Printer Coatings for Muslin

[JoeKitchen]

I recently received two fabric samples of heavy weight muslins that we are planning to perform print tests on.  The main issue is, they are uncoated.  The second issue is, they are slightly transparent.  The third issue is, one is made of polyester (can it take inks?) and one is a fire treated cotton. 

So, my question is, are there any coatings that we could apply to these that would (a) allow inks to adhere to, (b) be flexible enough so the ink would not flake or crack (we would be shipping these prints folded in wooden crates), (c) even out the whites, and (d) make the fabric opaque enough so you can not see any back lights? 

Last, for the fire treated cotton, the coating would need to set on the fabric without pulling the fire retardant salts to the surface. 

[Alistair]

Old thread now but....
Polyester is easy to print on with sublimation inks. No coating needed. Can either print direct to fabric (like flags) or transfer printing (like sportswear). Cotton is more problematic. There are three ways to print it digitally; direct pigment ink, direct reactive dyes, transfer pigment ink. The two former need pretreating and post treatment, steaming and washing in the case of reactive dyes and heat in the case of direct pigment printing. Transfer printing to cotton is a new process developed by Mimaki called Trapis. Making fabric opaque via printing is not really possible. Light transmission is via the gaps between the weave. Muslin would be particularly problematic in this regard.