Pigments Used in Textile Printing
Currently, pigment printing is perhaps the most commonly and extensively used technique for printing textiles. In pigment printing, insoluble pigments, which have no affinity for the fiber and fixed on to the textile with binding agents in the pattern required. This description is perhaps oversimplified, but it does obviously set pigments apart from dyes that are absorbed into the fiber and fixed there as a result of reactions specific to the dye. Printing paste is the main constituent of printing which enables the formation of the predefined patterns.
Pigment printing
A textile pigment print system includes the following parameters:
• Pigment: A pigment colorant is a colored organic substance that is not readily soluble in most common solvents and imparts coloration to textile substrates only when incorporated with an adequate binder system.
• Binder: A pigment binder is the latex polymer resin that forms a three-dimensional film on the surface of the fiber. This film contains the dispersion of textile pigment and will act to adhere the pigment to the surface of the substrate. The permanence of this film is dependent on the polymer type and the application conditions. Binder chemistry, performance, and application is covered in Technical Bulletin ISP 1008.
• Thickener: The pigment system is composed of the textile pigment dispersed in the polymerizable resin binder, which is further mixed into a synthetic thickener system, comprised of a long chain acrylic acid. The thickener enables the pigmented print paste to stay in place once it is deposited onto the fabric prior to drying. This system is applied to the textile substrate by the following means: rotary screen printing, flatbed screen printing, engraved roller printing, coating, padding, spraying, or immersion.
What are the elements that adversely impact print appearance?
• Improper print paste viscosity
• Improperly prepared fabric
• Fabric with non-uniform absorbency
• Fabric with contaminants such as salt or oil
• Inadequate lint removal from fabric
• Improper screen mesh selection
• Poor print registration
• Contaminated color
Recommendation pigments for textile printing: C.I. Pigment Yellow 1, C.I. Pigment Yellow 3, C.I. Pigment Yellow 6, C.I. Pigment Yellow 12, C.I. Pigment Yellow 13, C.I. Pigment Yellow 14, C.I. Pigment Yellow 65, C.I. Pigment Yellow 83, C.I. Pigment Orange 13, C.I. Pigment Red 8, C.I. Pigment Blue 15:3, C.I. Pigment Green 7, C.I. Pigment Violet 23, etc.
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