Digital Textile Printing in 2026: The Most Sustainable Option for Printed Fabric

Sustainability has become second nature globally, which is why the fabric industry has chosen digital textile printing as the most effective ‘green’ method for printing designs and colours on textiles. Printers and manufacturers have selected this environmentally friendly fabric printing method because it doesn’t harm the planet and ensures a sustainable future for generations to come.

Unlike traditional printing processes like screen printing, digital printing uses specialised printers that work with digital files to print designs on fabric. This is a much faster and more precise printing method that allows us to print intricate designs in numerous colours on various textiles.

These days, the material industry follows strict sustainability protocols. They ensure that the entire print system uses as little water and energy as possible. They also use special chemical-free fabric inks. It’s a more sustainable method of printing that offers increased flexibility and creativity for manufacturers to create unique designs on fabric. Of course, print quality remains of the utmost importance – and luckily, being sustainable doesn’t affect the quality.

Why Choose Digital Fabric Printing?

Digital textile printing is one of the most modern, environmentally friendly processes available. It works by applying pigment ink directly onto the material using an inkjet or laser printer. 

While screen printing offers the highest quality of textile printing, digital fabric printing is far more affordable, which is why it’s become the choice for so many manufacturers. 

They use sustainable ink to reproduce on every digital textile. This includes vegetable-based ink instead of those loaded with chemicals like petroleum, which is harmful to humans and the environment.

Why Digital Fabric Printing is the Way Forward

According to statistics from Global Market Insights, the digital textiles printing market was estimated to be around £2.1 billion at the end of 2025. It’s expected to grow to £3.7 billion by 2035.

There are several reasons for this growth:

1.   Increased Demand

Consumers want more personalised fabrics to make individualised garments instead of mass-market fast fashion items. Using digital fabric printing, manufacturers can create smaller batches of clothing that are customised to a certain audience, rather than mass-producing them. This printing method is affordable, and printing on demand instead of printing vast amounts is faster, too.

2.   Innovative Technology

Printers that are more technologically advanced are now available to the fashion industry, offering manufacturers methods that are more productive, faster, more precise and efficient. These printing methods also offer exceptional quality and colour, and are much faster.

3.   More Efficient Manufacture

Digital textile printing has become far more efficient, making them an excellent choice for manufacturers requiring a sustainable, customised fabric printing process.

We recently put together an informative blog on Sustainable Textile Print in the UK and the way forward. Read all about it here.

Advantages of Using a Printing Textile Company

Let’s take a look at the benefits of this type of system for printed fabric:

·       It’s less expensive.

·       Fast, efficient production process.

·       Prints in a range of shades and colors.

·       Enables one to create custom orders for clients.

·       Excellent quality.

·       Environmentally friendly – uses less energy and water, and no toxic chemicals.

·       A digital material is easier to recycle.

·       Material waste is dramatically reduced.

·       Great choice of printed material for clothing, interior decorating and home decor.

·       Can reproduce small quantities of printed materials.

·       More sustainable way of reproducing patterns on material.

·       Easy to wash in a washing machine.

Why Digital Textile Printing Has Taken the Spotlight in 2026

1.   It's Affordable

Unlike other printing methods, digital printing involves less time-consuming methods. There’s little setup, as you use a digital file and print directly onto the fabric. This is also a fast method. Manufacturers enjoy printing smaller batches at less cost and in less time, which is ideal for customising orders and printing limited editions of fashion ranges.

2.  It Offers Infinite Possibilities

Unlike other printing methods, digital printing allows manufacturers to print in numerous colours, patterns and gradients, which is often more difficult to do for other printing methods. These one-of-a-kind designs and patterns can also be changed to suit different fabrics.

3.   Precision Printing

Ink is applied precisely to ensure the design or pattern is of the best quality, and fabrics don’t need to be treated before printing. As a result, manufacturers use fewer chemicals and less waste in the digital print process, which is far more sustainable than many other methods.

What Digital Printing on Fabric is Used For

OK, let’s get technical! Computer-generated fabric printing is used by many companies involved in producing products from material. This print system is used on clothing, interior design, soft furnishings and lifestyle products such as tableware, scatter cushions, etc.

