Recently, a foreign company has developed a water-based pigment ink that can be directly inkjet printing on fabrics, suitable for polyester, nylon and cotton fabrics. There are a variety of colors to choose from, but no neon ones. The ink can be used on white or light colored garments without pretreatment.

The pigment particles used in this ink have been ground to nanometer size. These particles are then treated with proprietary chemicals. After printing, the ink needs to be heated to around 170°C, which causes the particles to form long-chain molecules that bind them to the fabric substrate. Once fixed, the pigment will be permanently attached to the fabric substrate. Effective on a variety of textile materials and blends. No further cleaning, steaming, ironing or any other steps required after printing.

It is suitable for digital textile printing for apparel and upholstery, while meeting automotive and military requirements.

Ink effect printed on 100% cotton satin with Kyocera printheads:


This sample is inked inside the fabric instead of the surface for a very natural feel:



Available in three different viscosities, the ink is suitable for use with any major printhead including Ricoh, Fuji, Epson and Kyocera. Ricoh has tested this ink, proving it can be used on any of Ricoh's high-speed printers.

Users of this ink can print polyester, cotton and nylon with a single production line. This means users can digitally print home decor materials (like curtains) in the morning, switch to digital printing of flags at the end of the day, and run digital printing of fashion industry fabrics at the end of the day, with no ink changes, no retorting, and no washing required. , without post-processing.

Considering that no pretreatment is required, this ink is priced competitively. The biggest advantage is obviously sustainability, there is no waste and no need to buy additional configuration for small to medium printers.

The company has now developed anhydrous dye inks with the same basic chemical composition. Can be dyed continuously without draining and can be flushed at the back end, allowing users to convert existing machines to work as it uses heat only for curing.