Pigment Inks- A Sustainable Digital Textile Printing Solution

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In today&#;s world of inkjet printing, Pigment ink is one of the most promising solutions used in digital textile printing. Digital pigment printing has been delivering great results for a variety of fabrics whether it is natural or synthetic fabric blends. In current trends, pigment inks offer great advantages in terms of production, design, and conservation of major resources like color, fabric, water, energy, etc. that help us to attain a sustainable digital textile printing solution.

The following reasons can give you a better understanding of why pigment ink is a sustainable digital textile printing solution. Let&#;s have a look. 

1. Conservation of Water:

Pigment ink has eliminated the washing process that automatically conserves the water; whereas the reactive inks use separate fixation steps or steaming with excessive water usage to fix the dyes onto the fabrics and remove excess dyes while ensuring colorfastness. Some studies have shown that digital pigment printing has made 60-70 % water reduction as compared to dye-based and conventional printings depending on the fabric type, equipment effectiveness, and design complexity. Since Pigment ink is a water-based ink, there will be less chemical waste production. This will automatically help you to minimize the further treatment of wastes via ETP (effluent treatment plant). 

2. Conservation of Fabric: 

Pigment inks can be printed on a wide range of fabrics, including natural or synthetic blends. With digital pigment printing, you can print customized designs depending on your requirements which gives you the flexibility to alter the color or pattern at any step of the production process with precise fabric alignment. This saves the excess amount of fabric to be wasted and you can print the exact quantity of fabric required. However, in traditional methods like screen printing or rotary screen printing, you cannot alter the printing job if you have an on-demand printing requirement. 

3. Conservation of Color:

In digital pigment printing, no dyestuff, color paste, or water is wasted during the printing process allowing you to utilize the colors effectively. All inkjet printers use printhead technology that precisely prints the desired image on media. In screen printing, you need to prepare dye or color paste in advance. However, in digital pigment printing, the printhead will drop or spray the pigment ink on fabric which will save a lot of your ink.

4. Less Energy Consumption:

Irrespective of its utilization of computer and printer setup, digital printing helps you to save a lot on energy consumption due to its flexibility in production and print-on-demand facilities. Some reports have shown that digital printing saves up to 30 % energy consumption over traditional textile printing methods like screen printing and rotary screen printing. 

5. Smarter Printing Solution:

 

Digital pigment printing is just a two-step process including digital printing and fixation (curing). Post-treatment is completely optional. These reduced number of steps in printing help you to save on operational costs along with reduced water consumption enabling shorter turnaround time. 

6. Reliable Printing Job:

Computerised digital printing has boosted the production capacity for certain products to print many patterns with various tones of the same design making the delivery process rapid or can be delivered on the same day of production. Thus, your printing job becomes very flexible and makes your production worry-free. On the other hand, digital pigment printing allows you to print complex or detailed designs with unlimited color due to its direct access to digital design preferences via computer. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, we&#;ve discussed why pigment ink is the most sustainable solution for digital textile printing, and how it offers substantial benefits to your printing business over traditional textile printing methods.

If you&#;re curious about digital pigment printing and want to know more about pigment ink, please visit. 

Splashjet Inkjet Ink Private Limited

www.splashjet-ink.com

: +91--008-467

Mail &#; 

References:

https://wingtex.cn/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-digital-printing-textile-and-traditional-printing-textile/

If you want to learn more, please visit our website INKBANK.

https://patternanddesign.com/digital-printing-versus-screen-printing-fabric-which-is-better/

https://www.inxinternational.com/blog/digital-printing/pigment-inks-digital-textile-printing

Pigment ink printing, despite its still low popularity, has already permanently entered the textile industry, becoming an integral part of it. The share of this particular method of dyeing and printing fabrics currently amounts to around 3% on the textile market, but this does not diminish the advantages of pigment printing. What are the strengths of this printing process?

Table of Contents

Pigment ink printing is one of the four digital textile printing methods. Digital printing is divided according to the type of dye used, and this group includes pigment ink printing, dye-sublimation printing as well as acid dye printing and reactive dye printing.

See also: Fabric printing methods &#; which printing technology to choose?

