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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 11 | MAY 07 | |
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ARTICLE
NEXT GENERATION TEXTILES:
Designs on Wool By Kellie Penfold
Bold florals, striking tartans, faded denims … all the hot looks and the latest designer trends can be seen at CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology this year.Moving away from research convention, CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology (CTFT) is taking developments in fabric printing from the laboratory to the catwalk, dealing directly with processors, designers and retailers. Dr Arun Vijayan, who has a Masters degree in colour chemistry and a PhD in inkjet printing, is managing a one-year project to take innovative printing techniques to the marketplace, along with the latest developments in wool-processing technology, such as ColorClear™* WB for wool whitening and Siroflash UV treatment for print preparation.
Dr Vijayan’s inkjet printing builds on original work by CSIRO’s Dr Keith Millington, who developed Siroflash and in 2003 published insights into the photoyellowing of wool. Innovative digital inkjet printing techniques allow colour-sharp design options for fabrics, in particular those created with Australian Merino wool, which can be used to showcase CTFT-developed technologies. The development is part of a suite of new technologies that have emerged in recent years to underpin renewed market interest in wool as a modern fibre. ColorClear™ WB is an improved bleaching process for wool developed by CTFT, and is based on the Rohm and Haas proprietary ColorClear™ chemistry for bleaching pulp paper. The project was co-funded by Australian Wool Innovation. Siroflash is a process in which the continuous UV irradiation of dry wool fabric, followed by peroxide bleaching, leaves a white, bright surface on which designs can be printed. Siroflash was developed and successfully trialled as a print-preparation process in the mid-1990s, but is yet to be fully commercialised. Describing his task as ‘lots of little projects which fit into one big project’, Dr Vijayan is developing inkjet printing techniques that complement ColorClear™ WB and Siroflash and further develop another technique called inkjet resist printing. He is also exploring ‘next-generation’ printing techniques. In a break from convention, Dr Vijayan is keeping designers, processors and retailers aware of developments as they occur. Focusing on techniques for wool fabrics, he also plans to work with cotton and silk. “Less than one per cent of fabric printing is done on wool because it is expensive,” he says. “Our aim is to develop inkjet printing techniques that make the whole process cheaper and therefore more attractive. For short and medium print runs, inkjet printing is far cheaper than the conventional screenprinting.” Traditionally wool has been viewed as a winter fabric, usually dyed in dark, conservative shades. However, with new bleaching technologies wool can be made to look bright and vibrant. Fabrics treated with ColorClear™ WB have enhanced whiteness. In a process akin to ‘preparing a canvas for painting’, ColorClear™ WB improves bleaching of the wool and can achieve a superwhite fabric using wool blends. Longina Phillips, a Sydney textile and graphic design company, invested in inkjet printing technology in 1999. “It was with total innocence we took on digital inkjet printing, but it seemed like a good idea at the time,” says managing director Longina Phillips. Working with clients such as Morrissey, Saba, Jets, K-Mart and Target, Longina Phillips could use inkjet printing to quickly print fabrics for test garments and sample ranges without having to invest in the screenprinting set-up for garments that might not subsequently be ordered. “With digital inkjet printing we could design a fabric, print it and make it into a garment in one day,” she says. “By comparison, ordering a screenprint, which is made up in China, can take six weeks – if everything goes smoothly. This way, designers can take their range to the retailers and if the retailer only orders one of the designs, then they can proceed with that design on a larger scale.” The company also specialises in small print runs of fabrics for designers. Recently it completed a print run on Australian Merino wool for Akira Isogawa’s winter 2008 collection. “The interest in printing on wool is growing all the time and the potential for inkjet printing on wool is limitless. People like Arun are helping us work through any problems we may come across, especially by using new technologies,” Ms Phillips says. She sees the value inkjet printing gives to wool as creating vibrant and unique designs. CTFT has also been designing fabrics to demonstrate its technologies. The research division designed and made two dresses for The Australian Wool Fashion Awards. A white strapless dress was printed with a photo-real image of a large bright pink lily to illustrate the whiteness of ColorClear™ WB-treated fabric and the sharpness of laser printing. A second dress was created with a pure wool fabric to show the brightness of colours treated with Siroflash.
Dr Vijayan says inkjet printing fits with a rapidly changing marketplace. “Fashions change quickly and inkjet technology allows a new design to be quickly printed at a lower cost and on a large scale. Or, if a designer is only doing a small number of garments, they can create something individual and unique without having to go through the expense of setting up screenprinting.” * ColorClear™ is a trademark of Rohm and Haas Co, US and other jurisdictions. For further information contact: |
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