Direct Disperse Ink Development

New direct disperse ink technologies will simplify the polyester ink-jet printing process and help grow this printing segment.
 
By Rene Wolferink
 
Over the past few years there has been an increase in the use of polyester fabric for the fashion printing market. Polyester is making its mark as a “green” fiber, and fiber prices are down as well — although polyester prices have risen again since oil prices stabilized. Many companies in the more traditional printing arena — reactive and acid digital — have tried digital disperse printing. At the same time, flag and banner companies also have tried to enter the fashion market. Some companies have entered this rapidly growing market successfully, but many other companies have been unsuccessful. Printing with disperse dye inks may seem to be easier than printing with reactive dye inks, but the fact is, there are many challenges presented by the process.

Failure Areas
There are many failure areas to consider including the fabrics, inks, printing machinery, and auxiliary equipment for fixation and washing.

For a reactive dye ink-jet printing company to change to disperse dye ink-jet printing, the fabrics do not have to be that different. But a producer that operates in the flag and banner market is often less knowledgeable about flexible, stretchy and lightweight fashion fabrics. Depending on the company’s background, there may be a steep learning curve, especially in fabric handling.

Disperse sublimation (transfer) inks are a common choice, but there also are disperse direct inks available on the market. Each type of ink has its own specifications, and the choice of ink usually will also determine the machine type. This could be a low-, medium- or even high-speed machine. Current machine speeds range from a very low 10 linear meters per hour (m/hr) to 4,000 linear m/hr.

The manufacturer also has to select auxiliary equipment to permanently fix the inks to the fabric. In the dye sublimation sportswear market, dye sublimation calenders — transfer calenders — are commonly used. In the flag and banners market, it is very common to have fixation done using a beltless fixation system, usually featuring a heated roller that guides the fabric. In the traditional fashion fabric printing market, it is most common to steam fix using superheated steam, followed by a reductive washing cycle. Each method has its positive and negative side effects.

Decreasing polyester prices made the fiber competitive with cotton for fashion apparel.

Digital Dye Sublimation Printer For Sportswear
There are specific difficulties associated with converting to digital disperse printing for ladies fashion.In the case of a digital dye sublimation printer for sportswear, a typical set-up involves printing and cutting panels of paper or printing complete rolls of paper. The dye sublimation process usually takes place in some kind of table setting or in a roll-to-roll setting. In the press the design is then transferred from paper to fabric. No washing is needed, so it’s a fairly straightforward process, with only a few parameters to determine.The pros of this process include: ease; no washing required; fast; cost-efficient; and level printing results. Cons include no through-print — the back of the fabric remains white; limited fastness with migration and pleating possible; loss of fabric texture because of high pressures and temperatures used during processing; and fabric yellowing may occur.The main problems these cons create when trying to convert to the ladies fashion market include: through-print, at least to a certain extent, is in many cases required because the ladies’ fashion market uses fairly thin fabrics; delicate fabrics, sometimes with some structure may get flattened/hardened in a calender, which are not desirable qualities; and fastness requirements may not be achieved with standard dye sublimation inks.Digital Disperse Printer For Flags And Banners
In the case of a printer producing flags and banners, the most common setup would be a digital roll-to-roll printer using either dye sublimation inks or disperse direct inks. These direct inks have a colorless carrying medium, while traditional dye sublimation inks may have a light brownish carrying medium. Fixation is performed on calenders or a contact heat roller system. For certain end-uses, no washing process is required after fixation. For any product that is to be used outside, a washing procedure is performed to clear any unfixed colorants.A special capability in this scenario is the option of double sided printing. By printing directly onto a non-pretreated fabric in most cases, the inks will easily migrate to the backside of the fabric.This process is still a fairly easy process requiring little to no washing, and it offers two-sided printing possibilities. Drawbacks to this method include a chance of colors bleeding; fabrics require washing in order to be used outside; fabric stretching during fixation; and dull finished colors.Issues this type of producer can experience when trying to move to the fashion market include: needing pretreatment in order to prevent migration and/or bleeding and to maximize color depth; requiring reductive clearing to diminish all non-fixed dyestuff and those types of companies often have no washing equipment; and fabric finishing is needed to give the fabric the necessary properties.

