New Developments in the Space Dyeing and Printing of Carpet Yarns

Abstract

Interest in yarn printing was rekindled by the advent of space–printed carpets. At first, only random patterning was required but recently systems have been devised to enable complex patterns to be tufted from printed yarns. This has increased the demand for printed yarns, but it has also limited the time available for dye fixation. The main fibres of interest are nylons, acrylics and blends and, to a less extent, wool, polypropylene and viscose rayon. We have examined rates affixation and diffusion of various types of dye with variations in print paste additives and steaming times on examples of the main substrates. This type of information is needed where short steaming times are essential to avoid disturbance of pattern register.