Plastisol

Plastisol is an oil based ink which is the go to ink for most screen printers. It is the most versatile of all inks and can print onto a wide range of fabrics.

The finished print leaves a thick deposit of ink that is extremely hard wearing.

Plastisol colours are the most consistent and vibrant of all ink types, especially when printing onto dark fabrics.

Ink Rating:

• Vibrancy – 5/5
• Colour Accuracy – 5/5
• Softness – 2/5
• Washability – 4/5

Water Based

Water based inks are the most environmentally friendly option and do not need harmful chemicals to clean the screen after the print run.

The finished print has a softer feel than plastisol and generally works best on light coloured garments.

For vibrant colours on dark garments it’s best to print a white underbase first.

Ink Rating:

• Vibrancy – 4/5
• Colour Accuracy – 3/5
• Softness – 5/5
• Washability – 5/5

Discharge

Discharge inks are really quite unique. They are water-based and considered an environmentally friendly option.

What makes discharge printing so unique is that instead of adding ink to the garment, the dye from the fabric is removed and replaced with a highly concentrated colour pigment.

After one wash the print cannot be felt to the touch.

Limitations of Discharge Printing

• It only works on 100% cotton coloured t-shirts
• Print colours may vary on different colours of cotton
• White prints are not brilliant white but a slightly off white.

Ink Rating:

• Vibrancy – 3/5
• Colour Accuracy – 3/5
• Softness – 5/5
• Washability – 4/5

Water based Reflective ink.

The most recent addition to our ink range is eco-friendly water based reflective ink.

It has the same characteristics as water-based ink and is extremely reflective.

Due to the reflective particles in the ink we don’t recommend too much detail in the design, solid areas will print much better.

Ink Rating:

• Vibrancy – 4/5
• Colour Accuracy – 3/5
• Softness – 5/5
• Washability – 5/5

Gold and Silver inks.

We have a selection of gold and silver inks, both water based and plastisol inks.

They come in a metallic or glitter finish.

Halftone

Halftone printing is a great way of printing photo realistic images in just one colour, or creating a gradient from ink to t-shirt.

Similar to how a billboard is printed, the image will be art worked and made up of 1000’s of micro dots. These dots can be seen up close but from a meter away will be completely invisible.

Halftone prints do not have to be just one colour, they can be made up of several colours.

Split fountain

Split fountain printing is a technique that allows two or more colours to be printed in one pass.

It is a great way to have more colourful prints without the added expense of extra screen set-up.

Due to the nature of the inks, experience tells us only certain colour combinations work well. We are happy to advise on this.