This printing method uses computerised machines to reproduce patterns, images (photographs and drawings) and other designs on fabric with numerous colors. These machines resemble larger versions of those desktop inkjet machines we often use in our studies or home offices. 

Reproducing an image, design or picture onto fabric with a computerised fabric printer tends to use more sustainable ink for printing, which is why this system is more environmentally friendly and has become sought-after.

The ink includes the four process colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, or CMYK). They can also increase from four to between eight and 12 colors. The more shades you use, the larger the amount of tones (the ‘gamut’) that is available.

How a Digital Fabric Printer Reads Colour

When a computer-generated printer reproduces patterns on fabric, this involves fixing colours at various scales and using as many tones as are available on a specific machine.

The more colors a printer can print, the more it will be able to reproduce a range of shades. Like a child playing with colors and mixing them in a paintbox, computer-generated fabric printing does the same on a more sophisticated level. In fact, this method can even create fluorescent shades. Read our Colour Guide for your Digital Fabric Printing UK to find out more.

How Printers Create Digital Fabric 

As fabric printing is our business, maake uses two different print systems to reproduce a pattern on digital fabric. We use the direct-to-textile printing process and also have a sublimation printer, which uses similar machinery or the same machine that has been specifically modified to handle various types of fabric.

1.   Sublimation Printing

Sublimation printing is essentially a chemical process. This print process involves pressing or transferring a design from specialised sublimation transfers onto fabric using heat. The heat printing method results in a clear, crisp image that won't fade easily and that prints colours beautifully.

The word ‘sublimate’ literally means ‘to change the form of something’. In the case of the sublimation print process, this involves changing a solid dye to a gas when printing.

We use heat transfer printing (the heat is around 180 – 200°C) and follow this with pressure, which turns the dye into a gas. This gas absorbs into the fabric, leaving behind high-definition, long-lasting printing patterns with incredible detail. 

This print method uses sustainable water-based dye sublimation ink. These specialised inks print onto the sublimation paper, special thermal transfer printing sheets. This creates a mirror image on the paper. The printer lines up the transfer precisely with the fabric. Then it applies heat, so the solid ink transfers into a gas.

Once heat has been applied, the gas then absorbs into the textile. It bonds with the fibres of the fabric and embeds itself into the material. The result is a long-lasting print. No dye is left behind.

We call this technique dye-sublimation; it’s a straightforward and cost-effective heat printing method and an excellent choice for printing on fabric.

This sustainable reproduction system is ideal for printing on polyester and other man-made materials, including poly blends. It’s often used to create detailed patterns and color dyes on synthetic materials.

2.   Direct to Textile Printing

These days, digital fabric printers are faster, more versatile, and more sustainable. Direct to Textile Printing, also called direct to fabric printing (DTF) allows manufacturers to print directly onto the material, as we discussed above. The inks used are called ‘pigment inks’, which are colour-fast and vibrant when printed with, particularly on natural materials like cotton.

Another key advancement is the rise of eco-friendly inks and processes. Many modern digital fabric printers now use water-based inks, which are less harmful to the environment compared to solvent-based inks. The water-based inks reduce the need for harsh chemicals and assist manufacturers in meeting increasingly stringent sustainability standards in the industry.

This system involves fixing the printing, i.e., printing directly onto the textile. Before we print on the machine at maake, we usually prepare the fabric with a special coating to ensure that the machine prints vibrant, sharp colour and that the fabrics are colour-fast.

A direct-to-textile machine requires special pigment ink. We use this eco-friendly system to print on cotton, linen and other natural fabrics. We also choose this type of fabric printing for fibre blends such as polycotton. One major advantage of this type of printing is that one can reproduce many colors without affecting the cost or quality.

The Best Fabrics for Digital Textile Printing

Technology has provided the fashion industry with a wide variety of fabric choices. But each textile is different, and some are more natural, while others are more hard-wearing. Also, some print better than others. When you have infinite choices, you also ask numerous questions, so let’s try to answer these for you.

Natural fibres like cotton are known to work beautifully as they absorb the ink and print vibrant colours. On the other hand, polyester is extremely hard-wearing and doesn’t fade as fast as cotton does.

It’s important to consider the fabric’s texture, weight and composition when selecting the correct material to print on.

