| Technology has made it possible for us to print on | | | | inks coming out in the market lately are producing |
| textiles using wide-format printers these days. | | | | colors that are almost comparable to those produced |
| Because of these developments, textile printing has | | | | by dye inks. |
| opened new avenues when it comes to printing, and it | | | | 4. Reactive dye inks. Reactive dye inks are used for |
| is widely used in the fields of fashion, interior design, | | | | printing on cellulose or plant-based fabrics like cotton |
| engineering, the military and many other fields. | | | | and linen. Heat is an important component in textile |
| However, since there are many different kinds of | | | | printing using reactive dye inks; it releases the colors in |
| fabrics used in textile printing, there are also many | | | | the dye and binds the dye to the fabric. |
| different printer inks used in printing on fabrics. These | | | | 5. UV-curable textile inks. UV-curable textile works on |
| printer inks are meant to bind with the fibers of the | | | | a variety of fabrics. The printing process involves |
| textile so that the resulting printout would have a high | | | | exposing the printer ink to ultraviolet light while it is being |
| level of quality as well as durability. | | | | cured or dried. The UV light brings out the colors in the |
| Below is a list of some of the kinds of printer inks used | | | | printer ink cartridges without releasing volatile organic |
| for textile printing on wide-format printers: | | | | compounds or VOCs into the environment. |
| 1. Acid dye inks. Acid dye printer inks are primarily for | | | | 6. Dye sublimation inks. Dye sublimation inks are |
| fabrics made from animal protein fibers such as wool, | | | | popularly used on various printing media, not just fabric. |
| mohair and silk. The base for acid dye inks is either | | | | Dye sublimation textile printing works similarly to |
| acetic acid or citric acid. Acid dye can be toxic and | | | | thermal printing in that heat is used to transform the |
| should be used with absolute care. | | | | printer ink from its solid state before it can be bound to |
| 2. Disperse dyes. Disperse dyes are used for printing | | | | the fibers of the fabric medium. However, the |
| on synthetic fibers such as acrylic fibers, nylon and | | | | sublimation process bypasses the liquid state; the ink |
| polyester. Disperse dyes are called such because they | | | | "melts" from the solid to the gaseous state and then |
| require a dispersing agent to spread the dye over the | | | | solidifies upon the fabric. |
| fabric. High temperatures are usually required for | | | | These are the common printer inks used for textile |
| disperse dyes to work. | | | | printing on wide-format printers. There are different |
| 3. Pigmented textile inks. Pigmented textile printer inks | | | | kinds of these printer inks because certain printer inks |
| are mostly for printing on cotton fabrics. They are | | | | work only with certain fabrics and specific results are |
| known for their durability even though they are not that | | | | usually expected with a certain fabric-ink combination. |
| good with rendering colors compared to dye inks. | | | | This makes textile printing exciting to work with. |
| However, the newest kinds of pigmented textile printer | | | | Required ! |