National Textile University

B.Sc. Textile Engineering

Introduction to Textile Processing

Course code: TP-2031

Course title: Introduction to Textile Processing
Semester: 4th
Section: (KN) E

Practical No 09

Practical Title:
To print 100% cotton fabric with reactive printing using flat bed printing machine
Submitted by
Sohail Asghar 16-NTU-0159
Submitted to
Dr. Abdul Rehman Sb

Submission Date: 16/05/2018

Abstract:

In this experiment we printed 100% cotton fabric by flat bed screen printing machine using
reactive dye. Firstly the recipe was made using chemicals, reactive dye, thickener, urea, NaHCO3
and mild oxidizing agent and then the fabric was printed on a flat bed screen printing machine.
Fabric was passed through a Stenter machine to dry at 110°C, steamed at 102°C, washed at 60°C
and dried in oven.

Theory:
Screen printing is by far the most popular technology in use today. Screen printing consists of
three elements: The screen which is the image carrier; the squeegee; Ink. The screen printing
process uses a porous mesh stretched tightly over a frame made of wood or metal. Proper tension
is essential for accurate color registration. The mesh is made of porous fabric or stainless steel. A
stencil is produced on the screen either manually or photo chemically. The stencil defines the
image to be printed in other printing technologies this would be referred to as the image plate.

Reactive dyes are a class of highly colored organic substances, primarily used for tinting textiles
that attach themselves to their substrates by a chemical reaction that forms a covalent bond
between the molecule of dye and that of the fiber. The dyestuff thus becomes a part of the fiber
and is much less likely to be removed by washing than are dyestuffs that adhere by adsorption.
The most important characteristic of reactive dyes is the formation of covalent bonds with the
substrate to be colored, i.e. the dye forms a chemical bond with cellulose, which is the main
component of cotton fibers.

Objective:
1. To print 100% cotton fabric with reactive printing using flat bed printing machine
Equipment and Materials:
 Flat bed Screen Printing machine with screen
 Stenter
 100% Cotton Fabric
 Steamer
 Oven

Recipe:
Reactive Dye = 8g

Thickener (Sodium Alginate) = 10%

Urea = 10% - 15%

NaHCO3 (Sodium bicarbonate) = 5%

Mild Oxidizing Agent = 0.5%

Procedure:
100% cotton fabric was taken. Recipe was prepared according to use and stirred it for 5 min.
After that fabric was laid down on machine table and screen was put onto the fabric. Paste which
we made was shifted to the screen and printed the fabric. Then fabric was dried at 110°C for 2
min in Stenter and steamed at 102°C for 10 min in steamer and washed at 60°C for
5 min using 1g/l detergent solution. At the end fabric was dried in oven.

Result:
The result we got is that we have got a good and bright printed design on the fabric even better
than pigment printing.
 Fabric sample after Reactive printing

Discussion:
As the reactive dye has affinity towards fabric so the dye was penetrated in the fabric and there
was not bad hand feel of the fabric like pigment printing because here the paste is not on the
surface but it is completely penetrated in the fabric.

Conclusion:
As we have done everything completely in a good manner so the design we got is also very
good, sharp and bright. As compared to pigment printing it is better one.