A wide range of applications spanning from textile dyeing to pattern printing makes the pigment ink process more and more popular on the market. One of the reasons for its success is that it removes many of the existing printing constraints. For example, it enables printing on both printed t-shirts and fabric bolts with a pattern &#; original or selected from a catalogue.

With which fabrics is the pigment ink printing process used?

Although it still accounts for a small share of fabric dyeing and printing methods used today, using pigment inks is in many cases the most desirable way to print on textiles. It enables us to create unique patterns on a wide assortment of fabrics, made of various fibres, although, of course, it has its limitations. In practice, printing on cotton textiles is predominant, though this does not exclude the use of fabrics made from polyester or cellulose fibres such as lyocell or Tencel. On the other hand, waterproof fabrics or eco-leather are not suitable for pigment ink printing.

Printing on fabrics made from cellulose requires a complex finishing process for such textiles to preserve their colouring effect. This procedure requires both water and chemicals. It also involves increased production costs, resource consumption and environmental pollution, so not every digital fabric printing house offers to print on, for example, viscose. For the present, printing using reactive dyes remains the best method of printing on cellulose fibres.

Fabric printing using pigment inks &#; whatever you want as much as you want

Swatchbooks of woven and knitted fabrics available at CottonBee.

Digital fabric printing allows, above all, retail customers to display their talents. It is not just large clothing companies that can produce unique sewing textiles now. Thanks to digital fabric printing houses, anyone can do it. You can design your pattern from a drawing or a photo or choose a ready-made design from a catalogue. There are many options and even more ways to use such fabrics. From the perspective of small entrepreneurs, it is also an appealing alternative to having to order entire bolts of fabric and storing them in warehouses. Nothing stands in the way of creating a short line of patterns to create limited pieces for the collection. Even the creation of sample textiles does not have to involve ordering at least a few running metres of fabrics.

Costs of printing using pigment inks

For the amateurs of textile printing, the main advantage of pigment ink printing will certainly be its low cost. Digital pigment ink printing eliminates the need for expensive printing plates, as in the case of screen printing, so that the sole cost of the printing process is not enormously high. Besides, the customer is not limited by the minimum order size. In the case of digital pigment ink printing, it is possible to create even a few centimetres of printed fabric.

At CottonBee you can order a sample print in size 20 cm x 20 cm or a 48 cm x 48 cm size.

Speed of fulfilment

No need for printing plates also affects the order fulfilment time. Fabric printing houses that use dye-sublimation or reactive dye printing processes only accept large projects, usually several months in advance. In such a case, the order fulfilment time may be significantly prolonged. As far as using the services of an Internet textile printing house, you can have a ready order at home in up to 5 working days. You are also not obliged to place orders for several or several dozen running meters of fabric.

Surface printing

Digital pigment ink printing process allows only the surface colouring of the fabric. Therefore, the colourful pattern is on top of the fabric, while the underneath remains in its natural, usually white, colour. The inks do not seep into the fibres, as in the case of reactive dye printing. This is also connected to the longevity of such colouring, which is shorter compared to the dye-sublimation or reactive dye printing processes. As a surface printing method, pigment ink prints are vulnerable to more rapid washing out. After many washes, the patterns may lose some of their intensity. Pigmented fabrics do not tolerate rubbing very well, especially when wet.

Washing test swatchbook with samples of CottonBee printed fabrics without washing, after five cycles and 10 cycles in washing machine.

Colour reproduction

Digital pigment ink printing allows printing from a very wide range of colours and provides excellent tonal transitions. Nevertheless, it has some constraints in terms of colour reproduction. Bright colours are very difficult to achieve using this method, while special colours such as metallic or fluorescent are not achievable at all. Also, it is a technology that favours bright, pastel prints. Although recreating deep black is not a problem, pigment ink printing will not be the best choice for printing predominantly black patterns with white elements.

See also: Digital fabric printing: what awaits in the future?

The offer of our online textile printing house will prove to be attractive for customers who care about fast delivery time and the ability to order small to medium quantities of fabric. It is a perfect solution for small companies that produce short series of products and do not have any storage space.

Want more information on textile pigment ink? Feel free to contact us.