Flocking process 

The flocking process is a technique of vertically fixing fiber powder (short fibers obtained by grinding or cutting waste fibers, generally 0.3 to 0.8mm in length) onto an object or substrate coated with adhesive (such as plastic, wood, rubber, leather, paper, cloth, etc.). The flocking process selects appropriate flocking methods based on the different flocking products, generally divided into three types: flocking machine assembly line flocking, box flocking, and nozzle flocking. The assembly line flocking machine can achieve fully automatic tasks such as gluing, flocking, drying, and floating removal of items, and is suitable for flocking printing of various products such as velvet, leather, paper, non-woven fabric, PVC, vacuum formed sheets, sponges, etc. Box type flocking is a process of making flocking boxes according to the size and shape of the flocking product. The fluff is placed in the box, the power is turned on, and the flocking product is fed into the box from one end. After three to five seconds of flocking, it is removed from the other end and dried or air dried to obtain the finished product. The nozzle type flocking is achieved by connecting a power source and generating tens of thousands of volts of high-voltage static electricity through the flocking machine, which causes the fluff in the nozzle to carry negative charges. After spraying adhesive on the surface of the plant, the nozzle is moved closer to the object, and the fluff is lifted to the surface of the object and vertically planted under the action of the high-voltage electric field. The flocking process has the characteristics of strong three-dimensional sense, bright colors, soft hand feel, luxury and nobility, gorgeous and warm, realistic image, non-toxic and odorless, insulation and moisture resistance, no shedding, friction resistance, smoothness and no gaps.

Case study of flocking process

The working principle of flocking process

The working principle of the flocking process is mainly based on the physical properties of electric charges that are of the same polarity, repel each other, and attract each other. Firstly, the fluff is negatively charged, and then the object to be flocked is placed under zero potential or grounding conditions. The fluff is attracted to the plant body by a different potential and accelerates vertically onto the surface of the object to be flocked. Due to the adhesive applied to the plant body, the fluff is vertically adhered to the plant body. For example, in the production of flocking fabrics, short fibers are fixed on the surface of the fabric through this principle, giving it a rich suede effect.