Mimaki’s Waterless Direct Textile Printing: Introducing the Tx330-1800/-1800B

Mimaki’s Direct Textile Printing is now even more Accessible with “Waterless”! Launching High Quality & Versatile Textile Printer Tx330-1800/-1800B. It is now Era of Waterless Digital Textile Printing

Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tomi-shi, Nagano, Pref.; President: Kazuaki Ikeda), specializing in industrial inkjet printers, cutting plotters and 3D printers, is to announce its release of the “Tx330-1800” and “Tx330-1800B,” direct textile inkjet printers for the textile and apparel market, which can print on a variety of fabrics with extremely low water usage.

The Tx330-1800 will be exhibited for the first time in worldwide at the “JAPAN SHOP (Tokyo, Japan),” an exhibition to be held from March 4th, 2025 and will present to visitors a waterless digital textile printing solution with high image quality and versatility.

The enormous amount of water used in textile manufacturing, especially in the dyeing process (coloring fabrics with dyes), has become a serious environmental problem. Wastewater from dyeing accounts for 20% of the world’s industrial water pollution, and it has been pointed out that the harmful chemicals contained in wastewater can affect the human body and the environment. In addition, dyeing requires skilled craftsmanship in chemical formulation and temperature control.

The textile industry business is on a downward trend due to difficulties in securing successors and labor force due to the recent labor shortage. Intensifying cost competition due to apparel brands’ dependence on overseas manufacturing and CO2 emissions due to transportation and inventory disposal are also seen as problems in promoting the sustainability of the textile industry.

In the apparel industry, the diversification of materials and designs, shorter trend cycles and production processes, and more environmentally friendly textile printing methods are required, and the market for digital textile printing, which can be produced on-demand in a limited space at the place of consumption, is expected to expand. We lead the digital textile printing market with our easy-to-use, almost waterless, textile printing method using small-scale equipment.

The Tx330-1800 and Tx330-1800B are direct textile inkjet printers that can be used with dedicated textile pigment inks and dye sublimation inks, and use almost no water in the textile printing process. Compared to the complicated textile printing process that requires a large amount of water for conventional dye inks, these inks complete the textile printing process with a simple printing and baking (heat treatment) procedure, eliminating the need for water supply and drainage, water purification facilities, and dyeing expertise, making digital textile printing more accessible to customers.

In addition, the “330 Engine,” a high-resolution, high-definition print head that is used in our flagship printers, and our proprietary imaging technology, will enable customers to create expressive on-demand textile prints with higher image quality than ever before through beautiful gradation expression and high-density printing.

The Tx330-1800 is a hybrid model that can print on both fabric and paper. The operator can easily switch the printing mechanism according to the base material (fabric or transfer paper) to be printed, enabling the production of mainly fabric signs and interior fabrics in short-run.

In addition, it can also print on wallpaper and poster paper, contributing to the ability to propose total coordination, including the interior design of stores and event booths, by customers who have mainly been producing fabric signages.

The Tx330-1800B uses a space-saving belt conveyor system to stably print on stretchy, thick, and thin fabrics commonly used for apparel, supporting short-run and multi-variety apparel production in limited spaces such as design offices, schools, and fabric retail stores.

Textile pigment inks can be used for textile printing on a wide variety of natural fibers (cotton, linen, silk, etc.), recycled fibers (rayon, cupro, etc.), and synthetic fibers (nylon, etc.). Sublimation dye inks can be used to dye polyester fabrics, and are used for fabric signages, fashion apparel, and sports apparel.

Furthermore, the “Hybrid Ink Set,” which simultaneously incorporates these inks, greatly expands the applications of a single printer and contributes to the diversification of the textile printing business in near-shore locations (close to consumers).