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What Are the Advantages of textile pigment ink？

Mar. 10, 2025

The Promise of Eco-Friendly Pigment for Textile Inks - Kao Collins

As the global population grows, the demand for stylish, sustainable, and customizable clothing has grown. Brands are searching for more cost-effective and customizable textile printing methods and materials as personal styles become more eccentric thanks to the rise of social media and the ease of sharing individual fashion to global audiences.

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The global market of textile printing, comprising both analog (rotary screen printing) and digital printing technologies, is expected to exceed $260 billion by , according to Grand View Research. Pigment inks, in particular, dominate the direct-to-fabric inkjet printing industry, accounting for 57% of the market.

What's more, the rising demand for customizable and eco-friendly fashion has the textile industry looking to water-based pigment ink for DTG printing to satisfy the needs of a growing customer base that prioritizes authenticity and sustainability. Pigment ink offers low energy and water consumption, paired with the ease of personalization that supports agile marketing in the garment industry.

Pigment Ink and the DTG Printing Market

Pigment inks have taken the textile industry by storm.

Water-Based Textile Pigment Inks

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These versatile inkjet inks offer compatibility with high-speed printhead technology, mass customization, individual personalization, and even sustainability benefits for short-run print demands across multiple markets.

Pigment ink was introduced to the textile printing industry barely more than a decade ago. Since then, countless clothing brands, printing companies, and ink manufacturers like Kao Collins have adopted water-based pigment formulations that deliver high-quality results when printed on fabrics or garments.

What are Water-Based Pigment Inks?

Printing textiles with water-based pigment ink involves a combination of solid colorants and polymers binding the ink to fabric with the application of heat.

However, pigment ink is never completely absorbed into the fabric.

This contrasts with the dye-sublimation process of textile printing, which transfers ink from a special paper to the fabric. It is absorbed and usually coated to protect the printed designs from fading or chafing.

Advantages of Pigment Ink for Textile Printing

Water-based pigment inks support the industry's most common DTG printing applications, in addition to offering several advantages over dye sublimation inks:

Single-pass printing with excellent wash fastness and migration properties
Print on products of virtually any fabric composition, including cotton, poly-cotton, and polyester

The alternative DTG technique, dye-sublimation, comes with several disadvantages, including narrow textile range, washability, dye migration, and higher cost per print because of the labor-intensive process.

Sustainability Benefits

Pigment ink is considered one of the most environmentally-friendly and sustainable ink options available for the textile printing industry today.

More brands are considering water-based pigment ink as an ideal choice for DTG printing since it helps them meet increasing consumer demands for more eco-friendly and sustainable products. The textile industry has traditionally faced considerable scrutiny for environmental waste due to its contribution to global pollution.

With the rise of public demand for sustainable business practices in all industries, textile printing companies are looking to ink manufacturers for more eco-friendly alternatives. According to an article from Forbes, the hope is to limit the 'hidden cost' of the textile industry, which is water pollution.

Due to its low use of water and energy paired with non-toxic chemicals and biodegradable make-up, pigment ink supports the efforts to achieve greater environmental responsibility.

Moreover, when choosing pigment inks for textile materials, the quality of the products improves. Long-lasting color, soft to the touch, water resistance, and durability during wash is just some of the benefits customers experience with pigment inks.

On the business side, pigment inks do not clog printheads, provide excellent performance on high-speed industrial piezo heads, adapt to a range of textile substrates, and provide instant color matching.

And, compared to established dye-sublimation, no transfer papers are required.

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Applications

Pigment ink applications for the textile industry include clothing, upholstery for furniture, and soft signage for graphic display.

Unlike other inks for textile printing, water-based pigment inks have fewer limitations on the fabrics that can be printed. The ink can print on 100% cotton, poly blends (50% cotton/50% polyester), tri-blends, and silk.

LUNAJET

In addition to a more sustainable chemical formulation, pigment inks also offer a variety of benefits to LUNAJET users. The ink incorporates nano-pigments that are better for the health of print nozzles, the ability to print on a wide range of textiles (including synthetics), and a wide color gamut. LUNAJET offers flexibility without cracking.

The benefits of pigment inks in digital textile printing - SPGPrints blog

Why consider digital textile printing?

