Improvement of the lightfastness of reactive inkjet printed cotton

This paper explores some possibilities of using UV absorbers to improve lightfastness of inkjet prints. Up to 1-class increase in AATCC lightfastness was obtained by adding a UV absorber onto a printed fabric. This means that a designer, an artist or a textile/apparel producer can double the fading resistance of inkjet printed textiles to light by a simple treatment. Both water soluble and insoluble UV absorbers with benzophenone structures were examined. The effects of UV absorbers, their concentrations and application conditions on lightfastness improvement of reactive inkjet prints are discussed.