The challenge of active ink in digital printing

Reactive ink provides many advantages for digital printing manufacturers. Among them, reactive ink is very popular. It is the first ink for digital printing of textiles. Because of its very small molecules, it makes it easier for droplets to pass through the ink jet nozzle, which is very suitable for digital textile printing.

In addition, reactive ink is very suitable for printing on natural fiber, such as cotton fiber, etc. This ink can make products with good quality and high washing fastness.

But there is a problem that digital printing manufacturers had been trying to solve when using active ink. The challenge is how to print the deepest black. When digital printing was first introduced, its black color looked more like coal ash. The goal of ink manufacturers has always been to develop a deeper black.

Later, some people have developed a special digital printing reactive black ink: VS ink and MCT ink. The difference lies in the chemical properties of the ink. Vs ink, or vynl sufon ink, is a kind of ink that can produce strong colors, but is more difficult to maintain stability during washing and steaming. Our black VS ink is the darkest black reactive ink. If you don't have enough control over the steaming process, black VS ink will turn to be brown or even pink. For digital printers who do not want to use VS ink, we also a kind of black MCT ink, which is deeper and thicker than the previous MCT ink. MCT inks, or monochlor triazine inks, are easier to control than vs inks, but produce a slightly lighter dark color.

When choosing between the two inks, you should first consider whether you can control VS ink in the current workflow, whether you are willing and able to invest more efforts to achieve a deeper black. If not, our black MCT ink can make you produce beautiful dark black without your best control of the workflow.