Talking Textiles with Mike Sanders

There is perhaps no one better equipped to talk about fabric and textile printing than the “Fabric Guru,” Michael Sanders, VP, Apparel Sales, Digital Sales, and Technical Advisor, Pacific Coast Fabrics (Booth 2445). For more than 40 years he has lived and breathed fabrics, and, he says, “there is nothing about fabric I don’t know, no question I can’t answer.”

So what does the SGIA resident guru see as the biggest trends in this space? Digital textile printing, in particular, is where he has seen the most change over the last year. And that change crosses all types of applications, from signage, to backlit displays, to apparel and home furnishings. And he only sees the applications continuing to expand.

“A lot of the new machines have much higher speeds than ever before,” he points out. “And with the introduction of pigments picking up, there are a lot of changes as to what can be done on fabrics, especially blends with pigments.” Blends, in this case, aren’t with colors, but with types of materials — before, only certain types of fabrics could be printed on, and most of those required dye sublimation processes. Today, there are some amazing blends that take the best of cotton and polyester, and put them together in the same substrate. That particular substrate is called Colorado Light, which is launching at SGIA Expo this year, and, Sanders says, “that has the same ‘hand’ as cotton, but with wicking ability of polyester — it is the best of both worlds.”

The rise of pigment digital printers has other benefits that Sanders is watching as well, including the ability to print on less expensive cottons without the need for special coatings. He also points out that pigments don’t have any washoff of the color, so printers know that what they are producing isn’t going to fade as soon as it gets into customer hands. This combination of factors is what is contributing to the rise of applications, like a line of true upholstery fabrics that can be digitally printed and customized by the piece.

A learning experience

For every single attendee who either already offers digital textile printing or those who are considering it, Sanders invites you to attend the Digital Textile Printing Expert Panel, which will be held on Thursday, October 12, starting at 9 am in Room 333. Sanders is one of the experts who, he says, will be tackling everything anyone wants to know about this segment. “Any question anyone can ask will be talked about here,” he says. “There won’t be any loose ends when it comes to questions about digital fabric printing.”

The panel session will be moderated by Ray Weiss, Digital Imaging Specialist for SGIA (Booth 2245), and in addition to Sanders, it will include Jonathan Read, Color Management Specialist, Media One Digital Imaging Solutions (Booth 3333); Dave Brewer, CTO, Image Options; James Coulston, Technical Service Engineer, Sensient (Booth 211); Lily Hunter, Product Manager - Textiles and Consumables, Roland DGA (Booth 601); and Kerry Maguire King, Director of Research and Development, Spoonflower.

“These are all people from the signage market,” says Sanders. “Experts on color, a huge sign shop, someone who does pigments and home furnishings, someone who knows dyes  —  this is really a great group.”

But whether or not you can make it to the panel session, Sanders has advice for every attendee. “A lot of people think they’re limited by their machine,” he says, “but with the new fabrics hitting the market, you have got to take a broader look at what you can do. Home furnishings, apparel and signage are all getting bigger. Walk into any airport, any shopping center, you can already see SEG frame digitally printed signage — a lot of people don’t even realize what they’re looking at. The Apple Store, the United Terminal — all digitally printed fabric signage. There are a lot of things you can do with the equipment you have right now — and not just signage.”

He also advises attendees walking the show floor to “keep all your options on the table.” There are an increasing number of large companies looking to switch to customized, digitally printed fabric signage, and those shops who can provide it will be ahead of the game. “There are a lot of big players in the market that all want customization,” he says. “With digital, they can have completely custom signage. With everyone doing everything online today, it is changing the way people buy and shop, and digital works perfect for that.”