Types of Dyes used in Handblock Printing

The following is a brief description of the chemical dyes used in handblock printing in India:

Pigment dyes

Pigment colors are mixed with kerosene and a binder. The mixed color can be stored for a few days. The motif is printed directly on white or light-colored ground with a variety of pigment colors. Pigment colors are widely popular today because the process is simple, the mixed colors can be stored for a period of time, subtle nuances of colors are possible, and new shades evolve with the mixing of two or three colors. Also the colors are visible as one prints and do not change after processing. Colors can be tested before printing by merely applying it onto the fabric. The pigment color is made up of tiny particles, which do not dissolve entirely and hence are deposited on the cloth surface while rapid dyes and indigo sols penetrate the cloth.

Rapid fast Colors

In this process, the ground color and the color in the design are printed on white and/or light-colored grounds in one step. The dyes once mixed for printing have to be used the same day. Standard colors are black, red, orange, brown and mustard. Color variation is somewhat difficult and while printing it is not possible to gauge the quality or depth of color.

Discharge Dyes

These dyes are used if you need to print onto a dark background. Medium to dark grounds are dyed on fabric with specially prepared dyestuff . The printing colors then used on the fabric contain a chemical that interacts with the dye. This interaction simultaneously bleaches the color from the dyed ground and prints the desired color on its place. Areas can also be discharged and left white. The primary advantage of this process is that vivid and bright colors along with white can be printed on top of medium and dark grounds. 

    

Napthol

These are two sets of chemicals which upon reaction produce a third chemical essentially colorful in nature. Fabric is dyed in one and later printed with the other. The chemical reaction produces a third color. However, the biggest drawback of this process is that there are just a few chemicals available which produce colors upon reaction.

Source: http://www.aiacaonline.org/pdf/block-printing-extended-documentation.pdf 

See the images of these prints here : http://www.sashaworld.com/learn/learnframe.htm              

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Traditional Dabu Printing of India- Part 3

If Teal color needs to be obtained. Then indigo dyed fabric is first dipped into myrobalan solution and then treated with water of Iron. (Teal Background)

If Green color is desired then indigo dyed fabric is first treated with solution of Haldi and then treated with Alum. Please remember to dry in the night or dry upside down to get a green color.

To Get Red and Black as Motif, Green as background- Block 52 and 52A

a. The Fabric is first Dipped in Myrobalan

b. Then it is Printed With Red Process( Alum Paste) as explained earlier

c. Then it is Printed With Black Process (Iron Paste)

d. Then it is Washed and Boiled with Alizarin ( To get red on 1^st Block)

e. Then it is Dyed in Indigo

f. Then it is Dipped in conc. solution of Pomegranate Chilka + Haldi ( For Green Back ground)( Green Process)

If the color is dark indigo is added

Remember if the indigo is not properly mixed then it will smear on the block color.

To Get a Brown Color in the Background

There are two methods

1.       In one method after the green process, the fabric is dipped in alum and then boiled in Alizarin ( Green +Redà Brown). The motif being resisted by Dabu.

2.       In other method the indigo dyed fabric is dipped in alum and then boiled in Alizarin ( Blue + Red-à Brown).

The two tones of brown are  different.

Green Motif (with Dabu)

To get Green Motif, in white process, some Haldi is added in the paste ( Means: kaali Mitti, Gum, Jaggery, Hydrate of Lime, Haldi)

Black Background with Hira Kashish ( Ferrous Sulphate – Hara thotha)

1.     Fabric is treated with Myrobalan and Dabu Done

2.     Hira Kashish is then mixed with water.

3.     The fabric will then turn to brown except dabu

4.       Then it is put to Alizarin boiling process it will turn to black

5.       Then it is washed properly.

To get a darker color, the fabric is again dipped in myrobalan after finishing. For example to get a darker brown fabric is dipped in Myrobalan.

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Traditional Dabu Printing of India- Part 2

How to Get Black Motif

Black color is obtained with the help of "iron water". To prepare iron water, Take 25 kg Iron Scrap+ water + Baajre ka aata + 2 kg ( Gud- Jaggery) . Close the lid from the top and keep it aside for 15 days.

Take out the iron, boil the water and then cook with Tamarind seed flour to prepare the iron paste for mixing with Iron. ( Black Process- NO Dabu)

To Apply it, first prepare the fabric using myrobalan. Then apply the paste to the fabric using printing blocks to give deep black color


Indigo Dyed Dabu

First of all fabric is desized just like the previous process.

