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POLYESTER PRINTING
Recipe, Process

Printing with Disperse Dyestuff

Fibres and Thickeners
POLYESTER

GUAR

For direct printing on PES disperse dyestuffs are applied

which have a good stability to sublimation. HT steam fixation
is the usual fixation process. With a pressure steam fixation
optimal colour yield and brilliance are achieved. A clear
disadvantage is the discontinuous, complex and thus
inefficient working process. A hot air fixation ought to be only
used as alternative if a steamer is not available. With a hot
air fixation a slight impact on the handle cannot always be
prevented and an optimal colour yield is only achieved with
auxiliaries. Fixation accelerators also improve the
washability of thickeners. When printing fibre blends which
can also be printed with disperse dyestuffs, fixation terms
which are possibly optimal for both fibre types are selected.

Guar is applied less frequently in polyester printing since

besides its bad washability and suboptimal colour yield, guar
is quite expensive.

Pressure
Saturated Steam
Up to 1,5 bar
Up to 2 bar
Up toto 3 bar
HT-Steam
Hot Air

Temperature
101 - 105 C
100 - 110 C
103 - 115 C
120 - 125 C
170 - 180 C
190 - 210 C

20
20
30
20

Time
- 45 min
- 30 min
- 45 min
- 30 min
6 - 8 min
1 - 2 min

CA CTA PA PAC PES

PRISULON DCA 90
Application amount: 44 g/kg

TAMARIND
Despite a quite high application amount tamarind is highly
efficient. The positive technical selection criteria also turn
tamarinds into todays most important natural thickeners for
polyester printing.

PRISULON T 10
Application amount: 54 g/kg

X
X
X

X
X
X

ACETATE, POLYAMIDE, POLYACRYLONITRILE

FIBRES
For printing acetate and triacetate fibres disperse dyestuffs
are applied. They meet the requirements made on brilliance
and fastnesses. HT steam and hot air fixation is only suited
to a limited extent. Due to the bad wet fastnesses
polyamide fibres are normally not printed with disperse
dyestuffs. However, it is possible with pale to medium
shades. Disperse dyestuffs are usually not applied for
printing PAC fibres. During fixation the heat sensitivity of
PAC fibres must be considered. If the handle harshens,
lower fixation temperatures will have to be selected.

ALGINATE
Thickener blends often contain alginate. The good
washability of alginate compensates the bad washability of
starch ether. Thus, a thickener blend has still a good
washability and colour depth due to the good colour yield of
starch ether.

CHT-ALGINAT SMT
Application amount: 22 g/kg

STARCH ETHER
Besides the bad washability, prints with starch ether have a
poor definition. Starch ethers are only suited as blending
component in PES printing.

PRISULON CMS 10
Application amount: 47 g/kg

THICKENERS

STARCH ETHER/ ALGINATE BLEND

Washability, colour yield and definition are important criteria

for selecting a thickener.

PRISULON SPE 7000

Application amount: 46 g/kg

SYNTHETIC THICKENERS
Guar TAM ALG STA SYN

Washability
Colour yield
Definition

+
+
+

+
+

+
-

+
+
+

Synthetic thickeners have a very good colour yield. During

steaming ammonia evaporates and acrylic acid provides a
sufficiently acid pH value. With approx. 10 g/kg TUBIGAT
AR the rheology of the print paste is modified, so that a good
definition is even achieved on critical fabrics. In case of
extremely critical fabrics, a blend of tamarind/ synthetic
thickener can produce a good definition.

PRISULON STAR
Application amount: 45 55 g/kg

Printing Technique
Direct, Discharge, Burn-Out and Transfer Printing
DIRECT PRINTING WITH NATURAL THICKENERS
Thickener Stock / Water
CHT-ANTIFOAM BSN
RAPIDOPRINT RRE
RAPIDOPRINT XR GRANULATE
Citric Acid 1 : 2 (pH 5 - 6)
Disperse Dyestuff (BEMACRON)

xg
0.5 - 3 g/kg
10 - 20 g/kg
10 g/kg
5 - 10 g/kg
y g/kg

Disperse dyestuffs can saponify in an alkaline medium,

which leads to changes in shade. Please make sure that the
pH value remains in a slightly acid range during fixation.
With a non-volatile acid such as citric acid or the acid donor
ammonium sulphate the correct pH value during fixation is
maintained. Negative reductive impacts during steaming are
prevented by adding a weak oxidising agent such as
RAPIDOPRINT XR GRANULATE. Fixation accelerators
such as RAPIDOPRINT RRE may help improve the colour
yield. Adverse fixation terms, a low moisture content and a
short steaming time are compensated. A printing oil
improves the printing behaviour. Thus, the colour yield is
optimized with RAPIDOPRINT H 4.

