Textile applications are a key area of the digital printing industry. So why is it so hard to find the right technology? InkMall offers a beginner's guide to textile printing.
When learning about textile digital printing, beginners are often confused by the many different technologies available today. The easiest way to understand the market and the related ink technologies is to divide them by application into different sections.
✱Banner Printing
✱Soft signage
✱Roll-to-roll textile printing
✱Apparel printing
These sections do not have strict boundaries, but they do overlap and define the requirements needed for the inks and techniques used.
Banner Printing Inks
In many ways, digital printing of banners and flags may be considered a "predecessor" to soft signage. Since the 1990s, Pioneer has attempted to move from screen printing to digital printing for the production of flags.
For most national and corporate flags, the resolution is often not a problem; however, the durability of the logo can be problematic.
Most outdoor flags are made of polyester. Today, they are usually printed using water-based direct disperse dye inks. When coloring polyester with disperse dye inks, the result looks a bit dull at first because the color needs 170 °C to develop. This is usually used in conjunction with heat rollers built into the printer or mounted on the printer.
Direct disperse dye inks provide good through-printing, which means that both sides of the flag look colorful. Outdoor durability is typically up to 3 years. This is why direct dispersion ink technology is used in the automotive industry as well as for garden furniture.
Thermal sublimation inks are also commonly used in the production of flags and banners. They are first printed on a very thin transfer paper. During the transfer sublimation process, when the transfer paper and the polyester fabric are calendered together at 180 to 200°C, the color changes from a solid to a vapor phase without going through an intermediate liquid phase. The color is then deeply embedded in the fiber. Sublimation printing solutions are available from a variety of manufacturers.
Thermal sublimation inks produce very sharp images and can be used to create small letters for soft signage applications. Straight-through printing is much less expensive than direct disperse dye sublimation inks. The durability of sublimation printing is usually very low.
Soft Signage Inks
Soft signage applications involve printing signs on textiles rather than paper, banner material, self-adhesive or mesh. The most commonly used are.
✴ Dye inks
✴ Latex inks
✴ UV-curable inks.
With the exception of thermal sublimation inks, the inks used for indoor and outdoor soft signage are the same technology used for many other roll-to-roll and rigid applications and are therefore not textile specific.
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