The pretreatment, clearing and finishing steps all require large equipment — washing lines, padders and tenters — that typically only are available at large conventional printers.

Printed polyester fabrics have become a popular choice in the fashion world.

Digital Reactive Dye Printers
Manufacturers printing reactives using digital equipment operate digital-printing machinery that has a printing blanket, which stabilizes the fabric during printing. Such manufacturers commonly pretreat the fabrics themselves, and after printing they steam and wash the fabrics.Pros associated with this method of manufacturing include: high fastness; large color gamut; and the fabric is heated but it remains untouched, so normally fabric hand does not change too much. The biggest con associated with this method of manufacturing is that many parameters have to be monitored including pretreating, steaming and washing, which results in a difficult to manage process.When a reactive-dye printer wants to change to printing with direct disperse dyes, there are only a few things that change. Because of the changes in dye and fabric, there is a need for a different pretreatment process. Furthermore, the fixation process needs to be performed at roughly 175 °C instead of 102 °C.So what is holding manufacturers back from switching to using direct disperse dyes considering the market for digitally printed polyester fashion fabrics is increasing and therefore attractive? Manufacturers actually are not being held back, but unfortunately it’s not only the issue in play.As a supplier to the traditional reactive printing market, The Netherlands-based SPGPrints BV has seen many producers invest in digital dye sublimation equipment. Not because they wanted to, but because no real solution was available for direct printing onto polyester.As the market was demanding polyester, producers had to deliver but struggled because the inks for direct disperse digital printing were not reliable enough.So numerous textile printers added smaller-sized equipment to their production portfolio, and they started to print on paper and then perform the sublimation. Although this is easy and cheap, the quality isn’t what the market demands.On the supply side, things also have changed. In the early days of printing direct disperse on high-speed machines, it was obvious there were some problems including too much glycol in the inks; unstable dispersions; and open time at the nozzle.

The glycols create multiple issues during the printing process. They help elevate the viscosity of the inks, which is good for ink-jet print performance, but the elevated viscosity has a negative effect because less dyestuff can be dispersed in the inks causing less color yield.

Another negative effect of the glycols is during ink drying — the inks become different. The boiling point is higher than 130 °C, which causes a dryer that runs at a fairly standard 130 °C to not dry the fabric. This can cause staining or marking of the design on other parts of the fabric when it’s rolled.

The fact that not all inks are very stable dispersions can cause havoc. Most inks tend to dry slowly, but when they do dry, they dry almost like a pigment with binder. When this happens on the nozzle plate, the heads can easily become clogged. It is of utmost importance that dried ink in the printhead is avoided at all costs.

So making a reliable ink for direct printing polyester is therefore a challenging task. The initial ranges of disperse direct inks had a dramatic effect on lifetime of the Kyocera heads. This effect was improved, where the second generation of direct disperse inks had a much improved runnability and lifetime score, but all of them were lower on the available color gamut.

Current Status
After two years in development, SPGPrints has created the next generation of direct disperse inks that combine good runnability and lifetime scores with very bright and vivid colors, and that are also easy to dry. Fixation of the dyestuffs can be performed in traditional ways such as high-temperature steaming or hot-roller fixation. This therefore also opens up possibilities for companies that have been acting in the dye sublimation field.

Pretreatment of the fabric is necessary to maximize color gamut, but is limited to simply padding a recipe containing mainly thickeners onto the fabric. Washing also is necessary, as with all direct print methods to meet the requests of customers.

The latest Nebula Disperse Direct ink (for Kyocera) is available in eight colors — black, cyan, magenta, yellow, orange, red, blue and violet. The ink also is available as Flare type ink, for Epson DX4/DX5 heads. By having a large color gamut available in a direct print method, manufacturers can achieve the qualities that are needed by their customers.

Through-print is not an issue anymore on thinner fabrics. If needed, through-print is even possible on thicker fabrics by using SPGPrints patented penetration fluid. fastness of the direct method commonly outperforms fastness of dye sublimation.

Drying of the ink on the heads is prevented, due to the chemical build up of the inks.

All in all, there are no reasons anymore why the volume of digital printing of polyester fashion fabrics using true direct disperse inks cannot grow dramatically.

