Images_Digital_Edition_January_2020

www.images-magazine.com 24 images JANUARY 2020 Alex Mighall, operations manager at R A Smart, explains how to choose the right type of ink for your digital textile prints who is printing for fashion is likely to require a different solution than someone who is printing flags. People printing fashion often require a solution that will offer good colourfastness, whereas flag printers are generally more concerned with lightfastness. Once you have that figured out, it’s time to decide, “Do I want to print onto natural fabrics – ie cotton, silk, linen – or do I want to print onto synthetic fabrics – ie polyester?” This can often be a difficult question to answer, as many still consider polyester to be somewhat cheap and nasty which, nowadays, is simply not the case. There is a plethora of polyesters out there that successfully mimic natural fabrics such as silk and cotton, and some even have the benefit of using 100% recycled materials. Depending on your answers to these questions your best ink match will normally fall into one of four different chemistries… Acid dyes Acid dyes are generally adopted by businesses that are printing for fashion. They were developed to work with protein fibres in fabrics – for example, those found in silk and wool. As such, they are useful for printing onto only a limited range of materials. They provide an especially good solution for users that provide a very specialised service – eg printing silk ties. The fabric used must first be pretreated to allow proper absorption of the dye and also limit any lateral bleeding when it touches the fabric. The dye is printed directly onto the textile but often appears dull and subdued until the post-treatment process has been applied. Acid dyes require a ‘wet’ finishing process, which involves steaming and washing. During the steaming process the dye is ‘fixed’ onto the textile. It will change colour during this phase and colours are F or many businesses, getting into textile printing can seem a daunting prospect. As well as choosing the right printer, you also have to consider which ink chemistry is going to suit your application and fabric type best. This, in turn, will determine the ancillary equipment you will require. When it comes to textile printing there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. The ink required will depend on a variety of factors. The first thing you have to ask yourself is, “What is my end application?” For example, someone When printing disperse dyes, the colours only come alive in the post processing Alex Mighall, operations manager at R A Smart Industry experts provide insight and guidance in all areas of digital garment and textile printing Digital helpdesk