Discharge Printing

Discharge Print
Fabrics are dyed a solid color prior to printing. When printing is
done, the design is applied by screen or roller with a chemical which
removes the color of the originally dyed fabric. Discharge prints can
be made with rollers and screen methods. They are not widely used
because production costs are high.

Introduction
Textile printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in
definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the
colour is bonded with the fiber, so as to resist washing and
friction.
Textile printing is related to dyeing but, whereas in dyeing
proper the whole fabric is uniformly covered with one colour, in
printing one or more colours are applied to it in certain parts
only, and in sharply defined patterns.
In printing, wooden blocks, stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or
silkscreens can be used to place colours on the fabric.
Colourants used in printing contain dyes thickened to prevent
the colour from spreading by capillary attraction beyond the
limits of the pattern or design.
Traditional textile printing
categorized into four styles:

techniques

may

be

broadly

Introduction
Direct printing, in which colourants containing dyes, thickeners,
and the mordants or substances necessary for fixing the colour on
the cloth are printed in the desired pattern.
The printing of a mordant in the desired pattern prior to dyeing
cloth; the color adheres only where the mordant was printed.
Resist dyeing, in which a wax or other substance is printed onto
fabric which is subsequently dyed. The waxed areas do not accept
the dye, leaving uncoloured patterns against a coloured ground.
Discharge printing, in which a bleaching agent is printed onto
previously dyed fabrics to remove some or the entire colour.
Resist and discharge techniques were particularly fashionable in
the 19th century, as were combination techniques in which indigo
resist was used to create blue backgrounds prior to block-printing
of other colours.[1] Most modern industrialized printing uses direct
printing techniques.

Discharge Printing
Discharge Printing
Discharge printing is a process where printing of lighter colors is done
onto fabrics having darker background. The dye in the garment is
removed by replacing it with ink which leaves a soft texture on the
fabric. Discharge printing works best on cotton fabrics because other
fabrics are dyed in different processes and react less to discharge
chemicals and therefore the dye does not break down.
Initially in discharge printing, the finished goods required steaming
during the drying process which discouraged the practicing of this
process. But the latest discharge ink systems react chemically and do
not require steaming. These latest systems brought advancement and
brought new openings in the area of screen printing.

Discharge Printing
Discharge printing produces vibrant, opaque colors on dark color
fabrics. The depth, levelness and penetration can be controlled in
discharged printing. Complex patterns and soft colors can be
produced with immense clarity.
Discharge printing is best observed when the four color printing is
done on black 100% cotton shirts. The print appears best only
when it is exposed to the heat chamber.

Discharge Screen Printing

The casino tables graphics are done with discharge printing to avoid
the hindrance of the printed line when the dice is rolled. If at all the
printing is done with plastisol it would change the speed of the
rolling dice. The discharge print gives a smooth run for the rolling of
the dice.

Required Fabric for Discharge Printing

Required Fabric for Discharge Printing
Discharge printing enables a clean and transparent print than the earlier
discharge addictives which were used only for water base inks. Reduction is
the keyword for discharge printing.
The method of discharge printing changes from fabric to fabric, but the best
fabric for this method is a pure cotton one.

Discharge all over Printing

Zinc-formaldehyde is used to remove the dye in the discharge process. Therefore, it is necessary to wash the t-shirts before you
wear them. Zinc- formaldehyde free discharge is also available which does not need any washing before wearing it. This is proved to
be a better process than the ordinary discharge printing process.
Use the right kind of fabric.
The fabric has to be 100 percent natural like cotton.
The dye on the fabric should be easily discharged. Cotton gives wonderful results in this process.
The fabric should be dyed right avoiding over dyeing. This generally happens when there is shortage of dye and therefore
another color is dyed on top of this color. So when we try to discharge it, it results in the color which is below it.
It is important to check the fabric before starting the process. The fabric should be strong enough to carry the discharge process.

Discharging agents
Discharging agents :-Clearly, the most important methods of discharging are based on
reduction. This general method can be varied and adapted to give
discharges with most classes of dye in use and on most types of
fibre. Indeed, to many printers the terms reducing agent and
discharging agent are synonymous.
The most widely used reducing agents are the formaldehyde
sulphoxylates. The stability of these compounds is such that only
limited losses of sulphoxylate occur during printing and prior to
steaming. The use of sodium formaldehyde sulphoxylate (CI
Reducing Agent 2, sold as Formosul or Rongalite C) was established
as long ago as 1905, when it was recognized that methods based
on this reducing agent offered many advantages.

Conclusion

Conclusion
The discharge printing process is slightly more expensive because of
the inks and chemicals used as well as a slightly more difficult
process but the end result leaves that super soft feel that everyone
wants! Works great for oversize designs with a lot of coverage so
when wearing the shirt, youre not wearing that extra unbreathable
ink since the discharge print is actually part of the garments