Editor’s note: Rene Wolferink is an application specialist on digital textiles with the Netherlands-based SPGPrints BV.

November/December 2015

Covestro And Isotex Announce Joint Program To Promote Waterborne PU Technology For Textiles

LEVERKUSEN, Germany/TRISSINO,Italy — November 10, 2015 — Isotex engineering, a Santex Group company, announced a joint program with Covestro to develop and market technologies for polyurethane (PU) synthetics, technical textiles, films and foams based on Insqin™ waterborne PU technology.
 
ISOTEX Engineering has announced a new agreement with Covestro, using INSQIN technology to develop total solutions for textile industry. The two companies will jointly promote environmentally-friendly solutions for PU coated fabrics, addressing the emerging requirements from the sportswear, fashion and automotive industries.
          
Isotex  Engineering machines will guarantee optimal production standards using Insqin technology. The new line of machines will be designed for using Insqin technology with process innovation from Isotex Engineering, to produce waterborne PU synthetic materials and other coated textiles.
 
Nicholas Smith, Global Head of Textile Coatings of Covestro, said: “Continuous innovation in textile machine technology is just as important for the industry as innovation in chemistry. For this reason we are delighted to collaborate with Isotex.”
 
Stefano Gallucci, CEO of Isotex Engineering and Santex Group, said: “We believe waterborne products are the future. Technology and chemistry are ready after years of R&D efforts. We are very honored of this partnership with Covestro and working worldwide with our Clients to help them with this new rich market opportunity.”
 
Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Covestro
 

Alvanon Announces Fit Movement Partnership With Parsons School Of Design

NEW YORK CITY — November11, 2015 — Alvanon, The Global Apparel Business Expert, has entered into a  Fit Movement partnership with the Parsons School of Design. The partnership provides students enrolled in selected programs with advanced industry fit tools used in product development for the purpose of creating a state of the art learning environment for emerging designers.

“Parson’s vision incorporates values such as collaborative methods, pioneering uses of technology and experimentation,” says Alvanon CEO Janice Wang. “These are concepts that thoroughly reflect Alvanon’s view of mentorship and education. We are natural partners, and Alvanon is delighted to support one of New York City’s elite educational institutions with world class technical tools.”

Parsons School of Design
Parsons’ Master of Fine Arts Fashion Design and Society program is led by director Shelley Fox. The graduate program, begun with the support of Parsons alumna Donna Karan, trains a select group of designers to view fashion from a global perspective, and to address issues such as global production and distribution, as well as the social and ecological effects of fashion.
 
Alvanon equipped Parsons’ MFA program with a full complement of AlvaForm fit mannequins. In addition, the company sponsors the BFA in Fashion Design program by organizing a discount program, supplying Half-Scale AlvaForm mannequins annually to over 300 Parsons faculty members, graduate students and undergraduates for use in their classes.  The Half-Scale AlvaForm is an invaluable educational tool that has been adopted as the standard for their curriculum.
 
 “Our students need to be working with high level equipment so that they are equipped to work with the best when they enter the industry,” Fox says. “The AlvaForms are a prime example. They will enable our students to create fashion that fits at the highest professional level.”
 
Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Alvanon
 

Suominen Launches Three New Fibrella® Products In Its Medical Product Portfolio

HELSINKI, Finland — November 16, 2015 — Suominen, a supplier of nonwovens, has launched three new products in its Medical business segment. Medical and Hygiene, which together form the Care Business Area at Suominen, are key focus areas for future growth and product innovation.

FIBRELLA® Zorb and Fibrella® Zorb+ are both new nonwoven products designed for use in the Operating Rooms (OR) in hospitals for critical surgical applications. Used as specially tailored additions to standard draping techniques to isolate the patient and OR staff, Fibrella® Zorb and Fibrella Zorb+ bring added value benefits to the critical care environment.

Fibrella Zorb is an absorbent light weight top layer with a new texture utilizing Suominen´s unique patterning.

Fibrella Zorb+ is a highly absorbent structure designed for use around the incision site for fenestrations in surgical drapes.

