Why You Should Be Using Water Based Ink

Choosing the right ink for your tee is vital. Water based ink helps you to not only to get the most out of your design, but also to create the softest, most comfortable custom shirt possible.

A rough, itchy print or peeling ink can ruin even the softest tee. Believe us, we know, it’s torture. Luckily, using custom-made blends of water based and discharge inks with high quality fabrics s a great recipe for making your new favorite tee.

So what exactly are water based and discharge inks?

Water Based Ink

What is it?

Water-based ink blends into fabric rather than sitting on top.

How does it work?

Because it suspends its dyes using water as a solvent, water based ink is extremely thin and versatile. This enables it to absorb right into the fibers of the fabric.

What’s the result?

By actively reacting and blending with the fabric during the printing process, water based ink consistently produces the most vibrant, softest, longest lasting, and most environmentally friendly screen printed merchandise. You can see some of our favorite water based ink creations in our gallery.

When should you use it?

Water based ink can be used on any fabric color, and still produces a clean, bright, environmentally-friendly print that that never cracks or peels. On dark fabrics, water-based ink needs a discharge agent to create discharge ink. So what’s up with discharge inks?

Discharge Ink

What is it?

Discharge ink is a specific type of water based ink that’s been specially formulated to deactivate the dyes used on natural fabrics. As we mentioned, to create a discharge ink, you combine a discharge agent with a high quality water-based ink.

How does it work?

The agent removes natural dye, embedding the ink’s chosen color. This formula is especially essential with darker colored tees, as you have to completely remove the coloring of a more assertive base fabric if you want to achieve a vibrant design.

What’s the result?

The discharge reaction lends itself to creating even more eye-catching colors and leads to a tee with a much softer feel after first washing.

When should you use it?

Discharge ink is the perfect solution to creating bright, soft, lightweight, and highly detailed prints on dark fabrics.

The Traditional Choice: Plastisol ink

What is it?

Plastisol ink is a plastic based ink made for mass-produced apparel. It is the chief alternative to water based and discharge inks, and still remains the screen printing industry standard due to its ease of use, despite its environmental toll and quality limitations.

How does it work?

Unlike a water based ink that blends into the fibers of the fabric, a plastisol ink lays directly on top of the fabric, covering the custom shirt with an additional layer of color for your customized design.

What’s the result?

Plastisol prints eventually break down, often resulting in a cracked or peeling graphic on the custom shirt. Plastisol prints stay bright but feel bulky, chafe, and lack breathability. This is especially true for oversized printing, where plastisol designs can border on unwearable.

When should you use it?

For ease and versatility over quality or eco-friendliness, this ink is a viable choice.

Challenges to using Water Based and Discharge Inks

Despite plastisol’s drawbacks, water-based inks also bring their own challenges.

Water based ink is more difficult to work with than its plastic counterpart. Not only because it is a much higher quality ink, but also because it actively reacts to the custom shirt it’s dying, making it a much more fluid and adaptable screen printing process as a whole.

Water-based and discharge inks require customization for each fabric, demanding extra skill and preparation. Because of this, screen printers need to have wide ranging expertise on fabric types and ink reaction in order to reliably create water based prints.

Conclusion

One of the most important factors in crafting that perfect tee, the one you can’t stop wearing, the one that becomes less a garment than an extension of your own skin, is choosing a perfect ink that will blend in seamlessly with the fabric of your tee.

If you prioritize quality and comfort for your custom tee design needs, then water based and discharge inks really are the gold standard in the industry. In the hands of a professional, they consistently produce the most vibrant, soft, durable, lightweight, and environmentally friendly tees around.

Want to explore the bigger picture of sustainability in inks? See our guide on environmentally friendly screen printing inks.