Fundamentals of Textile Design 3(2+1)

Lesson 29: Printing methods

Methods of Printing

There are three basic approaches to printing a fabric in colour. Direct, Discharge and Resist.

1. Direct Printing
   This is the most common approach for applying a color in the form of a pattern. It may be done directly on a white fabric or over a previously dyed fabric called overprinting. The dye is made in the paste form using starches or other thickening agents for printing the pattern. The dyes are made into a paste by dissolving in small quantity of water, to which a thickening agent has been added to give the necessary viscosity to the print paste.


2. Discharge Printing
   An already dyed fabric is printed with a chemical in the form of design that will remove the color in designed areas resulting in white design area over a coloured background. Sometimes the chemical paste contains another colour which takes the place of the white area. However, the discharged areas may literally fall out of the fabric because of the weakening of yarns due to the applied chemical. The usual design is the polka dots.


3. Resist Printing
   A third approach of obtaining a color pattern is by resist printing technique. Bleached goods are printed with a resist paste––a resinous substance that cannot be penetrated when the fabric is subsequently immersed in a dye. The fabric takes the dye only in the areas that are not covered by the resist paste. Later the resist paste is removed by washing, leaving a white pattern on a dark back ground.