Reactive printing is a textile printing method in which the dye forms a covalent bond with the cellulose in cotton or linen fibre, fixed permanently under heat and steam. The colour becomes part of the fibre rather than a layer sitting on top, so the fabric feels like unprinted cloth and the print typically holds its colour for 600+ wash cycles — until the cotton itself wears out. It works on cotton and linen only; polyester is printed by sublimation instead.
Below are the twenty questions brands ask us most, grouped by what you are trying to decide: the method, the fabric, the artwork, and the order.
Reactive printing FAQ: the basics
Hvad er reaktivt tryk?
En trykmetode, hvor et reaktivt farvestof danner en kemisk binding med cellulosen i en naturfiber. Farvestoffet trykkes på stoffet og fikseres ved hjælp af varme og damp, hvorved der dannes en kovalent binding — farven bliver en del af fiberen, uden at der dannes et overfladelag.
Hvilke stoffer kan reaktivtrykkes?
Bomuld og hør samt blandinger af de to, da begge er cellulosefibre. Polyester indeholder ingen cellulose, som farvestoffet kan binde sig til, og derfor trykkes polyesterprodukter i stedet ved sublimering.
Ændrer et reaktivt tryk stoffets fornemmelse?
Nej. Da der ikke er noget blæklag på overfladen, føles det trykte stykke som utrykt bomuld — ingen stivhed, ingen særlig fornemmelse ved berøring og ingen ujævnheder, man kan mærke med fingrene.
Hvor længe holder et reaktivt tryk?
Colour typically holds for 600+ wash cycles. In practice the print outlives the garment: the cotton wears out before the colour does. The full explanation is in our article on why reactive prints don’t crack or fade.
How reactive compares to other print methods
Reactive vs pigment printing — what’s the difference?
Pigmenttryk ligger på stoffets overflade, hvor det holdes fast af et bindemiddel, og det revner og falmer ved bøjningspunkter efter gentagne vaske. Reaktiv farve sidder inde i fiberen, så der er intet lag, der kan revne.
Hvordan adskiller reaktiv sig fra DTF?
Ved DTF (direct-to-film) limes en trykt overførselsfilm fast oven på stoffet. Metoden fungerer på mange forskellige stoftyper, men det forbliver et overfladelag. Reaktivt tryk foregår inde i fibrene og kun på cellulose.
Er reaktiv trykning det samme som sublimering?
Nej — de er modsætninger, hvad angår underlag. Sublimering fungerer kun på polyester og syntetiske fibre; reaktiv trykning fungerer kun på bomuld, hør og andre cellulosefibre. Fabrixa bruger begge metoder, så metoden vælges ud fra produktet.
Kan man trykke hvidt med reaktivt farvestof?
Der anvendes ikke hvidt trykfarve ved reaktivt tryk. Den lyseste nuance i ethvert motiv er bomuldens egen farve, og derfor udformes et motiv, der skal dække hvide områder, med udgangspunkt i grundstoffet i stedet for at blive trykt oven på det.
Fabric, bases and colour
Vil mit mønster se ens ud på alle slags stof?
Nej, og det er kemien, der møder stoffet. Den samme farve fremstår mat og klar på percale, dybere og mere mættet på satin og med en synlig struktur på Half Panama. Farvestoffets binding er identisk; det er vævningen, der afgør, hvad øjet ser.
Hvilken base skal jeg vælge?
Match the base to the product and the artwork: smooth constructions hold fine lines and small type, textured ones suit bolder marks. Our vejledning, der gennemgår hvert enkelt basetrin compares every cotton base we print.
Can you print on linen?
Yes. Linen is a cellulose fibre, so reactive dye bonds in linen exactly as it does in cotton. Linen’s long, slubbed fibres scatter light, so the same artwork reads a little softer and more matte.
Why doesn’t the colour on my screen match the fabric?
Screens emit backlit RGB light; fabric reflects it. No monitor can show you a reflective surface accurately. Judge critical colours on a printed piece in daylight rather than on screen.
Artwork and files
What file do I need to send?
Send your artwork as a PDF, TIFF, JPG or PNG and Fabrixa creates the correct print files from it. You don’t need to prepare production files yourself, and no CMYK conversion is required.
What resolution should the artwork be?
Aim for roughly 200–300 DPI at the finished size on the product, not at screen size. Vector artwork scales without loss. More detail is in our post on DPI, farve og filformater.
Hvad er all-over-print?
The whole fabric panel is printed before cut-and-sew — edge to edge, across front, back, sleeves and hood. There are no print zones and no blank panels, because the fabric is printed first and the garment is made from it afterwards.
What if I don’t want to design each product myself?
Embed Fabrixa Studio in your storefront as an iframe and your own customers personalise the product. It is fully white-label — end customers never see Fabrixa branding — and the saved design attaches to the order automatically.
Ordering, production and dispatch
Er der et minimumsantal for en bestilling?
MOQ 1. No minimum order, no setup fees and no contracts — from a single piece to tens of thousands, printed from the same file.
Where is production?
Across Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Reactive printing on cotton and linen runs in Portugal and Spain; sublimation on polyester runs in the Netherlands.
How long does an order take?
As a guide, apparel made in Portugal takes roughly 6–9 business days. Orders arrive through a connected Shopify or WooCommerce store, the integration API, or Fabrixa Studio.
Vil mine kunder se Fabrixa-logoet?
No. White-label dispatch is standard: parcels ship under your brand, with your return address and no Fabrixa branding anywhere on or in the box.
Still have questions?
These twenty cover the ground most brands need before a first order. For the full picture from artwork file to finished fibre, read the Vejledning til reaktivt tryk, or look up any unfamiliar term in the ordliste for tekstiltryk. Organic cotton is our default base, certified to GOTS, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Made in Green. If your question is specific to a design or a product, tal med vores team.