Tips for Choosing the Right Fabric

How to choose the correct fabric?

·      How absorbent is the material? Synthetics, including polyester, aren’t as absorbent as natural materials like cotton. So choose the best print process accordingly.

·      Your printing method will decide which fabric to use. For instance, sublimation printing is best for polyester,  while cotton fabrics print better using the direct-to-textile method.

·      Also consider the inks used in printing. Water-based inks are best for viscose and cotton fabrics, while materials like polyester react better to solvent-based inks.

·      Take fabric weight into account, as this affects the quality of the printing. You’ll find that the heavier the material, the more complex the patterns you can print. On the other hand, lighter and more delicate textiles, like silk, require a lot of precision when printing.

·      Focus on texture and finish. If the material is smooth, like polyester, it will print colours vibrantly. However, a rough texture, such as denim or tweed, may change the pattern or soften the colours.

Check out our fabric selection for inspiration. 

The Impact of Custom Fabric Printing on the UK Fashion Industry

Computer-generated fabric printing using inkjet technology is providing fashion designers and consumers with incredible opportunities to experiment.

1.   Designers Can Custom Make Small Quantities of Fabrics for Clothing

With computer-generated fabric printing, fashion brands can personalise garments for their customers and only reproduce small amounts, unlike more traditional methods of fabric printing, which involve using larger amounts of fabric. In short, printing digitally on material has transformed the industry. It has enabled designers to reproduce exactly the amount of material they need and customise their products.

2.   Production is Faster & More Efficient

This type of print system has made it easier for fashion and interior design brands to manufacture high-quality garments in less time. Creating patterns and styles digitally is far less time-consuming than it used to be. Designers can view their styles digitally on screens, experiment with colors, patterns and fabrics and see instant screen printing results.

3.   A Digital Textile is More Sustainable

Most importantly, fashion and interior design brands get the ‘green’ light when it comes to using environmentally friendly computerised technology to print on material.

Versatility is also important. The wide choice of fabrics and pigment ink, both natural and organic, makes computerised fabric printing more sustainable. It also allows the fashion and interior design industries to reduce waste and prevent garments and other material items from ending up in landfills.

Read how maake focuses on Creating Less Textile Waste when we print on material.

What's Coming Next?

-       Inks that are UV-curable: These dry fast under ultra-violet (UV) light, which reduces the amount of energy used and improves efficiency. They are also hard-wearing.

-       Focusing on zero-waste printing: This involves eliminating waste by cutting and printing on as much of the fabric as possible, and reducing over-production.

-       More textiles are being manufactured from plant waste and other recycled materials. These include fabrics made from recycled plastic as well as organic materials, like cotton and hemp.

-       Low-energy printing methods are also the focus. Digital printers are now being designed to use less energy while maintaining excellent quality printing.

-       ‘Green’ fabric finishes are being designed, such as water-based fabric softeners, non-toxic finishes that make fabric more durable, and biodegradable textile coatings..

The maake Sustainability Process

At maake, our focus on being eco-friendly in our material printing processes is thorough: 

• We print on demand to minimise fabric and ink waste. This means we print only the exact amount you order. 
• For our printed cotton and linen material, we use less than a thimbleful of ink per 100m of printed fabric.
• All our processes, including printing on synthetic materials and blends, use 95% less energy than traditional material machines.
• We only use 100% renewable energy resources in our North London factory.
• All our machines are fitted with energy-saving cut-off switches. This offers constantly reduced energy.
• The ink we use meets the Oeko Tex 100 Class 1 and GOTS 5.0 certifications.
• These inks are also certified safe for children.
• We recycle any leftover material that has not been printed on: we donate these fabrics to charity, schools and universities. We also offer upcycling bags to our customers free of charge. These comprise leftover fabrics and cut-offs from our various projects.

What Else?

Ensure you use sustainable fabric printing on the fabrics you manufacture for your products. It doesn't matter whether you're a professional, or in your foundation year at college, or are fabric printing for a home project.

Check out our selection of excellent service offerings here. You can:

·       Order our Sample Book before you print: It offers samples of all the fabrics that we offer, so you can see what your material will look like once it’s printed on.

·       Order your sustainable fabric by the metre

·       Design your own textile