Waterfast dye fixative compositions for ink jet recording sheets

1. A method for making an ink jet recording sheet, comprising:

preparing, under acidic conditions, a composition comprising a water-soluble blend of at least two dye fixatives, wherein at least one of said dye fixatives is a cationic polymer and the other of said dye fixatives is a polyvalent metal salt;

contacting said composition with a base to raise the pH of said composition and form a water-insoluble complex from said blend;

contacting said water-insoluble complex with a starch, to form a sizing composition; and

coating at least one surface of a substrate with the sizing composition.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said coating comprises forming a continuous film of said sizing composition on said substrate surface.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, upon said coating, said composition is absorbed into the surface of said substrate as a sizing material.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, prior to contacting with said base, contacting said composition with a material selected from the group consisting of binders, pore volume regulators, pigments, defoamers, surfactants, thickeners, and a combination of at least two of the materials.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after contacting with said base, and prior to said coating, contacting said composition with a material selected from the group consisting of binder, pore volume regulator, pigment, defoamer, surfactant, thickener, and a combination of at least two of the materials.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cationic polymer is selected from the group consisting of dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resin, polyethylenimine-epichlorohydrin, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride, and cationic polymer which contains primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary amine functionalities.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said cationic polymer which contains amine functionalities is selected from the group consisting of cationic starches, cationic polyvinyl alcohols, cationic vinyl polymers, cationic styrene-containing polymers, cationic polyurethanes, and quaternary amine salts.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polyvalent metal salt is a water-soluble salt comprising an element selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt, tin, nickel, chromium, zirconium, and iron.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polyvalent metal salt is a polyaluminum chloride.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the polyaluminum chloride is aluminum chlorohydrate.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cationic polymer is dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resin and the polyvalent metal salt is aluminum chlorohydrate.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the weight ratio of aluminum chlorohydrate to dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resin is in the range of 1:20 to 1:1.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the weight ratio of aluminum chlorohydrate to dicyandiamide-formaldehyde resin is 1:2.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said substrate is selected from the group consisting of paper, textile and plastic film.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said composition further comprises a material selected from the group consisting of binders, pigments, pore volume regulators, defoamers, surfactants, thickeners, and a combination of at least two of the materials.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein said binders are selected from the group consisting of starch, derivatives of starch, cross linked polyvinyl alcohol, cross-linked derivatives of polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyvinyl alcohol, modified cellulosics, proteins, vinyl polymers, styrene-containing polymers, and polyurethanes.

17. The method according to claim 15 , wherein said pigment is selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, clay, and calcium carbonate.

18. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising raising the pH to between 6 and 8.

19. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising forming a coated paper, matte type paper, or glossy type paper.

20. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising printing an image onto the recording sheet.