DIRECT PRINTING WITH SYNTHETIC

THICKENERS
Water
RAPIDOPRINT SC 10
PRISULON STAR
Disperse Dyestuff (BEMACRON)

xg
0.5 - 3 g/kg
45 - 55 g/kg
10 g/kg

Print pastes which are thickened with a synthetic thickener

do not additionally require acid or an acid donor since the
ammonium salts of the acrylic salts take over the function of
the acid donor. Printing is often effected with a simple recipe
consisting of water, dyestuff and thickener. Besides an
antifoaming effect, RAPIDOPRINT SC 10 has also a
deaerating and penetration-promoting effect.

DISCHARGE PRINTING
PRISULON T 10 (10 % Stock)
xg
RAPIDOPRINT SC 10
0.5 - 3 g/kg
RAPIDOPRINT RRE
10 - 20 g/kg
Stannous-II Chloride 1 : 1
80 - 200 g/kg
Disperse Dyest. Stable to Discharge
y g/kg
Dischargeable disperse dyestuffs predyed, preprinted or
overprinted can be discharged with the corresponding
reduction agents. The dyestuff selection depends on the
discharge agent. Stannous-II chloride is mostly applied.
Stannous-II chloride has a wide application range but the
corrosive effect is the disadvantage of this discharge agent.

BURN-OUT PRINTING
PRISULON T 10 (10 % Stock)
RAPIDOPRINT SC 10
RAPIDOPRINT TM 2
Glycerine
Sodium Hydrosulphate
Suitable Disperse Dyestuff

xg
0.5 - 3 g/kg
20 - 30 g/kg
80 g/kg
80 - 150 g/kg
y g/kg

Fixation is carried out for 4 min at 140 C or for 60 - 90 sec

at 160 - 190 C dry heat in case of multicolour bur n-outs.
PRISULON T 10 is excellently suited for the penetration
required for burn-out printing. When using aluminium
sulphate as acid donor a stable guar must be used.
PRISULON DCA 90 (10 % Stock)
RAPIDOPRINT SC 10
RAPIDOPRINT TM 2
Glycerine
Aluminium Sulphate
Suitable Disperse Dyestuff

xg
0.5 - 3 g/kg
20 - 30 g/kg
80 g/kg
80 - 180 g/kg
y g/kg

For a successful burn-out print the fabric structure is

decisive. Fabrics consisting of core spun yarns are
particularly easy to burn-out. Blends made of intimate PES
fibre blends require the far more aggressive sodium
hydrogen sulphate as burn-out agent which, however, is not
suited for PA fibres. For printing it is generally important that
the print paste is applied to the complete fibre share to be
burnt out in order to ensure a complete penetration.
Residue-free burn-out prints can only be produced this way.
For multicolour burn-outs stable disperse dyestuffs must be
applied. The dyestuff manufacturers provide information.

TRANSFER PRINTING
Water
RAPIDOPRINT SC 15
RAPIDOPRINT CT 110
RAPIDOPRINT CTA 10 pH > 7
Suitable Disperse Dyestuff

xg
5 g/kg
approx. 100 g/kg
approx. 10 g/kg
y g/kg

For transfer printing only disperse dyestuffs with good

sublimation properties can be used. RAPIDOPRINT CT 110
is a compound containing thickener and film forming agent.
The colour transfer is not impaired and pastel shades are
not dulled. The pH value is adjusted to a neutral range by
adding approx. 10 % RAPIDOPRINT CTA 10, related to the
applied quantity of RAPIDOPRINT CT 110. This way the
maximally obtainable viscosity develops.

Afterwashing of Prints
Washing off without Staining
PRINTOBLANC P 300

DOSAGE

The alkaline reductive bath is also very important when

washing the prints. The reduction treatment with sodium
hydrogen sulphite destroys a part (azo dyes) of the unfixed
dyes in the washing bath. The anthrachinone dyes are
brought into the water-soluble leuco form by the alkaline
reductive medium and must then be prevented from
redepositing on the white unprinted areas by using a suitable
washing agent (PRINTOBLANC P 300) that has an affinity
for the dye. The guarantee of a stable reductive medium is
as important as a subsequent thorough rinsing.

The application amount of PRINTOBLANC P 300 depends

on the dyestuff concentration in the washing water and the
dwelling time of the fabric in the coloured washing water.
With PRINTOBLANC P 300 the washing water quantity can
be reduced, so that energy and water can be efficiently
applied.
NaOH / hydrosulphite
stock solution
and
PRINTOBLANC P 300 are dosed separately since the
stability of PRINTOBLANC P 300 in the concentrated stock
solution is not guaranteed. If foam is forming, 0.5 - 1 g/l
CHT-ANTIFOAM BSN or RAPIDOPRINT SC 10 are dosed
separately.

Dosing
1 - 4 ml/l PRINTOBLANC P 300
3 - 4 ml/l NaOH 50 %
2 - 3 g/l Hydrosulphite

Fabric in

20 - 70 C

70 C

70 C

70 C

pH Control !

60 C

40 C

Liquor Separation
Water from
Heat Exchanger
3 - 6 l/kg
Short Dwelling Time
Time : approx. 1 - 2 min

Reaction Phase
Time : approx. 10 min

Cold Water
3 - 6 l/kg

Good Liquor Separation

Time : approx. 1 - 2 min

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