Improving the digital to garment inkjet printing properties of cotton by control the butyl acrylate content of the surface treatment agent

[Display omitted] •The printing durability of the pigment ink on cotton can be controlled by the different soft segment ratios of the surface treatment agent (STA).•The higher the soft segment ratio, the better the wet-rubbing fastness of cotton by amorphous of STA.•To modify the ratio of soft segment and hard segment, ink smearing can be minimized, and color strength can be improved.•The dispersibility of STA was affected by attractive and repulsive forces between particles over a long time and temperature changes.•The BA30 STA was shows excellent printing properties and dispersion stability. Direct to garment inkjet printing (DGIP) is an eco-friendly textile dyeing method that utilizes a simple process with a small amount of ink for textile products. In general, water-based pigment ink is printed on the surface of cotton; however, due to the high hydrophilicity of cotton's surface, the ink is absorbed excessively, which causes ink smearing, low color strength, and unstable wet rubbing fastness characteristics. In this study, the surface treatment agent (STA) for DGIP, which improved the color strength, wet-rubbing fastness of cotton, and STA dispersion stability characteristics, was enhanced by controlling the butyl-acrylate (BA, soft segment) and the vinyl-acetate (VA, rigid segment) ratios. The wet-rubbing fastness improved as the BA ratio increased though the color strength and ink sharpness properties deteriorated. The total K/S color strength of the surface-treated cotton using the BA30 condition was improved by 30% wet rubbing fastness class 3–4 than neat cotton, and the ink smearing phenomenon was verified to decrease. Ultimately, an optimal STA condition was established by adjusting the ratio of BA and VA wt% where the DGIP characteristics of printed cotton verified that these were the simplest parameters to adjust for optimal impact.