Pigment inks are a popular choice for conventional printing. In fact, around 60% of all conventional printed fabrics are printed using pigment ink (source: Smithers.com). The main benefits of using analog pigment are that it is fast, flexible, and cost-effective. However, the positives of pigments in conventional haven't really translated to digital printing. Until now.

Fast forward to today, and manufacturers have invested millions in developing digital printing pigment inks. Modern digital pigments deliver flawless results for blended, natural, synthetic fabrics. They're unique in their ability to work across several fabric types. In , pigment printing can be a qualitative and reliable solution for your textile printing business. Here are some of the benefits it can bring:

1. Pigment inks are compatible with blended fabrics

Pigment printing, as opposed to reactive printing, is particularly well suited for blended fabrics. Today, there's no other digital ink available for blended fabrics. Furthermore, pigment inks are compatible with natural and synthetic fabrics, making it the most versatile option.

Because pigment ink adheres on top of the material, it is especially useful for polyester/cotton fabrics: a combination that is exceeding sportswear and gaining increasing popularity in the casual clothing market.

2. Pigment inks cut your company's carbon footprint

Digital pigment inks reduce the number of steps taken in the printing process. There's no need to steam and wash the fabrics after printing, saving time and energy. In a world where the public, policymakers, and customers are increasingly interested in your environmental impact, removing the need to steam and wash fabrics can dramatically reduce your company's carbon footprint. Switching to digital pigment printing demonstrates your commitment to becoming more environmentally friendly and operationally sustainable.

3. Improved color quality and hand-feel

The fastness and color brightness of digital pigment inks have substantially improved. Today, the results are almost indistinguishable from reactive and sublimation fabric printing techniques.

Innovations in ink chemistry and pre-treatment of the fabric improve the quality of printed textiles. Because pigment doesn't have a binding characteristic, previous aqueous pigment inks suffered from lower wash fastness than other digital inks. By correctly pre-treating fabrics, you can ensure high color brilliance and significantly increase the quality of finished fabrics. While this does involve extra handling, it pays off in the finished product: soft and smooth fabrics suitable for the high standards of the fashion industry.

That said, SPGPrints Pigment Alcon-N ink does have a binder as part of the formulation. This eliminates the absolute must to apply a pre-treatment. Depending on the print job, you can take color and wash fastness to an even higher level with pre-treatment or possibly post-treatment.

Discover how our customer Creaciones Euromoda used the flexibility of digital pigment printing to their advantage.

4. Excellent light fastness

Color fastness is a critical factor for the industry, and innovations are delivering. One of the outstanding characteristics of pigment inks can be found in excellent light fastness.

This makes digital pigment printing an ideal option for home and outdoor textiles. Excellent light fastness doesn't mean compromises in wash fastness. Pre-treatment ensures colors to remain vivid and vibrant to allow the applications to be used in fashion market as well.

5. Improved operational efficiency and runnability

Developments in pigment inks go fast to make them better suitable for more and more printing machines without causing any downtime. SPGPrint's Pigment Alcon-N uses advanced nano-technology to reduce particle size, which, alongside improved binders, have developed. Both improvements have eliminated issues related to clogging nozzles and downtime, leading to optimal runnability. So your operations keep running smoothly and efficiently.

Considering digital pigment printing? A cost-effective solution

Digital printing is a cost-effective solution to your printing needs. While it may not replace all printing requirements, it offers substantial benefits that businesses can introduce to their existing operations.

SPGPrints also offers pigment inks and can provide you with expert advice on how to achieve optimal results. It is also a reliable solution, as the ink runs stable on all sorts of printers. Our Pigment Alcon-N is available in 8 colors and compatible with Kyocera and Konica Minolta print heads. It is available together with SPGPrints Jasmine and Violet digital textile printers.

As a printing company, you will always aim for the best designs and fabrics. The type of ink you use plays a big role in the quality of your printing results. But how do you know which type of ink best suits your printing process? In our latest Ink Selection Guide, you'll find all the important factors to consider to help you select the best ink for your situation:

Contact us to discuss your requirements of textile pigment ink. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

What is the Advantage and Disadvantage of textile pigment ink

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