INK-JET PRINTING PROCESS

A process for printing on a textile substrate comprising the steps of: (I) preparing an ink comprising the following components: (a) from 1 to 8 parts of a self-dispersible pigment which comprises a carboxy-functional dispersant crosslinked around a pigment core by a crosslinking agent having at least two groups selected from oxetane, carbodiimide, hydrazide, oxazoline, aziridine, isocyanate, N-methylol, keteneimine, isocyanurate and epoxy groups; (b) from 0 to 16 parts of a binder selected from one or more of an acrylic latex binder, a styrene acrylic latex binder and a styrene butadiene latex binder wherein the binder has a Tg in the range of from -25°C to 35°C; (c) from 1 to 30 parts of one or more water-miscible organic solvents (d) from 0.1 to 3 parts of a surfactant; (e) from 0 to 5 parts of biocide; (f) from 0 to 10 parts of a viscosity modifier; (g) from 0 to 10 parts of a polyurethane latex binder with a Tg in the range of from -25°C to 35°C; (h) from 0 to 6 parts of a cross linking agent; and (i) the balance to 100 parts water: (II) optionally preparing a latex binders solution comprising; i) from 1 to 16 parts of one or more latex binders selected from an acrylic latex binder, a styrene acrylic latex binder and a styrene butadiene latex binder where the latex binder(s) have a Tg in the range of from -25°C to 35°C; ii) from 0 to 6 parts of a polyurethane latex binder; and iii) from 0 to 5 parts of a cross linking agent: (III) printing the ink prepared in step (I) on to a textile substrate using a ink jet printer with a single pass print head and optionally pre-printing or overprinting with the latex binder solution from step (II) (IV) curing the printed textile substrate from step (III): provided that if component (b) in the ink prepared in step (a) is 0 then optional step (II) is compulsory. Also inks, ink-sets, ink containers and ink-jet printers. L'invention concerne un procédé d'impression sur un substrat textile comprenant les étapes suivantes : (I) préparer une encre comprenant les éléments suivants : (a) de 1 à 8 parties d'un pigment auto-dispersable qui comprend un dispersant à fonction carboxyl réticulé autour d'un noyau de pigment par un agent de réticulation comprenant au moins deux groupes choisis parmi l'oxétane, le carbodiimide, l'hydrazide, l'oxazoline, l'aziridine, l'isocyanate, le N-méthylol, le kéténéimine, l'isocyanurate et des groupes époxy; (b) de 0 à 16 parties d'un liant choisi parmi un liant de latex acrylique, un liant de