Fibrella Perf, a range of nonwovens for wound care and gentle cleansing has an apertured structure which makes it very soft and skin friendly. Fibrella Perf for Medical applications, initially introduced to the market in South America in March, is now manufactured at all Suominen’s manufacturing sites around the world opening up new geographies for its sale.

Speaking about these new product introductions at Medica, Lynda Kelly, SVP Care business area, said “Our strategic plans to develop and grow in the medical market is clearly reflected in these exciting new Fibrella products which bring high value added benefits to our customers and patients alike. High performance nonwovens offer improved standards of care to the healthcare professionals around the globe.”

“Suominen’s commitment to the medical market with new manufacturing and R&D resources means we will be able to continue to develop new and differentiated products for the specialist medical arena” added Marika Mäkilä, Global Medical Product Manager.

Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Suominen
 

Novozymes And Lenzing Cooperating To Create New Textiles

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — November 11, 2015 — Today, Novozymes and Lenzing AG announced a collaboration that has resulted in a unique method to maintain the superior look and feel of TENCEL® cotton blends. Known as Tencel CombiPolish®, the treatment ensures that the resulting textile is smooth and gentle – and that it continues to look great after wear and washing.

The Best Of Both Worlds
Tencel is the name of the lyocell fibers from Lenzing, the innovator of this new man-made cellulose fiber category. Lyocell is extracted from wood and resembles the quality of long staple cotton. Textiles made from Tencel are in general highly absorbent, soft, smooth and therefore friendly to the skin. When blending up to 50% Tencel with cotton, the result is a fabric with enhanced strength, sheen, and breathing properties.

Biopolishing is when enzymes remove the protruding fibers and dead cotton that causes cotton knits to look fuzzy and appear worn. The biopolishing enzymes can be applied during dyeing, avoiding an additional process step, saving time, water, and energy. The Tencel CombiPolish treatment is based on Novozymes’ patented process for biopolishing.

“Tencel is one of the most innovative and sustainable fibers available, and is of exceptional quality being silky-smooth and breathable,” says Christian Wieth, Novozymes’ Global Marketing Manager for Textile. “We are excited to work with Lenzing, a company with similar focus on sustainable innovation, and we are delighted that our enzymes can help Tencel stay looking and feeling great for longer.”

Quality That Stands Out
Consumers want natural and quality materials. With Tencel CombiPolish, textile manufacturers and retailers have high quality and innovative knitted textiles that stand out from mass-produced products. The companies will launch a marketing program to help identify knitted Tencel garments in the market that have used the unique biopolishing method.

Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Novozymes
 

Global Yarn And Fabric Output Up In Q2/2015

ZURICH, Switzerland — November 4, 2015 — Global yarn production rose in Q2/2015 quarter-on-quarter. Thereby, all regions experienced increases, whereby the strongest growth was measured in Asia and North America. It has to be noted, that due to a data error, the Asian yarn output for Q1/2015 was revised upwards, which also led to an upward revision of global output. On an annual basis, the global yarn production in Q2/2015 increased moderately due to positive developments in Asia and North America. Worldwide yarn stocks rose in Q2/2015 versus Q1/2015. Thereby, yarn stocks in Asia and South America were increased, while European stocks were reduced. Year-on-year, global yarn stocks increased. Yarn orders in Europe rose in Q2/2015 quarter-on-quarter as well as year-on-year. In South America, however, they fell.

Global fabric production rose in Q2/2015 against Q1/2015 with all regions showingvincreases. It has to be pointed out that Asia’s production is usually significantly higher in thevQ2 compared to Q1. Due to Chinese New Year holidays, which traditionally are around the end of January or beginning of February, China has less working days in the first quarter than during the rest of the year, which affects output in Q1 negatively. The global fabric production in Q2/2015 fell compared the same quarter of the previous year. World fabric stocks were increased quarter-on-quarter in Q2/2015. Year-on-year, they also rose with increases in nearly all regions except for North America. Fabric orders in Q2/2015 decreased moderately in Europe quarter-on-quarter and rose in South America. On an annual basis, European orders rose, while they fell in South America.

Estimates for yarn production for Q3/2015 are positive in Asia and in North America, while they remain unchanged in Europe. Estimates for fabric production for Q3/2015 are positive in Asia and unchanged in Europe.

