Choosing the Right Inks for Shirt Materials

posted by Melissa Crawford - Texsource - 5/20/2017

I have a shirt made out of Exotic Space Martian Silk - what is the best ink to use for this?

While this isn't exactly a question we get every day here at Texsource, it does help illustrate the point that many people (especially those who may be new to the screen printing process) have questions about exactly which type of ink to use for a certain type of shirt material (or 'substrate').  I am going to attempt to clear the smoke from the subject and bring things into focus!

COTTON
Ah, the granddaddy of them all, cotton is by far the most common material for tshirts.  It is a light, durable, soft, and economical fabric that is versatile to printing / coloring.  There are also sub-settings for cotton such as combed cotton, organic cotton, pima/supima cotton, and slub cotton.  Most of these sub categories have to do with the length of the fibers or how the fabric is woven.  In the case of organic cotton, it is different mostly in how it is grown, harvested, and processed in a more environmentally aware method.  The difference in these can be felt by the hand as either softer or more textured than other types.  Combed cotton uses a process in manufacturing that causes it to have a smoother feel than other types.

INKS TO USE
Most any general purpose ink will work well with any cotton fabric.  This would be the Texsource GEN Series inks, the Union Maxopake inks, the International Coatings 700 series inks, or the Triangle 1100 Multipurpose series inks.

LINEN
Like cotton, linen is grown and processed, in this case from the flax plant.  It is lightweight, moisture wicking, and has a textured weave feel.  Linen is durable, but gets softer with multiple washings.  It is an easy fabric to print, but can wrinkle more easily which may require more frequent ironing.


INKS TO USE
Same as cotton, most general purpose inks will work well with linen fabrics.  Mesh counts may need to be adjusted and some detail may be lost as linen has a tendency to be woven more 'loosely' than cotton.

POLYESTER
An entire series of articles could be written just on printing polyester shirts.  In short, polyester is a synthetic material that many still associate with the flamboyant disco fashions of the 70s.  It gained popularity as a material that could be washed, pulled, worn, and generally could take all kinds of abuse yet still maintain a smooth, wrinkle-free appearance.  It does not mold or mildew and is resistant to shrinking or stretching.  It is often seen in athletic apparel.  Polyester is often a trouble fabric for many screen printers because polyester must be sublimated or dyed to have any color.  That is, a green polyester shirt has been 'dyed' green in a heating or dyeing process.  When screen printing, the temperature that you need to cure your ink in the dryer is often higher than the material can hold its dye at.  Such a temperature will cause the polyester to 'release' the dye, which can cause a problem known as dye migration.  This is when the color of the shirt 'bleeds' into the color you printed.  To prevent this, you can use a 'blocker'-type ink as an underbase (a light grey is usually the best choice, but others use simply white).  You can then more safely print your colors without the fear of such dye migration issues.

More recently a relatively new type of ink, silicone ink, has been introduced that specifically combats this problem.  Silicone inks can typically cure fully at a much lower temperature than standard plastisol (around 260-270 degrees rather than 300-320).  This is often lower than the dye release point on most quality polyester materials thus eliminating dye migration issues.  Silicone ink has a very soft feel (called 'hand') and is extremely flexible, virtually eliminating cracking.  It is becoming a very in-demand ink for athletic uniforms.

INKS TO USE
Use a good underbase such as International Coatings Guardian Gray or Blocker Gray.  For ink, consider Texsource Poly inks, Union Poly inks, International Coatings 7100 series inks, or Triangle 1700 Low Bleed series inks.  If considering some of the new silicone ink products, try Rutland Silextreme inks.

LYCRA / SPANDEX
It may have seen its heyday among the slew of 80s heavy metal rockers, but lycra (spandex) has seen new life more recently as athletic wear such as yoga pants and tops, swimwear, and even casual shirts / tops.  It has found a home in athletic wear mainly due to its ability to easily stretch greatly while being resistant to wrinkles.  As lycra has great stretchability, a stretch additive is recommended.


