Sublimation Transfer Printing of Polyester/Cotton Blends

Abstract

Sublimation transfer printing of polyester is a well established technique. For successful transfer printing of PET/cotton blends, however, it is necessary to provide a suitable pretreatment to impart disperse dye affinity to the cotton component. This paper reports attempts to synthesize a crosslinking agent based on the reaction product of melamine formaldehyde/polyethylene glycol 200. The fabric was treated with this product by pad-dry application; curing and transfer printing were simultaneous. The performance of the synthesized product in terms of dye transfer, wash and light fastness, and its effect on physical properties of the transfer printed fabric was compared with the commercial melamine formaldehyde resin.