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Screen Printing

screen printing inks & methods

The most common form of garment decoration.

Minimums: 24 pieces for these standard techniques

You can request a particular ink through our Quote Form.

 

Plastisol Ink plastisol ink

Plastisol ink is the most common form of textile screen-printing ink. It is plastic-based and will “fuse” to the garment during the drying process.

Colors: full color pallete (see house colors)

Print “feel”: has some texture and sits on top of the garment. Different screen meshes can be used for a thicker or thinner deposit.

Pluses: best “all-purpose” ink. Color remains true on dark garments, as well as light garments. Can be mixed with additives to print nylon, polyester, and other materials.

Limitations: can be bulky and stiff, especially for large print areas and multiple layers. More difficult to print cleanly over seams. Not as environmentally friendly as water-based.

Wear over time: Print does not lose color, but will begin to develop hairline cracks after 15-30 washes, depending on the print.
 

Discharge Ink discharge

Discharge ink is somewhat like bleach. It “discharges” the dye from 100% cotton garments, returning the cotton to its natural color (off-white).

Colors: Nude cotton color, or may be mixed with water-based pigments to create full Pantone color range. Colors may vary slightly depending on original cotton color or garment.

Print “feel”: little to no texture, sinks into garment after just one wash.

Pluses: works well with water-based pigments, or by itself, to create bright images with a very soft hand on dark garments.

Limitations: contains formaldehyde, which can be a skin irritant. Although effects are not noticeable by most people, it is reccommended that clothes are washed before wearing. Some garment colors, such as kelly green and red may not discharge fully, leaving the cotton a very light shade of the original color.

Wear over time: used by itself it returns cotton to its original color which cannot fade. Pigments will wear in the same manner as water-based prints.

 

Water Based Ink water-based

Water-based ink has become quite popular in recent years, and is admired for its soft-hand print quality.

Colors: full Pantone color range

Print “feel”: very little texture. Sinks into garment.

Pluses: environmentally friendly. Acts more like dye, and less like paint. Prints better over seams than plastisol.

Limitations: colors do not show as well on medium to dark garments. May be mixed with discharge (see below) to increase opacity to nearly full strength.

Wear over time: Print holds well, but will begin to fade slightly after 15-30 washes, depending on color. This is similar to the fading of the original dye color of a t-shirt over multiple washes.

 

 
 

Specialty Inks specialty inks

There are many specialty inks, and additives that may be added to inks for special effects. Below is a sampling of special effects – please ask us about more specifics and pricing.

Metallic inks: are printed just as normal inks, but contain small amounts of glitter. Colors include gold, silver, bronze, copper, etc. as well as some “normal” shades (i.e. metallic blue).

Glow-in-the-dark inks: come in many colors. We stock the classic “invisible green”. It can be printed over white on a dark tee, or directly on a white tee for party-stopping effects.

Puff inks or additives: raise the surface of a plastisol print during the drying process (think 3-D basketball, or a Girbaud shirt).

Suede inks or additives: create a suede-like feel to plastisol ink.

Sugar glitter: can be sprinkled over wet ink before drying for extra-sparkly designs.

Burnout inks: are printed onto poly-cotton garments, and literally “burn” the cotton out of the image area. This is used by many fashion lines nowadays for semi-transparent looks in their patterns.