PRINTING OF COTTON FABRIC WITH HAND BLOCK METHOD

To print cotton fabric with hand block method in direct style, discharge and resist style printing.

Theory : The first textile-printing technique (making impressions) was that using blocks with raised printing surfaces, which were inked and then pressed on to the fabric. By repetition, the image from a single block builds up into a complete design over the fabric area. Some early blocks were made of clay or terracotta, others of carved wood. Wooden blocks carrying design motifs were found in tombs near the ancient town in Upper Egypt. A combination of block printing and painting (usually described as penciling) was used for some time. The biggest problem was that of achieving bright and fast colours. Madder (madder is a fast, rich red colour natural dye stuff obtained from the root of a herb) was the most important dye that was able to satisfy

the need.

Block making: The typical hand block print had no large, uniform areas of colour but was skillfully built up from many small coloured areas, because wooden surfaces largerthan about 10 mm in width would not give an even print. This had the advantage that a motif such as a flower would have an effect of light shade obtained from three or four blocks, each printing a different depth of the same colour or shade. A fairly hard wood was required, such as pear wood, and four or five layers were usually glued together with the grain running in different directions. The design was traced on to the surface and a fine chisel used to cut away the nonprinting areas

to a depth of perhaps 1 cm. To obtain more detail from some blocks, strips and pins of copper or brass (more usually) were hammered into the wood.

Different techniques of hand block printing:

Discharge printing: In this technique before the printing is carried out first the fabric is dyed to desired colour, then the dye is to be removed at selected places by chlorine or other colour destroying chemicals (which yields a white pattern on a coloured ground) from the part of the fabric where the design is to be printed. Coloured patterns on a dyed ground are possible in this method by adding to the bleaching paste a dye not affected by the bleaching agent used, so that another colour is substituted for white on the dyed ground.

Direct block printing: The fabric is first bleached and then dyed with desired colour. After that the hand block printing is done with carved wooden blocks in borders and in the inside of the fabric.

Resist printing: In resist printing the design desired, is printed on the fabric with a material (Wax or resin) which will resist dyeing. The fabric is then dyed with desired colour. Washing after dyeing removes the resist material in which design is printed leaving a white pattern like the following print effect is achieved on the fabric.

 (resist printing)