The outlook for yarn and fabric production for Q4/2015 is unchanged in Asia and in Europe. In Q2/2015, global yarn production rose by 13% quarter-on-quarter after a rise of 27% in Q1/2015. Thereby, Asian yarn output in Q2/2015 rose by 14% quarter-on-quarter. In Europe, North and South America output increased by 2%, 5.6% and 1.4%, respectively. Global yarn output rose moderately in Q2/2015 versus Q2/2014 by 0.4%. Thereby, yarn output rose by 0.7% in Asia and by 3% in North America. In Europe and South America it fell by 8.7% and 1.4% year-on-year, respectively.

Global fabric production increased by 9% in Q2/2015 against the previous quarter. Strong increases were measured in Asia with 9%. Europe and South America recorded increases of 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively. Year-on-year, global fabric output fell by 2%. Thereby, Asian production fell by 2.2%, European output fell by 4.3% and in South America it decreased by 7.3%.

Global yarn inventories were increased by 2% in Q2/2015 quarter-on-quarter. Thereby, European inventories fell by 2.2%, while South American stocks recorded a strong rise of 26%. On an annual basis, global yarn inventories increased by 4% due to a strong rise in South America (+25.6%). In Asia yarn stocks rose by 4.6% year-on-year, while they fell in Europe (-6%).

Worldwide fabric stocks rose by 4.3% in Q2/2015 versus Q1/2015. Stocks in Asia and South America were increased by 0.3% and 15.7%, respectively. Global fabric inventories in Q2/2015 climbed by 3.7% year-on-year. While fabric stocks were increased by 0.4% in Asia, by 4% in Europe and by 14% in South America, they were reduced by 0.7% in North America.

In Q2/2015, European yarn orders rose by 3.5% quarter-on-quarter and by 2% year-on-year. In South America they fell by 27% quarter-on-quarter and by 47% year-on-year. European fabric orders in Q2/2015 fell moderately by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter and increased by nearly 4% year-on-year. Fabric orders in Q2/2015 in South America increased by 3.8% quarter-on-quarter and fell by 4% year-on-year.

Posted November 10, 2015

Source: ITMF
 

Eurofibers Rebrands Coating Technology To Prisma®

MAASTRICHT, The Netherlands — November 6, 2015 — FYSC Technologies, the innovative coating division of the High Performance Fibers supplier EuroFibers BV, announced that it has rebranded. FYSC Technologies will begin operating under the new trade name Prisma® effective immediately. The rebrand is the positive outcome of the company’s broadening footprint in and outside Europe, unprecedented demand, and increasing recognition. The rebranding will continue to build and foster EuroFibers unparalleled dedication to offering innovative technical solutions that enhance features of High Performance Fibers like Dyneema®, Twaron®, Technora®, Vectran® and Zylon®.

“The idea of the rebranding arose at the Techtextill in Frankfurt last May, when it was clear that FYSCTM was transitioning to a technology platform with a growing presence and expanding services,” says Marcel Alberts, founder of EuroFibers. “We have tripled our coating capacity within a year. We have some great momentum right now with no signs of slowing. There may never be a better time to rebrand.”

The company’s brand Prisma embodies a coating technology that “creates innovative solutions to shield High Performance Fibers.” The name Prisma originates from the initial trials conducted when EuroFibers tried to coat Dyneema fibers. Dyneema is only available in white and with the Prisma coating technology we can offer it in all colors of the rainbow. The new logo clearly shows all these colors.  The stylized shield is a profound statement in itself with the shield representing the protective features the Prisma coating technology offers the treated High Performance Fibers.

With the rebranding, EuroFibers also services the customers to define the Prisma value proposition to their end users. A strong logo and clear and distinctive website, makes it better for customers to explain why Prisma® shielded fibers are so much better. Marcel Alberts explains: “Our new brand identity is a logical step that communicates to both customers and end users that we continue to provide products and services that consistently outpace our competitors. Our new identity helps mirror the fact that we’re an innovative and forward-looking company with a commitment to ensure the success of every client we service.”

With the adoption of this new brand and logo, EuroFibers has simultaneously launched the website http://www.prismashield.com/.

