Inspired by the need for sustainable business practices, , Bordeaux Digital Printink launched a revolutionary Latex ink for textiles suitable for digital printing on virtually all fabrics, natural, synthethics and blended fabrics. Bordeaux’s Latex ink for textiles is a true breakthrough in the digital textile field, creating unlimited possibilities for print service providers (PSPs), cost savings and greater profit-earning potential from all print jobs, whether for fashion and apparel, decorative or industrial textile applications.

The introduction of Bordeaux’s Latex ink for textiles coincides with the Fespa 2013 trade show in London where Bordeaux and its partners worldwide are demonstrating for the first time printing on three unique applications, two dedicated for textile printing on cotton and polyester and another demonstration of Latex printing on a standard non-modified wide format eco-printer (stands D12S/E10S). The ability to print on natural fabrics such as 100{9711269676131cffc9f3e68bda16ea56bfa4568e90b74b1da79a64a65a632733} cotton and blended fabrics is critical for the textile market’s digital printing growth beyond soft signage applications, typically printed on polyester fabrics.

“Through clever engineering we’ve taken our advanced Latex capabilities, introduced for the first time at drupa 2012, a step further to offer an ink specifically for textiles and blended fabrics with superior properties combined with color brilliance and versatility for every printing application. Our Latex based ink for textiles has outstanding durability, excellent wash fastness and is a highly significant addition to our portfolio of industry leading green inks,” says Moshe Zach, CEO and founder of Bordeaux Digital Printink.

One ink for all fabric applications  – Natural, Blends and Synthetics

Bordeaux’s Latex based EDEN TX™ is a water-based Latex ink, for versatile digital textile printing on all fabrics, making digital textile printing an extremely cost effective solution for short runs of blended shirts and cotton t-shirts. This environmentally friendly ink is comprised of Bordeaux’s Latex based  pigmented formulation  which  binds the Latex ink to all types of fibers, creating the ultimate binder for textiles without the need for pre and post fabric treatments.

Generally, textile inks are designed to print either on cotton or polyester, but not on both or a mixture of the two. Thus the only way to print on blended fabrics is to match the ink to the specific fiber in the fabric and add fixes to the ink without time consuming fabric treatments like steaming, washing and drying to fixate the dyes to the different fibers.

However, Bordeaux’s Latex ink for textiles is designed to print on any blend, from 100{9711269676131cffc9f3e68bda16ea56bfa4568e90b74b1da79a64a65a632733} cotton to 100{9711269676131cffc9f3e68bda16ea56bfa4568e90b74b1da79a64a65a632733} polyester and cotton/polyester blends, saving valuable time and money. Moreover, it means it is no longer necessary for PSPs to stock up on multiple ink types to print on a variety of fabrics, making inventory management much more efficient. For example, there is no need for special acid dyes for silk and wool, reactive dyes for linen and cotton and disperse and sublimation dyes for printing on polyester fabrics.

“Using direct digital printing allows for small runs and less waste, but even more important to many is the ability to achieve exciting designs and top quality garments that increase sales. PSPs who want to diversify to other applications like “interesting” fashion garments comprised of several fibers, have to use different dye-based inks, each formulated to color specific fibers in the fabric,” says Zach. “Our Latex ink for textiles has the ability to precisely match colors even on garment fabrics not made up of just one type of fiber, but rather a blend of two or more. We see Latex printing on textiles becoming mainstream in the digital printing area. That means Bordeaux’s Latex ink for textiles will become an indispensable part of the fashion garment manufacturing process.”

Bordeaux’s Latex based EDEN TX is designed especially to meet the requirements of printer manufacturers using digital textile printers with Epson® DOD piezo printheads and other industrial inkjet print technologies. This ink is available in a wide color gamut for sharp, vivid image quality.

Fast Growing Digital Textile Market

Growing demand for faster cycle times, shorter runs, more fashion seasons and sustainability is making it necessary for brands and retailers worldwide to move into digital printing of textiles.  According to market research firm InfoTrends, this growth is expected to lead to a significant growth in related digital hardware and ink from $484 million in 2011 to more than $2 billion in 2016.

With increased interest in digital printing among textile manufactures, Bordeaux’s Latex ink has the potential to make a revolutionary step-change to existing capabilities in the digital textile market with huge commercial benefits. “Whether you print a cotton garment or a blended fabric, the ink is the same. It will only be a matter of time before we see the clothing we wear today produced with this ink, and because it’s a quick and cost-efficient way of manufacturing, it will inspire many designers, brands and fashion manufacturers to enter the field,” concludes Zach.

download pdf version

Introduction
Non Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) ink has many names: third party, aftermarket, alternative or generic ink. Whatever the name you choose, or how it is referred to in your country, it always means the same thing, an ink which competes with OEM ink and presents another option for Print Shop Providers (PSP) as an alternative to buying from the printer manufacturer.

5-7 years ago, there were PSPs that were not familiar with non-OEM inks and did not use them. Today there is no doubt that all PSPs are familiar or have been approached by a representative of an alternative ink provider. Common sense might dictate that OEM ink is optimal for the printer, since it is made for a particular printer and therefore might optimize performance. However experience shows that it is not necessarily so.

Views about printer manufacturers and their ink:

1. Printer manufacturers primarily focus on manufacturing printers.
2. Printer manufacturers don’t have the expertise or the infrastructure to dedicate both time and resources to ink and printer development.
3. In most cases, printer manufacturers commission ink development from well-established ink manufacturers worldwide who sell them under OEM contracts as original inks.

