
tying, stitching or otherwise.

• In India the name given to it is

Bandhani/Lahariyat/Ikat.

• The multi-coloured effects

obtained with tie-dye are
achieved in basically the same
way as it is obtained for batik,
using a resist and dyeing it
from lighter to darker shades.
Bandhani turban bandhej
• In India there has been a similar method
in vogue for printing pigments, metallic
powders or foil ,since age This method
known as “Khadi” or “Tinsel printing”.

• In this method white or coloured

pigments or gold and silver powders or
foils are printed on white or generally
dyed grounds with the help of a
thickened oil known as Rogan to
intimate brocade cloth .

• This printing is carried out with the help

of brass blocks.
 Gold khadi print on saree

White khadi print