Top Chinese athletic apparel brand Xtep has worked together with Dow Corning to launch a new screen printed sportswear line using silicone textile printing inks that have a good performance and environmental profile.

These inks do not include solvents, can be washed and ironed, and are said to offer superior color fastness to traditional inks. In some cases, traditional PVC and PA screen printing inks have serious drawbacks – such as inferior wash and weather Durability, poor hand feel and tackiness. This can limit their use, particularly in high-end apparel applications such as sportswear.

In addition, some of these products could contain plasticisers and have other negative environmental effects, but Dow corning says its silicone-based product does not contain organotin, phthalate, formaldehyde, PVC or any Solvent.

“This is suitable for most natural and synthetic fabrics, including polyester and spandex” , said Dow Corning.

 “We had not used silicone screen printing inks before and decided it would give us an advantage over our competition,” said Mr Jiaye Wang, Vice President of Xtep’s Garment Center. “Dow Corning’s technical service team worked closely with us to test and qualify the silicone ink technology.”

Earlier this year, Xtep had instructed its network of qualified screen printers to use Dow Corning’s inks for its X-Nature series of t-shirts. Each of these t-shirts  includes a special hangtag designed by Xtep that describes the benefits of using Dow Corning Silicone Textile Printing Ink.

Mr  Zhangli Lin, Vice President of Xtep’s Finery Center said,  “We are proud to include Dow Corning on the product hangtag. With this technology, our products have an innovative advantage.”