Are you looking to add some vibrant colors and intricate designs to your crafting projects? Then you're in for a treat today! We’ll talk about pigment ink, a versatile and dynamic medium that can elevate your creations to a whole new level.
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Whether you're a seasoned crafter or just starting, it's always good to brush up on the basics and learn some dos and don'ts to make the most out of your crafting experience. So, grab your favorite crafting supplies, and let's get started on this colorful journey!
Before we delve into the dos and don'ts, let's quickly go over what pigment ink is.
Pigment-based ink, or simply pigment ink, is a type of ink used for coloring paper and other materials. Pigments consist of small solid particles dispersed in a liquid (or gaseous) medium. In the case of our pigment inks, the pigment is combined with an oil-based carrier.
Unlike dye-based inks, which are absorbed into the material, pigment ink sits on the surface, resulting in more vibrant and fade-resistant colors. This ink variety has existed for many years and was initially derived from natural pigments found in plants, animals, and minerals.
Pigment ink is perfect for a variety of crafting projects, including card making, scrapbooking, and even fabric printing.
To create pigment ink, water, pigment, resin, and various additives are combined to produce long-lasting and high-quality ink. The ink may be heated or cooled during manufacturing to create different results.
Pigment ink is commonly used for printing on textiles, packaging labels, and other specialized applications that require long-lasting results. Its versatility even extends to advanced industrial printing systems, digital textile printers, and direct-to-fabric printer models. Although there are various pigment-based inks on the market, they all share the quality of being waterproof and fade-resistant over time.
So, the next time you encounter a stunningly printed fabric or project, you have pigment ink to thank for it!
Now, let’s dive into some of the best practices for using pigment inks:
Pigment ink works best on porous surfaces such as paper, cardboard, and fabric. Make sure to select the appropriate surface for your project to achieve the best results.
One of the most exciting aspects of crafting with pigment ink is the endless possibilities it offers. Don't be afraid to experiment with various techniques such as stamping, stenciling, and blending to create unique and eye-catching designs.
Compared to dye-based inks, pigment ink takes longer to dry. Be patient and allow sufficient drying time before handling your project to prevent smudging and smearing.
To ensure the best results, invest in high-quality pigment ink pads, stamps, and other crafting supplies. While it may cost a bit more upfront, quality supplies will ultimately save you time and frustration in the long run.
Pigment ink can be a bit stubborn to clean, especially if it's allowed to dry. Keep some stamp cleaner or mild soap and water handy to clean your stamps and crafting tools immediately after use.
Next up, let’s talk about what NOT to do when you’re using your pigment-based inks:
Pigment ink is not suitable for non-porous surfaces such as glossy paper or plastic. Using pigment ink on these surfaces will result in smudging and poor adhesion.
However, you can get around this limitation by using heat-resistant acetate and clear embossing powder. Just add the powder after inking, then use a heat gun/tool and set the ink this way.
When stamping with pigment ink, less is often more. Avoid over-inking your stamps as this can lead to blurry images and excess ink buildup.
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To protect your masterpiece from smudging and fading, consider sealing it with a clear acrylic spray or varnish. This will help preserve the vibrant colors and longevity of your creation.
Patience is key when working with pigment ink. Of course, you can speed up the drying process by using a heat tool as suggested above. But if that’s not available to you at the moment, then we highly suggest patiently waiting for the ink to dry when air drying. Rushing the drying process most often results in smudged and ruined projects.
Take your time and allow your creations to dry thoroughly before handling or moving on to the next step.
So there you have it, folks! With these dos and don'ts in mind, you're well-equipped to embark on your crafting journey with pigment ink.
Remember to have fun, experiment, and let your creativity soar. And if you run out of card making and paper crafting ideas, our In the Craft Room blogs are always open for you. Happy crafting!
