Learn How to Screen Print with Water Based Inks
Water based inks for screen printing
Yes, water based inks are back. There are a number of reasons for this that range from the environmental and sustaibability movements, to the birth of "all-over prints" and popularity of vintage designs, to the soft hand that these inks provide. This page will cover all aspects of water based screen printing inks including discharge inks, pigments, additives and specialty inks.
A Breif History of Water Based Inks
When it comes to screen printing (textile screen printing in particular) water based inks have been traditionally difficult to work with for a couple of reasons.
First, water based inks are somewhat transparent in nature. This has made it difficult to print water based inks on dark garments because the color of the fabric can have a direct impact on the final color of the printed ink. So, if you were to print a yellow water based ink on a blue shirt, the result would usually be a green(ish) print.
Second, water based inks tend to dry relatively quickly in open screen mesh. This can make it very difficult to print longer print runs, especially through higher mesh counts. Screen printers would typically have to stop production periodically throughout a print run to clean out clogged screens.
Back in the early days of screen printing, water based inks were replaced with Plastsiol inks for these reasons. Plastisol inks are the primary inks used for textile screen printing today but because of advances in technology, water based inks are quickly gaining in popularity again.
The return of water based inks to the textile screen printing world is due in large part to the efforts of companies like Matsui International Company. WestixOnline.com is proud to be the foremost authority on the Matsui water based and discharge screen printing inks.
A little more about Matsui's inks...
301 Water Based Inks
Matsui's line of 301 water based inks are revolutionary to the screen printing industry. These inks will not dry in the screen like traditional screen printing inks. They are rich in color, creamy and easy to screen print.
Learn more about 301 Series Inks
Matsui Water Based Discharge Inks
Discharge inks are slightly different than standard water based inks. Discharge inks remove color dye from cotton fibers through a chemical process during the curing of the ink. These inks are popular for printing large, "all-over prints" because they are extremely soft.
If you are looking for the softest print on dark garments, Discharge inks are the answer. - Learn more about discharge inks.
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