Wax batik printer

Starting Point

A wax batik printing process was developed in 2019 as part of the MINT project ‘Process Steps from Design to Textile’. It can be used to print fabric with wax. After printing, the fabric is dyed and the wax ironed out. The dye only sticks to areas where no wax has been applied. The MINT project is a collaboration between PHBern and the Institute for Print Technology IDT of Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH. Digital wax batik is a new development by BFH, and the MINT project focused on improving it further. The idea is to be able to offer this printing process and the systematic development of technical solutions to students at PHBern.

Procedure

The wax batik printer was developed to be compatible with the KOSY3 coordinate table system at PHBern. The wax used for printing is a mixture of beeswax and paraffin. It is filled into a cartridge, which is heated to 100 °C and then maintained at this temperature. The entire printhead is insulated with a sleeve to prevent any heat loss. A micro valve is used to print the droplets of wax onto the fabric. Individual print patterns can be imported into the software programme of the KOSY3 coordinate table system and then printed.

Solution

With the new wax batik printing process, custom batik patterns can be digitally printed onto textiles in high quality and with good repeatability. A major advantage of the wax batik printhead over the conventional process is that the temperature is constant during printing and so produces very beautiful print results. Another advantage is that the printing parameters are set to print the optimum amount of wax. This prevents too much material being used and also simplifies the subsequent ironing-out, as much less wax has to be removed from the fabric.

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