If you want to do well in printing t-shirts or be successful in the t-shirt printing business, you have to understand inks. They are very important in printing good-quality t-shirts which are always popular and stylish in all kinds of occasions. Are you curious as to what these t-shirt printing ink types that are widely used?
What kind of ink is used for t-shirt printing? The most common one used is plastisol because of its durability and versatility. The ink is widely available and the prints are long-lasting. Water-based ink, discharge, and special effects inks are the other types that are being used by printers.
Let me discuss in more detail these inks. This article would do well in guiding you in choosing the right one for your personal use or for your business.
Plastisol Inks For T-Shirt Printing
Image by stokedonprinting
This ink is commonly used as mentioned earlier.
According to Market Research Store, even though there was an economic slowdown for the last 4 years, plastisol ink has maintained stable growth. Now, it is expected that its market will further expand in the coming years.
Let me share more why this plastisol ink is very popular, especially to a t-shirt printer like me.
Aside from being readily available for purchase, the plastisol ink price is less when compared to these other inks.
This matter is especially helpful if you are in the business of printing t-shirts for obvious reasons. Consider also that when you are using plastisol inks, you will need less time for drying your prints. You can get these printed t-shirts out there to the market faster.
I am now listing the other advantages when you use plastisol inks.
Quality of T-Shirt Prints
I mentioned that they are durable and versatile earlier. You can use these inks with any t-shirt color. The result will be a bright, solid color that will remain in place even after going through multiple washes.
I want to add that these inks can work with halftones and gradients. Halftone is simply a style where you get a gradient effect through the smart use of dots. This effect is being created through spaces in between dots of ink in various sizes.
The prints are also thick, but you can still see the graphic detail in the design. Arching, which means having a curved shape, is prevented when using plastisol inks.
If you are working with softer prints, then plastisol inks will do the job. It can give you a low gloss and flat finish.
Easy Preparation
It is easier to prepare plastisol inks when compared to others. You can mix the inks more readily. They will not dry that fast if you leave the containers open.
There are even ones that come in ready to be used right away.
Another advantage is that these inks work well with a wider selection of screen printing mesh sizes, designs, and t-shirt printing presses. You do not need to worry about these inks drying fast in your screens. As a printer, this is a big relief since cleanup is very messy.
Flexibility In Using
If you are using the “wet-on-wet” printing method, then plastisol ink should be handy. This printing method permits you to print another ink layer on top of another after it gets a quick flash dry. You will be saving time here.
Cons In Using Plastisol Inks
You need high heat from a dryer, heat press, or other sources to cure your t-shirts.
Set the dryer’s temperature range between 200F – 300F. If not, this will result in improper curing. Your t-shirts will see a loss of ink color with these prints, poor washability, and even ink cracking.
A higher temperature set can make your puff ink collapse.
Since these inks print around the seams, your design can be limited. The only workaround here is to avoid printing in these areas for this particular ink type.
Even though plastisol ink is inexpensive compared to other inks, it is still advisable to run a test print first. Check to see if the ink is holding up in terms of washability, crocking (rubbing off), bleeding, opacity (little or no transparency), and adhesion. These checks will definitely save you problems when you start your production runs.
Water-Based Inks
The market for these inks is also expanding. Transparency Market Research expects the market to grow by 6.45% for the next 8 years.(Global Plastisol Ink Market Report 2019, April 2019)
These inks are very popular with the public. These inks are used mainly when printing on white and other light-colored t-shirts. Using these inks on dark garments will get muted results, so be aware of that unless that is the look you were actually going for..
There is a more natural feel when using these inks. My clients always remark that the prints always feel great, they have a very soft hand feel.
This is so because they use the process of dyeing the t-shirt fabric instead of remaining on top of it. It is kind of like the inks being included in the fabric itself.
I would suggest that you use water-based inks on 100% cotton t-shirts. There is a distinct difference when you wear these t-shirts printed with these inks compared to others.
You will also notice that the prints are very bright. People who are looking for a vintage effect in their prints would do well in using this ink type.
If you are insisting on using eco-friendly products, then water-based printed t-shirts are the right ones for you. The inks can be disposed of much easier, with no lingering effects on the environment.
These inks need water to act as a solvent base to carry the pigment. After printing, evaporation happens, which starts the curing process immediately. You can opt to leave the t-shirts at room temperature, but you can make use of a hand dryer or conveyor dryer to fast track this curing process.
Another advantage here is that cleanup is much faster. However, you cannot leave the inks on the screen, unlike with plastisol inks. You have to budget for time for cleanup and set up again to continue the job on another session.
I will strongly advise you to use these inks once mixed right away. They have a shorter shelf life when compared to plastisol inks. You have one week tops to use these inks or else they will be unusable.
Another word of advice is to consider screens with higher mesh counts when using these inks. Also, you need to pay attention to custom color matching so that you have a uniform print on your t-shirts.
Plastisol and water-based inks sure are the most popular types. To know more about them, check out my Plastisol Vs Water-Based Ink Screen Printing, Pros And Cons article:
I will now discuss the other types of inks used in t-shirt printing.
Discharge Inks
If you want to use dark-colored garments with water-based inks, then you use discharge inks. The prints will be softer and more on the vibrant side.
How this works is simply adding a discharge agent to this same ink. This process will then take out the dyes in this fabric. There will be a nice flat surface left to work on without having to add another layer of ink.
An advantage of using discharge ink is that you can finish your printing job faster. There is no need for an underbase.
Discharge inks are limited in terms of the materials and colors that can be used. You can only work with cotton fibers and higher-quality garments here. Royal blue, maroon, and forest green colors are to be avoided because they cannot be discharged at all.
You cannot use discharge inks on re-dyed fabrics. These are garments that have been reworked to another color (usually black) since they did not sell initially.
Special Effects Inks
Hey, I cannot blame you if you want to stand out from any crowd.
That is why I suggest that you closely check out some of the following special effects inks that you can have on your t-shirts. They can either be water-based or plastisol.
A word of caution here is that special effects inks may not last as long when compared to other inks discussed earlier.
High-Density Inks
You apply these inks to add solid volume or dimension to your prints. When you examine the printed results, you will notice a sculpted feel on the t-shirt.
If you are skilled enough, you can have more than a single level of these inks inside a particular design. You can also combine the use of these inks with other types and treatments as well.
Foil Special Effects
These foils will give you shiny and glossy prints here.
You will screen print an adhesive with the size of the foil to be used later on the t-shirt. The same foil will be pasted using a heat press on the same garment.
This is not easy to work with, but you will get luxurious quality prints in the end.
Puff Inks
These inks used to be popular years ago.
Print results are quite sophisticated, especially if the inks are properly applied. You can improve a regular puff look by building a bubbling molten effect instead.
Gel Inks
This one is a relatively new ink out there.
You can tint this for dimension and color or use as an overlay.
A tinted effect leads to a raised look and feel of a hard jelly. A clear gel, meanwhile, ink gives a sense of realism. There is a watery feel on the prints.
Statistics:
https://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-plastisol-ink-market-report-2019-468454
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/05/07/1818640/0/en/Water-based-Inks-Market-to-Reach-US-8-951-8-Mn-by-2027-Rise-in-Popularity-of-Water-based-Inks-in-Packaging-Drives-Market-TMR.html
