‘Dying’ for color

By Jasmine Willis

Staff Writer

The mystery behind the color of one’s wardrobe has come into question in several people’s minds. Colorful garments, graphic t-shirts and other articles of clothing are created through a complex process of dying and various types of printing. Countless articles of clothing start out as a design on a computer program.

Drawing apparel on design software such as Pointe Carre, a French program, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop or by hand is the first step to creating a successful garment.

“After selecting a theme of the attire, sketch the desired garment on paper or on a designing software,” said Garry Atkinson, a senior majoring in industrial design and minoring in textile technology.

Once the garment is designed, the type of fabric is chosen and cleansed before the coloring process begins.

The complicated process of dying clothes first begins with ensuring the fabric is clear of any residue or stains.

Chris Kelly, a senior in polymer and color chemistry, said, “There are several ways one can dye fabrics, but before the process the fabric must be thoroughly cleaned.”

Kelly said the fabric undergoes an extensive cleaning by several machines and is finally bleached white to guarantee an immaculate color before the fabric is even dyed. It is essentially pigment insurance. Once the garment is completely clear of impurities the coloring process commences.

There are several ways an article of clothing can be dyed or printed, inclucing dying by machine, rotary printing, screen printing and digital printing. Jeanelle Warren, a senior in textile technology, said, “There are many ways fabrics can be dyed, but the most efficient way is dying the yarns then knitting or weaving.”

Knitting or weaving thread together to formulate an article of clothing is a longer process and more expensive.  Higher end companies use this technique to provide a durable product.

Warren said rotary printers are also an efficient way to design garments. Comprised of a colorant rotary screen, the rotary printer shoots out colors through holes at a pace of revolutions per minute. The roll passes fabric through and adds color where one desires it to be applied.

Next to rotary printing, screen printing is also effective, but more time consuming.

Screen printing, also known as silk screen printing, is done manually. The fabric is attached to the silk screen and then dyed by hand.

The antithesis of screen printing is digital printing and it happens to be the most popular way of dying fabrics – even though screen printing is a close second.

“Digital printing consists of a carriage containing nano-pigments traversing back and forth while laying down the colorant onto the fabric,” said Warren.

The machine contains eight colors, which can combine together to make multitudes.