Possibilities and limitations of pigment printing

There are of course limitations to balance against the substantial advantages of pigment printing. The printer should be fully aware of these, since the use of pigments in applications where dyes are required can bring about a negative attitude to pigments, even in suitable applications

Possibilities and limitations of pigment printing

Advantages 1. Pigment printing is the most economical printing process and allows maximum output of goods because of the elimination of washing-off, quick sampling and high printing speeds. 2. Properly produced pigment prints, using selected products, have an unsurpassed fastness to light and good general fastness properties. 3. Pigment printing can be applied to all substrates which are of interest to the printer, including glass fibres, PVC and imitation leather, subject to some limitations in colour depth. It is extremely well suited for colour resist effects, for example, under azoic and reactive dyes. 4. Pigment printing presents the fewest problems for the printer of all the coloration processes, with regard to labour costs, equipment, and reliability of production. Mistakes in printing can be recognised quickly. 5. From the ecological point of view, pigment printing, using pastes free from white spirit, is more acceptable than any other system, excepting only transfer printing methods.

Disadvantages 1. The fastness levels of medium- or dark-coloured prints on materials made from polyester and acrylic fibres, as well as on wool, are at best only suitable for articles that will not be subjected to a great deal of wear. Dark-coloured prints on woven and knitted goods made of synthetic fibre blends are especially susceptible to abrasive wear, as well as to reduction in colour strength by frequent use or washing. This applies particularly to men’s polyester/cotton shirts. 2. The handle of the printed goods is often unduly hard because of the large amounts of external crosslinking agents, and this necessitates aftertreatment of the prints on breaking machines to produce some improvement.