Then it is treated with Castor oil in water to increase its absorbancy.

Then the dabu printing is done just like the earlier process.

After that the fabric is dried and then the fabric is put into indigo pot

The pot  is very old and the water is never changed. New indigo is kept on adding in it. It is generally 10 feet deep. Hydrate of Lime ( Ca(OH)2) is added time to time to keep the potency intact.

Generally there are two vats; one has 50% indigo and the other has 100% indigo. At a time two thaans are taken. The than is taken folded and gradually all the layers are exposed.

After that it is dried into the sun.

Another two dippings and dryings in the sun are done to get a dark tone.

If one wants to have one design with light and the other as a dark tone, the after printing the fabric is dipped into 50% indigo first and then dried.

After that dabu printing is done with the second design and the fabric is dipped twice into 100% indigo pot. The first type of dabu retains its whiteness, whereas the second type of dabu will become slightly less blue.  

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Traditional Dabu Printing of India

Dabu is a mud-resist hand-block printing practiced in Rajasthan of India. The prints have a sublime quality and appearance. In making of the printed fabrics, a lot of manual process and hard work is involved and the process of uses lots of natural dyes and vegetable pastes. Here is a brief outline of the process.

1. First of all Fabric is received from the mills. Traditionally mill made cloth of 30s, 60s and Mull is used.  It is heavily sized. For that it needs to be desized. Desizing is done by repeatedly beating the wet fabric against a hard surface (stone). It is frequently kept for a day after such beating so that enzymatic reaction can loosen the size. Next day it is again beaten and so on. This process continues for three days. 

2.  After that the fabric is dipped in Myrobalan (Tanning) agent. The myrobalan paste is prepared about three hours in advance by mixing about 2kg paste for 100 m of fabric.

3.After that the fabric is dried in the sunlight

4. After that fabric is printed once with a paste of Alum+ Tamarind Seed+Direct dye to distinguish. (Red Process-No Dabu)

5. After that fabric is washed once, and then it is dried and then go for boiling.  In boiling we boil the fabric with Dhauri Ke Phool ( Jaloor)+ Alizarin ( Madder)+Mahi for 1 hour at 100deg Celcius. The fabric is circulated about 5 times using Bamboo Poles. If the color required is dark then some iron water needs to be added.

6. After it is dried and then the next process of Dabu is done. Printing paste is made using ( Jaggery, Hydrate of Lime, Kali Mitti and Gum ( Nigeria). The paste is then spread over a coir to give it a base. The printing is done using blocks. (White Process-Dabu).

Saw dust is sprinkled over the fabric as it is printed so that the block applied should not smear the other sides

1.       Then it is dried in the sunlight. 

After that the fabric is treated with Myrobalan again.

                                           

3.       Then it is dried and then dipped completely in Alum + Water.

4.       Then it is dried and washed and again boiled with Alizarin+ Mahi( Sakur)+ Dhawdi. Then it is dried in the sun and washed to reveal the dabu resist .

Want to see something modern in Dabu ?? Klick here.


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Comparison of Various Printing Techniques

Comparison of Various Printing Techniques

There are various printing techniques available. All have their unique points as well as shortcomings. It would be worthwhile to compare them in order to appreciate and use them for a particular end use.

Handblock Printing: It yields very low production, there is more downtime of ‘machine’. The cost of set up is very less. Very skilled personnel is required to do such printing. The cost of making a design is very less, however durability of design is very low, being defined by durability of block, usually made of wood. The variety of designs is dictated by the skill of the woodworker who carves those designs. The size of design pattern repeat can be larger. There is a limitation of width of the fabric- which is dictated by the width of the table. The printing can be very bold or subdued. In fact, in India there are numerous techniques based on a twin combination of natural dyes and block printing.

Roller Printing: Yields more production , machine downtown is very less, however cost of setup is high- as investment is needed for the maching. The space required is less. Again very skillful operators are required. The cost of making a design is more, as roller has to be carved. The durability of the design is more than a handblock print. Very elaborate and fine designs can be carved on a roller printing. The repeat size is limited to upto 42 cm. Again it has a limitation of fabric width. Very bold and lustrous prints cannot be done on a roller printing.

