Digital denim can replace real jeans

Researchers at North Carolina State University have printed ink on cotton fabric, creating "digital denim" that resembles six different styles of jeans. Clothes made with a computer and printer are of "average" quality, but save a lot of labor and resources.

Jeans are hardly the most common type of clothing on the planet in the last 100 years. But the process of making denim requires wasting a lot of water, and abrasives are used to create patterns - simulating scuffs, for example - that destroy the health of textile mill workers.

A team of scientists has chosen inkjet printing to apply the patterns characteristic of denim to textiles. This approach has potential mainly because it uses less water and energy. Along with this, the new technology allows jeans to be personalized - they can be "printed" according to the taste of a particular customer.

Scientists provided samples of their digital denim to a panel of two dozen denim experts. In terms of appearance, the experts' assessment was very optimistic. Visually, the digital jeans look almost identical to the originals. As for the quality and density of the material, the result still leaves much to be desired. This is due to the fact that in natural denim the dye penetrates completely into the fabric, while in "digital" pattern is only on the outside.

Nevertheless, the research team believes that the technology will find its application in the apparel market, as printing jeans saves water, chemicals and human labor, while allowing the creation of individual variations never before seen in the denim world.

Source: techxplore