Block Printing:
The oldest method of printing designs on fabric is block printing by hand. It is not commercially important today because it is too slow and printed fabric cannot be produced inexpensively in large enough quantities by the hand-blocked method. It has usually been done in countries where labor is less costly than in the United States. Today, the fabric is block-printed only in comparatively short lengths of material. This printing is found chiefly in decorative pieces for the home or inexpensive linens for upholstery purposes. Here the Process Flow Chart of Block Printing is as follows:
- Block Printing
Process Flow chart of Block Printing:
Carving design on a wooden or metal block
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Application of dyestuff on the face of the block
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Pressing down the block on selected portions of the fabric
↓
Imparting the carved design as many times as desired
Now I’ll describe the steps in brief as follows –
Steps | Description |
Carving design on a wooden or metal block | To make block prints, the design must first be carved on a wooden or metal block. |
Application of dyestuff on the face of the block | The dyestuff is applied in paste form to the design on the face of the block. |
Pressing down the block on selected portions of the fabric | The block is pressed down firmly by hand on selected portions of the surface of the fabric. |
Imparting the carved design as many times as desired | Imparting the carved design as many times as desired on a specific length of cloth. To obtain a variation of color in the same design, as many additional blocks must be carved as there will be additional colors. |
Hand block prints can be recognized by nothing slight irregularities in the detail and in the repetition of the design and by comparing areas for slight variations in color. These irregularities are now imitated by machine printing.
Author of this Article: Md. Abu Sayed Founder of Textile Apex Pabna Textile engineering college, Pabna, Bangladesh Email: [email protected] Cell : +8801745214773