Dyeing and printing defects Introduction

It is important that the general precautions should be followed while dyeing a textile material It is always helpful to keep a record of all the conditions (including temperature, time, concentration of color, chemicals, material to liquor ratio) in order to get an even shade in each batch.

Classification of defects:

Minor Defect:A defect is defined as minor defect that is not likely to reduce the usability of the product, but never the less may negatively influence the sales. The minor defects can be untrimmed thread-ends, slight dirt in a non-noticeable zone which can be removed, etc. Major Defect:A defect that, if conspicuous on the finished product, would cause the item to be a second. (A "second" is a garment with a conspicuous defect that affects the serviceability of the item. Common Causes of Dyeing Defects:

In general the following are the common causes of dyeing defects across all the categories of dyes: The material is not well prepared for dyeing and printing. Material having dead fibres or other defective fibres. b. Left over of Chemicals after bleaching etc. c. Material not properly desized. d. Material not properly mercerised.

e. Absorbency of the fabric not proper. f. Sticking of insoluble material on the fibres. g. Impurities are not removed properly. h. Uneven heat treatment. Water Quality not Proper More Hardness of water. Water has metal ions such as iron. PH of water not proper. Water having more chlorine. Due to Shortcomings in making Dyeing Solution Improper weight ratio of colors, material and chemicals. Improper material to water ratio. Improper filtering of concentrated colors. Due to Shortcomings in the dye machinery Coming out of Dye liquor during dyeing. Defective instruments controlling temperature, pressure speed etc.

Dyeing defects

Barre

Barre is defined as "unintentional, repetitive visual pattern of continuous bars or stripes usually parallel to the filling of woven fabric or to the courses of circular knit fabric. Barre is sometimes used as a synonym for WARP STREAKS. Barre is basically a visual phenomenon and any property of yarn which makes it 'look' different from the adjacent yarn in a fabric would result in this defect.

All barre is the consequence of subtle differences in yarn reflectance between individual yarns in the knit structure. Any mechanism that can change the reflectance of a yarn in a knit structure is a potential barre source. Barre can be caused by physical, optical, or dye differences in the yarns, geometric differences in the fabric structure, or by any combination of these differences. A barre streak can be one course or end wide or it can be several a "shadow band". It is not the inadequacy of the raw material property which results in Barre; it is the inconsistency or the variability of the particular property which results in Barre. The properties which are the causes of Barre are given below. 1. Fibre Micronaire variation 2. Fibre color variation 3. Yarn linear density variation 4. Yarn twist variation

5. Yarn hairiness variation 6. Knitting tension variation 7. Improper mixing of cotton from different origin 8. Improper mixing of cotton from different varieties 9. Improper mixing of cotton grown in different seasons b. Bleeding

Its a loss of color when the dyed fabric is wetted or emerged in water. The water here becomes colored and may cause discoloration of other fabrics. This is usually due to either improper dye selection or poor dye fastness. Avoiding color bleeding: To avoid color bleeding with future clothing pieces, use Shout Color Catchers when washing multicolored clothes or any clothes that have colors that may bleed. These sheets are available at any store and are designed to catch any loose dyes that enter the water during the washing cycle. If all else fails, it may be possible to bleach the white areas to remove the color. To do this, mix a small amount of bleach with water and apply to the areas where you wish to remove the color. Use

great caution not to get bleach on the colored areas. Wash the shirt immediately to remove any remaining bleach.

Crocking

Crocking is simply the transfer of color from a fabric onto another white test fabric. The more color is transferred, the more the fabric "crocks".Crocking occurs when excess dye rubs off of one dry fabric onto another dry fabric. Crocking is usually more of a problem with dark and vivid colors. Off shade

An expression referring to the fact the color of the dyed fabric does not match the std. color or referenced sample.

 Shade bar A shade change in a fabric that appears as a horizontal selvedge to selvedge change.

It is caused by a filling change or loom stop and subsequent start up. Stained cross bar

It indicates a discoloration caused by foreign substance dirt grease oil or sizing residue on the fabric being dyed.

Creasing

Causes unlevelled penetration of dyes which in turn results into unlevelled dyeing, which causes colour variation.Differs from crease streak in that streak will probably appear for entire roll.On napped fabric, final pressing may not be able to restore fabric or original condition. Often discoloration is a problem. Printing defects

Flushing/Wicking

Caused due to Low viscosity of print paste. It occurs when the printed area bleeds out into the unprinted area. The result is a haloing or shadowing effect around the outline of the pattern design.

Bleeding

Caused due to Low viscosity of print paste. It is major defect as it happens throughout the fabric unless the viscosity is corrected.

Misfits

A misfit is a print defect caused by improper alignment of the screens. Also known as out of registration, misfits leave unprinted areas in the design. For example, a green leaf may overlap its black outline or print over another color.

Stick-ins

A stick-in occurs when a small fiber or piece of lint gets stuck in the screen opening. The result is a small unprinted circle in the design. A stick-in is very difficult to see and often goes unnoticed during a long run. Scrimps A scrimp defect occurs when the fabric creases underneath one of the screens during the printing process. The pattern is then printed on top of the crease, leaving a large unprinted area when the fabric returns to its relaxed state.

Banding

Defect created by the print heads movement over the substrate. Use of scanning print head, or a print head that moves back and forth across the substrate in straight line placing drops of ink at precise locations along the line. If the head is not properly aligned, or if the substrate advances unevenly, the result is a slight horizontal band or line of unprinted area.

Unwanted pigment marking on fabric

Caused due to screen has holes in it that should have been covered. This could be because of ageing of the screen and eventual damage or just improper exposure to light.

Back Fabric Seam Impression

Backing fabric is often used to cushion fabric being printed. If there is a joining seam in the backing fabric, an impression will result on printed fabric.

Color Out

The result of color running low in reservoir on printing machine.

Crack or miss alignment in transfer printed fabric.

Incomplete transfer of design from paper to fabric on transfer printing due to removal of transfer of paper while the fabric was still hot.