Applied Research

Color Fastness of Untreated Textiles in Direct-to-Garment Printing

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Abstract

Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is a relatively new technology that prints directly onto a textile. There are several DTG printing units on the market today of varying capabilities, costs, and requirements. Many units require textiles to be pretreated prior to printing; however, the Roland VersaSTUDIO BT-12 printer does not due to its inability to print white ink. This DTG printer is currently being used in an introductory design and print production course where students purchase t shirts of various fabrics and print designs on them. The purpose of this study is to test various types of untreated fabrics to determine which have the best overall color fastness and quality after laundering. The results of this research will be used to make recommendations to students regarding which t shirt fabrics to purchase for direct-to-garment printing on the Roland unit, as well as to provide consumers and manufacturers with updated information as it relates to untreated textile options for DTG printers that do not print white ink.   

Keywords: Direct-to-Garment PrintingUntreated textiles, Color fastness, Direct-to-Garment Printing, Untreated textiles, Color fastness

How to Cite:

Bridges, A. W., (2025) “Color Fastness of Untreated Textiles in Direct-to-Garment Printing”, The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/jtmae.17795