Fabric pretreatment for inkjet printing

Abstract

This invention pertains to inkjet printing on fabric and to a pretreatment solution for the fabric that allows high quality printing thereon. The aqueous pretreatment solution/emulsion comprises a nonionic latex polymer and a multivalent cationic salt.

1 . A method of digitally printing a textile comprising the steps of:
 (a) pretreating the textile with an aqueous pretreatment solution comprising a nonionic latex polymer and a multivalent cationic salt solution,   (b) drying the pretreated textile,   (c) digitally printing the dried, pretreated textile with a colored ink jet ink,   whether the nonionic latex polymer has sufficient nonionic components such that the nonionic latex polymer is stable in the presence of the multivalent cationic salt solution.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  where the nonionic latex polymer comprises one or more nonionic components selected from the group of ethylene oxide derivatives, acrylamide, hydroxyethyl, vinylpyrrolidone, and ethyleneimine. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  where the nonionic latex polymer comprises one or more polymer components selected from the group of urethanes, vinylacetates, ethylene-vinylacetates, acrylates, acylamides, styrenes, and styrene-acrylate polymers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the polymer component of the nonionic latex polymer is selected from the group urethanes, acrylates, and acylamides. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  where the polyurethane has a nonionic component derived from ethylene oxide components. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  where the ethylene oxide components are at least 15 milliequivalents/gram of nonionic latex polymer. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multivalent cation is selected from one or more of the group of multivalent cations of elements Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Sc, Y, La, Ti, Zr, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ru, Co, Rh, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Au, Zn, Al, Ga, In, Sb, Bi, Ge, Sn and Pb. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multivalent cation is calcium. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the pretreatment solution comprises a solution of a multivalent cationic salt in water, wherein the multivalent cationic salt is selected from the group consisting of calcium nitrate, calcium nitrate hydrate, calcium chloride, calcium hydrate and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the textile is pretreated with the pretreatment solution in a wet pick-up of from about 0.20 to about 7.5 grams of multivalent cationic salt per 100 grams of fabric. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the textile is printed with a colored inkjet ink set comprises at least two differently colored inkjet inks. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  where the colored inkjet ink is a pigmented ink. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the pigmented inkjet inks is white. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the ink set comprises at least three differently colored pigmented inkjet inks, wherein at least one is a cyan pigmented inkjet ink, at least one is a magenta pigmented inkjet ink, and at least one is a yellow pigmented inkjet ink. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the ink set further comprises a black pigmented inkjet ink. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  or  15 , wherein the textile is printed with the at least two differently colored inkjet ink to an ink coverage of between about 5 to about 17 grams of ink per square meter of fabric. 
     
     
         17 . The method  claim 14  or  15 , wherein the pigmented inkjet ink comprises, or each the pigmented inkjet inks in the inkjet set individually comprise, an anionically stabilized pigment in an aqueous vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of post-treating the printed textile with heat and/or pressure. 
     
     
         19 . The pretreated textile of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric comprises a cotton or cotton blend. 
     
     
         20 . The pretreated textile of  claim 1  which, subsequent to application of the textile pretreatment solution, has been dried to equilibrium moisture at ambient temperature.