Textile Printing: Definition, Flowchart, Methods, Styles and Ingredients
Last updated on August 23rd, 2023 at 11:26 pm
Printing
Printing can be described as the controlled placing of defined areas of color on to a substrate. The colorant must first be brought to the fibre surface usually in the form of a printing paste. If it is a soluble dyestuff, it must be diffused into fibres. The colorant must then be fixed in place and finally, excess unfixed color has to be washed out.

The application of the print dye on the fabric is carried out by forcing it through the grey fabric on special printing blocks or perforated hollow rollers applied onto the fabric; the dye is then generally fixed by means of a steaming process.
In other words, printing is a form of localized dyeing. Printing processes or techniques and printing principles or styles can be distinguished. Printing processes include techniques such as roller, screen printing. Printing principles include direct, discharge, resist, flock printing etc.
Flow Chart of Printing
Grey cloth
↓
Brushing and shearing
↓
Singeing
↓
Desizing
↓
Scouring
↓
Bleaching
↓
Mercerizing
↓
Stentering
↓
Washing
↓
Drying
↓
Winding/Beaming
↓
Printing
↓
Finishing
Printing Methods
Printing effect is performed by using some instruments like screen, roller, block etc. The procedure of creating printing effect according to the design by using different types of instrument is called method of printing. The methods used for printing is given below:
- Block.
- Flat press.
- Stencil/Spray method.
- Screen.
- Roller.
- Transfer.
- Flock.
- Engraved roller.
- Batik.
- Photographic.
Styles of Printing
Sometimes we use various types of technique in different printing methods to perform the printing effect easily. This effect of printing is called style of printing. Style of printing mostly depends on the behavior of the dye and chemicals to be printed. It can be divided into following groups:
- Direct.
- Dyed.
- Azoic.
- Metal.
- Block.
- Crepe or crepon.
- Printing of lining.
- Discharge.
- White discharge.
- Color discharge.
- Resist.
- Raised.
Ingredients of Printing
It is required to produce printing pest before printing. A good printing peat is mainly responsible for good printing effect. So it is very important to make a printing pest carefully. There are different ingredients used in printing pest for different purposes. Generally following ingredients are used in printing pest:
- Dyestuffs or pigment.
- Wetting agent.
- Thickener.
- Solvents dispersing agents.
- De-foaming agents.
- Oxidizing and reducing agents.
- Catalyst and oxygen career.
- Acid and alkali.
- Career and swelling agent.
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