Resist printing with disperse dyestuff can be divided into the physical resist-printing method (the dyestuff absorbing ability of active carbon is applied) and the chemical resist printing method which prevents dye-fixation chemically.

The active carbon resist printing method had been mainly used for hand printing of high grade products until the 1960's. The active carbon resist printing method is the most appropriate for white resist printing since the method does not require the specific selection of disperse dyestuff for ground dyeing, however, in the case of colored resist printing, obtaining vivid shades is difficult with the method due to the loss of dye fixation which is caused by the adsorption of the effect color dyestuff into the active carbon. Active carbon resist-printing agents available on the market are composed of a fine-grain active carbon which is a pre-treated, thickening agent with high solidity, a reinforcing agent for paste film (minerals: titanium dioxide, talc etc) and water repellent. To have the best result in physical resist printing, it is recommended carrying out hand printing with Wet on Dry method with which it is possible to produce a thick resist printing paste layer and print a printed ground paste after drying. On the other hand, since the Wet on Wet method is carried out with automatic screen printing, a thick layer can lead to problems, such as staining on the reverse of the screen and uneven penetration. In addition, since resist printing paste can dry out easily due to its characteristics, it can clog the screen mesh. In consideration of these problems, it has been found that the active carbon resist printing method is not appropriate for continuous printing methods. Thus, the method is not practiced today at most factories.
On the other hand, for the chemical resist printing method, the following agents will be appropriate:
(1) Heavy metals: chelate resist printing-disperse dyestuff is chelated by heavy metals to prevent dye fixation.
(2) Reducing agent: carry out reduction strip of disperse dyestuff by using stannous chloride or sulfinate type Decrolin.
(3) Alkali agent: causes hydrolysis of disperse dyestuff by carrying out the heat treatment of metallic alkali.
It costs money to carry out chelate resist printing, because in most cases, expensive quinone type is used as a disperse dyestuff in the process. The chelate resist printing also leads to problems, such as how the waste water of the heavy metals should be treated, the combination of dyestuffs is limited etc. So, it is not regularly carried out today.
The reduction method with stannous chloride is used widely, since the use of dyestuffs is very flexible and they have high dye-fixing efficiency, however, problems, such as machine corrosion caused by the acid gas during the process, skin irritation, waste water treatment and damage to the undercloth may occur.
The alkali resist printing method has already been practiced and can substitute for the stannous chloride resist/discharge printing. It was introduced as an economical method, being kind to the environment, at the same time as Dispersol PC Dyestuff was put out in 1976 by ICI..
The characteristics of the resist printing agent and discharge printing agent are shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Characteristics of each resist printing agent and discharge printing agent

Resist printing/ discharge printing agent Check list	Active carbon	Metal chelating agent	Tin chloride	Decrolin	Alkali
Resist printing	Most applicable	Most applicable	Applicable	Not applicable	Applicable
Ground-dyeing discharge printing	Not applicable	Not applicable	Applicable	Most applicable	Applicable
Discharge-resist printing	Not applicable	Not applicable	Applicable	Applicable	Most Applicable
Applicable dyestuffs Selection of ground color Development of effect color	Many None Poor	Less Limited Fair	Many Limited Fair	Many Large Limited	Less Limited Fair
Discharge-resist printing effect	Best white resist	Fair white resist	Faircolored resist	Fair white resist	Faircolored resist
Finishing stability Ground color transition Sharpness of outline Bad penetration High mesh adaptability	None Fair Large Not applicable	Yes Fair Small Applicable	Yes Poor Middle Limited	Yes Poor Small Applicable	None Poor Small Most applicable
Printing methods Hand screen Auto screen Rotary screen Roller	Applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable	Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable	Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable	Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable	Not Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable
Machine corrosion	None	None	Yes	None	None
Applicable dyestuffs Selection of ground color Development of effect color
Washability	Poor	Acid washing is necessary	Fair	Fair	Fair
Total cost	Cheap	Expensive	Expensive	Expensive	Cheap
Environmental pollution	Less	Much	Much	Less	Less
Drain load	Small	Large	Large	Small	Small