Styles of Printing: Direct, Discharge and Resist Explained

A floral shirt, a batik sarong and a white-spotted navy scarf all carry a printed pattern, yet they were made in three very different ways. In the first, colour was put straight onto white cloth. In the second, a dark cloth was dyed first and the pattern was bleached out of it. In the third, parts of the cloth were protected so the dye could not reach them. These are the three main styles of printing in the textile world: direct, discharge and resist.

This guide explains each style in simple words, how the print paste is made, which methods apply the paste and how a printed fabric is fixed and washed. It includes a worked recipe with real quantities, the faults to watch, and a comparison table to help you pick the right style. If you want a deeper look at one machine route, see our guide on digital vs rotary screen textile printing.

What is textile printing

Textile printing is the process of putting colour on fabric in a pattern, so that the design has sharp edges and stays put through washing. It is different from dyeing, which colours the whole fabric evenly. In printing, the colour is a thick paste, so it stays where it is placed and does not spread. For a short overview of both, see our article on what you need to know about fabric dyeing and printing.

The three styles of printing

The word style means the way the pattern is created on the fabric, not the machine that applies it. The same machine can print in any of the three styles.

Style	Idea	Ground (background)	Result
Direct	Colour is applied straight onto the fabric	White or pre-dyed pale	Coloured design on a plain ground
Discharge	Colour in the dyed fabric is destroyed in the design area	Dyed fabric	White or coloured design on a dark ground
Resist	The design area is protected before dyeing, so it stays white or light	Fabric dyed after printing	Light design on a dark ground

Style 1: Direct printing

In direct printing, the print paste with dye or pigment is put on the fabric exactly where the colour is wanted. It is the simplest and most common style, used for most prints in the market.

How it works:

1. The design is separated into colours, and a screen or roller is made for each.
2. Print paste for each colour is prepared.
3. The paste is printed on the fabric, usually white or pale.
4. The fabric is dried.
5. The colour is fixed with steam or heat.
6. The fabric is washed off to remove thickener and unfixed colour.

Best for: Bright, multicolour designs on white or light fabrics, such as shirts, dress fabrics, bedsheets and scarves.

Limits: Printing a light colour on a dark ground is hard, because the dark ground shows through. A strong dark design also needs more dye than a dyed ground.

Style 2: Discharge printing

In discharge printing, the fabric is first dyed in a solid colour, then a paste with a chemical that destroys the dye is printed on it. The dye is removed where the paste touches, leaving a white pattern. This is called a white discharge.

If a dye that survives the chemical is added to the paste, it colours the design area as it destroys the ground. This is a coloured discharge, also called an illuminating colour print.

Chemicals used: Discharge agents are usually reducing agents, such as sodium or zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate (a product of the Rongalite type). They break the colour-bearing parts of the dye under steam. Some systems use other reducing agents, because formaldehyde release is a health concern. Choose the system that meets your buyer’s restricted substances list.

Dyes that discharge well: Many azoic, direct and some reactive dyes can be discharged. Vat dyes, most pigments and some reactive dyes are hard to discharge. Always test.

Steps:

1. The fabric is dyed to a dark ground. Dyes should be chosen as dischargeable.
2. The discharge paste, with or without illuminating dye, is printed.
3. The fabric is dried.
4. It is steamed to activate the chemical, often at about 100 to 105 degrees Celsius for several minutes.
5. It is washed off well to remove the broken-down dye and chemicals.

Best for: Crisp white or coloured designs on a deep ground, with a soft hand and no extra layer on the surface. It looks like the colour was woven into the cloth.

Limits: The process needs care and test runs. Chemicals can weaken the fabric if used too strongly. The effluent has to be treated, as in our guide on the water treatment plant process in industry.

Style 3: Resist printing

In resist printing, a substance that blocks the dye is applied to parts of the fabric. The fabric is then dyed, and the protected parts stay white or lighter. Afterwards the resist is washed out.

Types of resist

Type	How it blocks the dye	Example
Wax resist	Hot wax stops the dye entering	Batik from Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of South Asia
Paste or mud resist	Thick paste of clay, gum or starch	Dabu from India, Adire from West Africa
Mechanical resist	Fabric is tied, folded, stitched or clamped	Tie and dye, Bandhani, Shibori
Chemical resist	A chemical in the print paste stops dye fixing	Acid in the paste resists alkaline reactive dye fixing

Steps for a printed chemical resist:

1. The resist paste is printed on the white fabric in the design area.
2. The fabric is dried.
3. The fabric is dyed or padded with dye, and the resist stops the dye from fixing in the printed spots.
4. The fabric is washed off.

Best for: Pale, soft designs on dark grounds, and traditional crafts with a handmade look. Batik and tie-dye are loved because each piece is a little different.

Limits: Hard to control for fine lines, slow in handwork, and wax removal needs hot water or a solvent.

Methods of applying the print paste

Styles tell us what is done. Methods tell us how the paste gets onto the fabric.

