Technology and printer company Kyocera Corporation recently announced a new textile inkjet printer called FOREARTH. The printer seeks to eliminate water usage associated with fabric printing — an issue the textile and apparel industries have dealt with for years.

“Traditional analog textile printing consumes a large amount of water, especially in the washing and steaming processes, and wastewater pollution due to fabric printing is a long-standing issue around the world,” a press release on the announcement states. “In addition, waste resulting from the mass disposal of overstocked clothing is also an environmental concern, and the textile and apparel industries are under pressure to take immediate action toward alleviating this issue.”

FOREARTH Features

The Kyocera FOREARTH combines patented inkjet, ink, and printing technology to help solve these environmental concerns. Some key features of the printer include:

• Water-free concept — reducing water usage in textile printing
• Proprietary pigment ink — offering soft hand-feel prints and high fastness

Due to pre- and post-processes, textile printing typically requires large amounts of water. With FOREARTH’s “all-in-one printing system,” including pigment ink, pretreatment liquid, and a finishing agent, it eliminates those processes required in conventional dye printing and reduces water consumption, according to the company.

Kyocera reports that the FOREARTH printer requires .02L of water per kilogram of fabric compared to traditional methods, which require 153L of water per kilogram of fabric. | Credit: All images courtesy of Kyocera.

“Also, this new printing solution contributes to reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions because it does not need large-scale equipment used for the pre and post-treatment processes of textile printing,” the press release states.

Fabrics printed with FOREARTH.

While traditional dye-based digital printing typically requires different dyes for different fabrics and fibers, FOREARTH’s ink technology and all-in-one system allow for detailed printing on various fabrics from cotton, silk, and polyester to nylon and blended fabrics, says the company. Users can tackle various markets from women’s fashion and sportswear to kidswear and textiles for the home.

Additionally, Kyocera highlights the “location-free” aspect of the printer. Because production sites do not need to be located in areas with abundant water resources — as is the case with textile dyeing factories — production can be onshore, nearshore, and closer to consumers, says the company.

Kyocera will unveil FOREARTH for the first time outside of Japan at ITMA 2023 in Milan, Italy, June 8-14.

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Apparelist. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Apparelist.