Business model: Case studies
The business model and nature of OEM ink manufacturers vary. Some ink manufacturers work strictly for OEMs and do not sell inks to other vendors, while other OEM ink manufacturers sell the exact same product to other customers under their brand name or private label. This is common practice across the board for UV-curable, solvent and dye sublimation inks.

There are also cases in which the printer manufacturer enters a joint venture with the ink manufacturer. In this scenario, the ink manufacturer’s identity is known and the printer manufacturer endorses the ink manufacturer.

Can you tell the difference?
No matter whether the ink manufacturer is tied to the printer manufacturer via licensed OEM ink manufacturing agreements or if they sell third party ink for the printer, in both cases, ink manufacturers invest similar resources in research and development of the ink. The investment includes testing, production and marketing costs involved in introducing new products. However, it is up to the end user to select a trusted third party ink manufacturer that provides a full guarantee for any damage caused by the ink to the printhead or to fading of the printed material and, as with any new product, to test the ink.

In the case of original inks, the end user usually purchases original ink from the same place s/he purchased the printer and is not always aware of the wheeling and dealing behind the ink. This brings us back to the original question: is there really a difference between “original” ink and third party ink?

In order to answer the question fairly, we must break down the answer.

The answer varies depending on ink type, printer and manufacturers. Third party ink companies focus solely on ink. These companies invest in the research and development of many types of inks intended for various printers. The most common wide format digital inkjet inks are true solvent, solvent, which includes Eco, Mild and Low solvent, UV/UV LED, water based inks which include Latex and Dye sublimation used in textile applications.

The best selling ink in the wide format industry are for solvent-based printers. ECO solvent-based chemistry replaced the potentially hazardous true or hard solvent ink. Made from environmentally tolerable solvents, the Eco, mild and low solvent inks were born. The changes in the ink were triggered by environmental considerations.

Facts about 3rd party ink manufacturers
True solvent inks are a cheap, easily developed formula which requires little research. In the case of this ink the quality of OEM and the third party inks are similar. The only guideline for the end-user should be the price since in spite of each company’s promises; one would not likely find difference between the various brands.

However, Eco and Mild solvent inks are the main solvent inks used today. The stages of development and complexity result in significant differences in quality. The first Eco/Mild solvent inks introduced were OEM inks compatible with the Eco/Mild solvent printers.

Due to their revolutionary composition and production process few third party manufacturers followed with a compatible product since this product posed a challenge for third party ink manufacturers in terms of high capital investment in research and production. Not many third party ink manufacturers have enough breath to bring it to market.

There are only a handful of companies that have the tenacity to undergo these development, production and intensive testing to offer OEM compatible inks.

These independent ink manufacturers usually manufacture in smaller batches compared to OEM with better quality assurance and can also cater to specific customer needs such as special packaging and even tailor made inks for specific applications. OEM ink manufacturers cannot always offer this versatility. . OEM inks can have quality issues such as a batch which required a recall or even a famous case of a leading Japanese printer manufacturer that had to recall a complete line of UV inks, leading customers to seek third party inks.

The smaller unknown companies don’t usually invest in long term R&D but sell lower quality inks that do not meet the requirement for Eco / Mild solvents. Purchasing cheap ink or ink from an unknown source can shorten the life of the printhead, cause clogging or accelerate the depreciation of the printer.

The competition in the industry forces printer and ink manufacturers to offer printer and consumables which are intended for specific applications. Already today OEM offer Eco and Mild solvent-based printers for high speed photographic quality printing achieving extreme color gamut with 8 colors slots including orange and green. Some creditable third party inks manufacturers offer OEM quality fully plug and print that match OEM in quality, color and enables transparent conversion without prior or post preparations.
The printer to ink specific standard is also effective for UVcurable & UV-curable LED printers for which non-OEM ink manufacturers have a ready solution including compatible chips as a chip bypass solution for overcoming the printer barriers. Bordeaux Digital offers specific inks include a compatible chip or a chip bypass solution which defuses the obstacles met by end-users during installation.

Independent ink manufacturers also initiate development of inks that are not associated with specific printers but offer added value to the market. Ink manufacturing companies have the infrastructure and suitable R&D to support these activities similar to other companies with the same capablities. An example of such a product is the development of Bordeaux Digital’s Latex based inks for Piezo printheads, although this should not be confused with HP’s product which was intended only for its own thermal wide scan printheads which are that company’s proprietary technology.

Conclusion
This review should eliminate most of the hesitations involved with third party inks. There are several trusted wide format ink manufacturers, including OEM and third party that offer similar quality products. If you are seriously considering moving to third party ink, make sure you choose your ink vendor carefully in order to ensure a high quality product. As a rule of thumb try to avoid unfamiliar brands and prefer brands that have been in the business for at least 10 years. Don’t be intimidated when asking questions and demand an ink trial kit prior to your decision since consumables are likely to be the most costly expense after the printers. Once you make the decision to switch, it is very likely you will save 40{9711269676131cffc9f3e68bda16ea56bfa4568e90b74b1da79a64a65a632733}-70{9711269676131cffc9f3e68bda16ea56bfa4568e90b74b1da79a64a65a632733} on ink costs, depending on the printer, media and application.