Method	How it works	Suited to
Block printing	Carved wooden or metal blocks are inked and pressed by hand	Craft prints, small runs. Sarees, home textiles
Roller printing	Engraved copper rollers carry paste and press it onto cloth	Very long runs, now less common
Flat screen printing	Paste is pushed through a mesh screen with a squeegee	Short and medium runs, T-shirts, panels. See screen printing
Rotary screen printing	Cylindrical screens print continuously on moving fabric	Most commercial printing of fabric by the metre
Digital (inkjet) printing	Inkjet heads place ink directly from a computer file	Short runs, many colours, samples. See digital printing pros and cons
Heat transfer and sublimation	Design printed on paper is moved by heat onto fabric	Polyester, sportswear. See sublimation printing
Stencil and spray	Paste or colour goes through cut openings	Simple, bold shapes

For a wider look at garment-level printing methods, see our guide to T-shirt printing methods.

What is in a print paste

A print paste is a thick liquid. The thickness keeps the design sharp on the cloth.

Ingredient	Job
Dye or pigment	Gives the colour
Thickener	Gives body so the paste does not spread. Sodium alginate, starch products, gum and synthetic thickeners are common
Urea	Helps dissolve reactive dyes and keeps moisture during steaming
Alkali	Soda ash or bicarbonate fixes reactive dye on cotton
Resist salt	A mild oxidising agent that protects reactive dye from being reduced in steaming
Binder	A resin that glues pigment onto the fibre in pigment printing
Water	Balances the weight

Worked example: a reactive direct print paste

A printer needs 20 kg of paste for a cotton print. The recipe per 1,000 g is:

Ingredient	Grams per 1,000 g
Reactive dye	30
Urea	100
Sodium alginate stock (4 percent)	500
Soda ash	20
Resist salt	10
Water	340
Total	1,000

For 20 kg (20,000 g), multiply by 20:

• Dye = 30 × 20 = 600 g
• Urea = 100 × 20 = 2,000 g = 2 kg
• Alginate stock = 500 × 20 = 10,000 g = 10 kg
• Soda ash = 20 × 20 = 400 g
• Resist salt = 10 × 20 = 200 g
• Water = 340 × 20 = 6,800 g = 6.8 kg

Check the total: 0.6 + 2 + 10 + 0.4 + 0.2 + 6.8 = 20 kg.

How far does the paste go? If the paste pick-up is 60 g per square metre of fabric (a rough number for a medium coverage design), then:

• Fabric covered by 20 kg = 20,000 ÷ 60 = 333 square metres
• On a fabric 1.1 m wide, that is 333 ÷ 1.1 = 303 running metres

A mill printing 5,000 metres a day would therefore need 5,000 × 1.1 × 60 = 330,000 g, or 330 kg of paste, for one design of this coverage. The numbers change with the mesh, coverage and design, so use your own measured pick-up.

Fixation: After printing, the cloth is dried and steamed at about 102 to 105 degrees Celsius for 8 to 10 minutes. The alkali and heat make the dye bond with the cotton. It is then rinsed cold, washed hot with a soaping agent and rinsed again.

Pigment printing: a style that cuts steps

Pigment printing is often grouped with direct printing, but it uses a different chemistry. Instead of dye, it uses insoluble pigment with a binder resin. After printing, the fabric is dried and baked, typically at about 150 degrees Celsius for 3 to 5 minutes, so the binder forms a film that holds the pigment on the surface. There is no steaming and no heavy washing, so it saves water and time. The feel can be stiffer, and rubbing fastness can be lower on dark shades. To learn more about pigments, read our guide on what pigments are and our article on the difference between dyes and pigments.

Choosing a style

Need	Best style
Colourful design on white or pale cloth	Direct
Fine white or light pattern on a very dark ground	Discharge
Soft handmade look with natural variation	Resist (batik, tie-dye)
Low water use and quick turnaround	Pigment direct or digital
Low cost, long runs	Rotary screen direct
Short runs with many colours	Digital

Common faults and fixes

Fault	Cause	Fix
Blurred edges (bleeding)	Paste too thin, too much pressure	Raise thickener, reduce squeegee pressure
Poor registration	Screens set wrongly, fabric slips	Adjust the screens and the fabric guide
Pale print	Not enough dye, poor fixation	Check recipe, steaming time and alkali
Stiff hand in pigment print	Too much binder	Reduce binder, add softener
Weak white in discharge	Wrong dye in the ground, low steaming	Use dischargeable dyes and correct steam time
Halo around the design	Paste migration	Adjust the thickener and drying
Poor wash fastness	Unfixed dye left on cloth	Improve wash-off. Test with colour fastness methods
Marks from screen	Dirty or damaged screen	Clean and check mesh

Environmental points

Printing uses paste, water for washing off and energy for drying and steaming. Chemicals in discharge and resist styles need careful handling, and the water must be treated. Digital and pigment routes use less water. Check buyer standards on formaldehyde and other restricted substances. Keep test records for each recipe. See our guide on the dyeing process for the dye side of the story.

Final thoughts

The three styles of printing give the textile maker three different tools. Direct printing is the all-round choice for colour on light cloth. Discharge gives a soft, deep look with white or bright designs on dark ground. Resist gives the handmade character of batik and tie-dye. Pick the style for the look, the fabric and the budget, then control the paste, fixation and wash-off. Test every recipe before bulk printing, and keep a record so you can repeat the result.

Frequently asked questions