ABSTRACT

New technologies have been used to add value to cotton and other natural fibers to increase their utilization. Coloration continues to be an important area of textile processing because the appearance of color is the most important visual aspect of fabric. Digital textile printing is a relatively new technology in the textile and apparel industry that allows for computerized designs to be instantly printed directly onto fabric. The potential for this technology in mass customization is enormous. One of the major problems associated with digital textile printing is regarding color prediction and colorfastness. There is limited information on color characteristics of digitally printed fabrics, therefore research is needed in this area. The purpose of this study was to determine the colorfastness of digitally printed cotton fabrics to crocking and laundering. Samples were subjected to three methods of laundering and to wet and dry crocking. Color change was evaluated visually and instrumentally using a spectrophotometer. Results indicated that digitally printed cotton fabric was colorfast to crocking (wet and dry). Moderate color loss occurred when the samples were subjected to hand washing and home/commercial machine washing. Accelerated washing and drying produced the greatest color loss. There was no significant difference in the color loss between hand washing and machine washing. It is concluded that digitally printed cotton fabrics do not need delicate care methods and can be safely machine-washed under normal conditions.