Posted November 10, 2015

Source: EuroFibers
 

Asher Fabric Concepts Opens Doors to New Showroom

LOS ANGELES — November 5, 2015 — To better serve its customers, Asher Fabric Concepts, a Los Angeles-based supplier of domestic knit fabrics for the contemporary fashion, activewear and intimate apparel markets, has moved its headquarters and showroom to a more spacious locale.
 
Asher Shalom, president of Asher Fabric Concepts, purchased the 4,400 square foot building in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles last year, and has renovated into an airy environment to showcase its knit fabric capabilities.
 
“We are excited to present our vast range of luxury fabrics along with designs and operations in our unique and beautifully-designed new space,” said Asher Shalom, President, Asher Fabric Concepts. “We believe it’s the most beautiful showroom in California!”
 
Only yards away from its previous location, the new Asher Fabric Concepts showroom is situated in its own which is easily accessible and offers 40 parking spaces. The new address is 950 S Boyle Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90032. The phone and fax numbers remain the same and are: Tel: 323-268-1218, Fax: 323-268-2737.
 
Posted November 10, 2015

Source: Asher Fabric Concepts
 

Italian Textile Machinery Sector Serving Innovation

MILAN, Italy — November 4, 2015 — New video on innovation now on-line: created by Italian Trade Agency, in partnership with ACIMIT, and financed by the Italian Ministry for Economic Development.
 
The video on textile innovation created by Italian Trade Agency, in partnership with ACIMIT, and financed by the Italian Ministry for Economic Development, highlights the strong culture of innovation that distinguishes Italian textile industry. A fabric expresses style, originality, as well as reliability, performance and comfort. All this requires a textile sector that is highly innovative, such as the one which exists in Italy, where the indispensable synergy between textile, chemical and mechanical sectors are all part of a longstanding tradition.
 
The interviews in the video with Andrea Parodi, President of Texclubtec, and Alberto Paccanelli, President of the technology platform for the Italian textile and clothing industry, confirm that innovative textiles developed for technical applications are fast becoming a significant factor in the production chain in Italy. Italian technical textiles account for EUR 3.5 billion in annual revenue, employing 42,000 people in roughly 800 companies, totalling around 12% of Europe’s textile turnover.
 
Outside of Italy, technical textiles are also developing quickly, with nearly 30% of textile materials produced designed for technical applications. Expected growth in this sector from now till 2020 is exponential, especially concerning composites and non-wovens.
 
This growth in the industry’s technical segments is marked by the essential role played by the technology adopted. Machinery are an indispensable partner for creating innovative textiles. For years now, Italy’s textile machinery sector has been committed alongside the most innovative textile manufacturers: over 120 Italian manufacturers produce machinery designed for the production of technical products, with a turnover in Italy for the sale of this specific type of machinery amounting to EUR 400 million, accounting for 15% of total revenues for the Italian textile machinery sector.
 
At ITMA 2015, visitors will be able to verify how Italian technologies work to provide the textile industry with the most innovative solutions, suited to Italian know-how and design.
 
The video “Italian Machines Serving the Innovative Textile” is available at the following link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyALRqEzR6QCSXz3aFNlBDA
 
Posted November 10, 2015

Source: ACIMIT
 

NCTO Statement On Release Of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Text

WASHINGTON — November 5, 2015 — Today’s release of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) text allows NCTO to begin an exhaustive review of the details of the agreement. NCTO will immediately initiate a thorough analysis of the text to determine its impact on our members, the U.S. textile industry as a whole, and our Western Hemisphere trading partners.
 
Based on our generalized understanding of the final agreement reached last month, we believe that many of the U.S. textile industry’s key objectives have been met, including a yarn forward rule of origin for most products and reasonable duty phase-outs for sensitive textile and apparel items. While we need to thoroughly familiarize ourselves with the fine details of the agreement, we feel that the U.S. government was able to achieve a well-balanced outcome for all parties, including U.S. textile manufacturers and our partners in the Western Hemisphere. NCTO thanks Ambassador Michael Froman and the entire U.S. negotiating team for the consideration they gave NCTO’s input during the TPP process and we hope to complete our review of the agreement in the coming weeks.

Posted November 10, 2015

Source: NCTO
 

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