Laser etching is one of the techniques that can be an eco-effective solution to decorate textiles. With laser etching you burn a small part of the surface and do not add a material to the fabric like you do when dyeing or silkscreen printing.
Biodegradable materials that are treated with laser etching are still biodegradable and recyclable materials that have been laser etched can still be recycled.
When using greige celullose fabrics with laser etching the colour difference with natural materials is brown, because you shortly burn the material. When you use a coloured material to laser engrave the colour of the lasered part might not always be a brown/burned look because sometimes the colour in the dye reacts with the heat of the laser. Mostly with synthetic materials the colour of the treated place gets a darker colour.
Laser etching works the best with thicker materials. The effect is the greatest when you use black and white pictures. It is possible to create differences in thickness in one design with more or less power of the laser, but the effect will not be so clear.
If you would like to know more about how to use laser cutting or etching, take a look at the e-book " Laser cutters and engravers"
- Laser etching is possible with multiple types of materials, which react differently on the laser.
- All materials will heat up shortly at the moment the laser beam is pointed on the surface.
- Synthetic materials like (bio) polyesters and polyamide will melt at the point of impact.
- Wool, silk, leather, cotton and tencel give off ashes that need to be cleaned from the surface.
When using greige celullose fabrics with laser etching the colour difference with natural materials is brown, because you shortly burn the material. When you use a coloured material to laser engrave the colour of the lasered part might not always be a brown/burned look because sometimes the colour in the dye reacts with the heat of the laser. Mostly with synthetic materials the colour of the treated place gets a darker colour.
Laser etching works the best with thicker materials. The effect is the greatest when you use black and white pictures. It is possible to create differences in thickness in one design with more or less power of the laser, but the effect will not be so clear.
If you would like to know more about how to use laser cutting or etching, take a look at the e-book " Laser cutters and engravers"
Examples from companies that made products with laser etching
For laser cutting you can take a look at this blog article.
We used laser etching in the project Maternity Dress
We used laser etching in the project Maternity Dress