Glossary

dtex
See titer

Flock
= flock fibres. Mostly made of polyamide, polyester or viscose.

Flock transfer
Flock transfer refers to papers or films that have a flock fibre on one side. By printing using the screen printing process, ink and adhesive are applied to the flock transfer which is then transferred to the substrate by means of a hot transfer press. The flock is anchored to the transfer paper/foil in such a way that it detaches from the paper again after transfer to the substrate.

Multicolor flocking
Multicolor flocking is a special form of direct flocking.In this process, flock fibers are flocked per colour separately using stencils. The result is a multicolored flock motif, with the advantage that the multicolored effect is not achieved in printing, but with dyed flock fibers.

Open time
Open time is the time used for flocking during which the flock fibres, previously charged in the electric field, can be shot into the adhesive layer. Once the open time of an adhesive has expired, its surface begins to form a skin that prevents the flock fibres from anchoring properly, resulting in a sparse flock image (insufficient density of flock fibres on the substrate).

Plotter flock
Here, the desired design is produced by sending digital data to a cutting plotter. The plotter then cuts out the design laterally reversed from an already flocked, single-color flock foil with hotmelt adhesive, which is then transferred to the substrate using a hot transfer process.

Sublimation flock
This refers to flocked substrates where the motifs are usually sprayed directly onto the flock using inkjet printers (inkjet printers). Another possibility is to first transfer the sublimation ink from a previously printed special paper onto the flock. The sublimation ink has the property that the solid color bodies become gaseous at a higher temperature and penetrate directly into the flock fibre during hot transfer.

Titer
The flock dimension is defined by the thickness, also called titer, (measured in dtex) and the cut length (measured in mm) of the fibres. Since textile fibres are subject to certain variations in diameter during production, the thickness is not defined as diameter, but as weight/length: dtex = g/10,000 m. This means that 10,000 m of a fiber with e.g. 3.3 dtex weighs 3.3g. The cut length is given in mm.

Pot life
Pot life is the time remaining after mixing a 2-component sdhesive system until the chemical reaction of curing begins. If the pot life has expired and the adhesive is still being used, this may result in poor quality because the adhesive will not find sufficient adhesion to the substrate.