Flat Bed Screen Printing: Yields more production but less than roller printing as the process is not continuous. There is very less downtime of the machine. The cost of machine and installation is very high. The space requirement is also very high. Very less skilled workers are needed for this printing method. The cost of making a design is less as compared to a roller printing. The durability of the design however is very less, as new screen has to be made after few uses. The quality of designs can be very fine. The repeat of pattern can be very high. Also even a higher width cloth can be printed. The colors can be very bright and bold.

Rotary Printing: It has the maximum production among all printing techniques. The machine downtime is very less. The cost of machine and space requirement is again very high. Less skilled workers can be employed to operate this machine. Cost of making a design is very high. Compared to this the durability of the design is very less. The variety of design it offers and the quality of reproduction is the best among all techniques. Also fabric width can be high for it to be printed. It can yield bright colors.

Transfer Printing: It can do printing only on synthetic fibers such as polyester. One cannot get a ‘tone effect’ in this printing. Even unskilled workers can be used for this technique. However 100% color is not transferred so reproducibility is affected. Paper can’t be used again after one printing therefore its durability is the minimum of all techniques. The cost of making a design is very high. The production is about equal to that of flat bed. There is very less downtime of the machine. Space requirement is very less, infact, less than any other printing technique.

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Gad, Reikh and Datta Blocks- Block Printing

While looking for the definition of gad, rekh and datta blocks, I came across the following in website of Indianetzone" The gad, rekh and datta are three types of blocks that are distinguishable by their different styles of carving. The gad is carved in intaglio and is engaged to print large background figures, while rekh and datta are carved in complete relief. Rekh blocks also mark the outlines of the motif and are often used in conjunction with gad blocks, the rekh then forming the fine elaborate lines within the impression made by the gad block. Datta is carved in bold relief and complements the designs of both the gad and rekh blocks. Each of these blocks is used separately or together to produce endless design variations."

Now some terms were not clear to me. For example what is "....carved in intaglio.." means, on searching I found this website of carving patterns giving a beautiful definition and explanation, basically carving intaglio is "Intaglio carving uses the reverse technique to produce the image effect. Here, the main image is the negative areas of the work, instead of the background being carved away it is the design the you remove."

And what is " carved in.. relief" ? For this Wikipedia came to rescue: "Relief carving can be described as "carving pictures in wood". The process of relief carving involves removing wood from a flat wood panel in such a way that an object appears to rise out of the wood"

Printing with Natural Dyes

Printing with Natural Dyes

In traditional methods in India, printing is essentially carried in three steps:

1. Preparation of the Cloth
2. Mordanting
3. Dyeing

1. First of all the cloth is prepared by applying tannin.

2. A thickened mordant is printed on this tannin treated cloth in the desired pattern.

3. The cloth is then dyed so that dyestuff attaches itself to those parts of the cloth to which mordant has been applied.

Thus the various processes are:

a. Tanning of fabric
b. printing of mordant
c. fixing of the modant
d. washing out the excess of fixing agent
e. dyeing
f. washing and soaping.

Harda or Myrobalan is used in India as a tanning agent for dyeing and printing with natural colours.

It is applied on scoured cotton fabric in cold ( 10-40 gpl) using conventional method of tub dip wherein the Harda powder is replenished with each piece added to the bath.

After drying various metallic salts such as alum or ferrous sulphate are printed on the fabric either separately or in mixtures.

It is then subsequently dyed with madder root ( Manjith), pometranate rind, kusum flowers and other vegetable dyes.

Block Printing, Sanganeri saris

Block printed saris have been created throughout India over the past few centuries, but the Western region has remained the primary area of production. The most important centres of block printing are Sanganer, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Jetpur, Rajkot, Porbandar and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

The village of Sanganer near Jaipur has been a major centre for very fine block-cutting and printing, and has produced fine muslin saris printed on both sides of the fabric. This elaborate work needs expertly cut mirror images blocks to print the usually asymmetrical Mughal style designs. Although Sanganer is well known for producing fine block printed textiles on off white or pastel backgrounds, today a wide range of textiles are produced with both dark and pale grounds.

A strong Mughal aesthetic dominates the region's printed sari designs. Borders and end pieces consist of repeated bands of undulated twines (bel) of various sizes. Field are often covered with a repeat design varying from small simple dots or geometric shape to large complex buta and kalga.

Cloth printing blocks are usually made of 'teak' or 'seesum'. These dyes are printed on a textile by means of a relief covered block( a different block for each color). In India, the blocks are usually 23-30 cm (9-12") square in size.