It’s estimated that between 80 and 100 billion new clothing garments are produced globally every year. To produce those billions of garments, textile dyeing and finishing are used to transform raw fibers into fabrics with the desired appearance, texture and wear resistance. Dyeing gives color to plain fibers and finishing improves the look, feel and performance of dyed fabrics.
The problem is that textile dyeing and finishing processes have some of the most significant environmental impact of any manufacturing processes on the planet. They are responsible for more than 3% of global CO2 emissions and approximately 20% of global water pollution.
Traditional fashion production chemistries and processes are energy intensive for heating and drying. They use excess water for the pre-rinsing processes, the baths of dye that are required to saturate textiles with their desired color, and post-dye rinsing. It’s estimated that as much as 200 tons of water are used for every ton of textiles produced, with most of this water returning as effluent to local waterways filled with residual dyes, hazardous chemicals, microfibers and mordants (chemicals used to bond dyes with fabric).
Digital textile printing offers the opportunity to dramatically reduce water and energy consumption while enabling faster turnaround with on-demand dyeing capabilities. Within the digital world, there are multiple digital textile inks that can be used, each with their own sustainability benefits. These include disperse ink, reactive ink, acid ink and pigment ink.
The following chart highlights how pigment printing is a far simpler process with less energy and water consumption compared to reactive and acid dyes, which are the more traditional technologies.
Digital textile printing with pigments is essentially a waterless system, offering the most sustainability benefits by reducing energy, water usage and pollution. The pigment ink is printed directly to the fabric, with only minimal drying to fix the ink in place. There is no washing, steaming or finishing required. This technology has the ability to transform the textile industry, especially in global regions where water is becoming a more finite resource and in areas where there are more restrictive pollution and wastewater regulations.
Pigment ink offers exceptional sustainability benefits, but it has to perform in real-world applications by providing ink stability under high-speed printing, print performance and color fastness properties in a wide range of end applications. A key component of the ink formulation are highly stable pigment dispersions, which enable high-speed, uninterrupted inkjet printing.
Conventional dispersions that are based on standard polymeric dispersants can become de-anchored from the pigment surface over time, which leads to re-agglomeration. Lubrizol HSD dispersion technology uses reactive irreversible anchoring technology to adhere the dispersant to the pigment surface to keep re-agglomeration from occurring. This irreversible dispersant anchoring technology provides strong electro-steric repulsion that maintains stability and resists sheer forces when used in high-speed textile applications.
Lubrizol HSD technology—which is marketed under the Diamond Dispersions™ brand name—improves ink open time by creating a bigger region of stability. Diamond Dispersions™ HSD Technology creates a dispersion that is more stable to changes in solvent polarity and enables more formulating flexibility in the ink formulation. Diamond HSD dispersions allow for more reliable inkjet printing by eliminating jetting problems and blocked nozzles for faster print speeds and less down time.
Lubrizol also offers binders and pre-treatment formulations for direct-to-textile digital printing using pigment inks that complement HSD dispersions. As a binder to adhere the pigment to the fabric, Lubrijet™ T805 is an anionically stabilised polyurethane dispersion suitable for the formulation of water-based pigmented inkjet inks. It was specifically designed for commercial textile inkjet printing applications to provide a protective layer to enhance the durability of the printed image with regard to scratch, rub and wash resistance.
For pre-treatment, PrintRite™ DP316 has been engineered to provide a high-quality digital print image with vivid colors and excellent wash durability while maintaining the original soft hand feel and stretchability of the textile fabric. It enables direct-to-textile digital printing with water-based pigment inkjet inks without excessive post processing.
As a global specialty chemical company, Lubrizol offers effective solutions to enhance textile performance while also greatly improving sustainability through the use of pigment inks. Lubrizol technology helps enable environmental friendlier processes that require significantly less water, energy and processing time in fashion, accessories, sportswear, home décor, outdoor and more.
Contact us to learn more about how Lubrizol can help improve sustainability and performance through the use pigment inks for textile printing.
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