INKS TO USE
General purpose inks will serve you well on most lycra/spandex substrates, but you will need a stretch ink additive such as the Union Unistretch 9160.  When printing a white color on pure black lycra, you may get better results using a poly white ink such as the Rutland Super Poly White ink or International Coatings 7113 Athletic White ink.

RAYON
Rayon is made from purified cellulose, mainly from wood pulp.  Because it is chemically converted into a compound, it is considered a semi-synthetic fiber.  It is well known as a popular replacement for silk.  When woven or knitted it is a silky, breathable fabric common in athletic wear.  Rayon does not hold up as well to prolonged wear and can more easily wrinkle.

INKS TO USE
Because Rayon is a semi-synthetic material, you may find some testing is necessary for best printing.  Much will depend on the percentage of rayon in the material.  If adhesion is an issue, you may want to add a catalyst such as Union Nylobond or International Coatings Nylon Bonding Agent.  On materials that use less rayon, you may use most general purpose plastisol inks.  Like lycra, you may want to test using poly inks when printing on darker colors.

NYLON
Nylon is a fully synthetic material that has found many uses in other applications including plastics, flooring, automotive, films, and more.  It is popular in shirt material for its excellent resistance to heat, is lightweight, and wrinkle resistant.  It also blends well with other materials.  Nylon is more prone to shrinking and is not as stain tolerant as other materials.  When using inks to print on nylon materials, a 'catalyst' should be mixed with the ink.  A catalyst works as a adhesive agent, particularly for extremely smooth surfaces.  When mixed properly, your ink / catalyst mixture will cure as normal and will be very resistant to peeling.


INKS TO USE
For a catalyst, use the International Coatings Nylon Bonding Agent, or the Union Nylobond catalyst as described in the inks for rayon shirts.  General purpose inks can be used on most colors, but light colors on dark fabrics may benefit from using low bleed poly inks.

BLENDS
Many shirts today are blended fabrics, sometimes with two, three, or four fabric types.   The most common you are likely to see as a screen printer would be the cotton polyester blend fabric.  Here is where some testing may be required as blends may be 50/50 or any other ratio.  Typically, general purpose inks may do well for most color fabrics, but as with 100% polyester shirts some dye migration or bleeding may occur, at which point you may want to consider a blocker underbase and / or poly inks.


INKS TO USE
Test using a combination of blocker inks such as International Coatings Guardian Gray or Blocker Gray.  Your general purpose inks such as Texsource GEN inks, the Union Maxopake inks, the International Coatings 700 series inks, or the Triangle 1100 Multipurpose series inks.  For poly ink, consider Texsource Poly inks, Union Poly inks, International Coatings 7100 series inks, or Triangle 1700 Low Bleed series.

CONCLUSION
While this certainly isn't a complete listing of available materials that you might see in your screen printing shop, it is a list of the more common types you may encounter.  As always, testing is the key; get the first shirt right and approved before you begin your batch.  Taking shortcuts in the screen printing process can lead to lost customers and lost profits.  Experimentation can often lead to creative and valuable results, and this guide should serve as a great base from which to start your screen printing journey.  If you are looking for where to find some of these great screen printing inks and more, look no further than the Ink section on the Texsource website - all the screen printing supplies you need and every product mentioned in this article can be found right there, in stock, ready to go!  #printlife

How to Make the Most of the Athleisure Trend

Posted by Mary Yaeger - 5/12/2017

Defined; Athleisure is a fashion trend in which athletic clothes are worn in settings outside of the gym - work, school, or social occasions for example. There are a couple of theories to why Athleisure has become so popular, but most people describe the style as convenient. Instead of having to change for the gym, change to go to work, change to see your friend for lunch and change again to go to that party later Friday night; now you can be in style for multiple occasions without breaking a sweat (literally).

As with anything in the fashion industry, once a style starts trending, it’s up to everybody to keep up to make sure that their brands stay relevant. Athleisure is no different. So what does this mean for the screen printing industry? It means that we have to adapt to the style with the inks and techniques that we use.

According to Vogue Magazine, there are a few “golden rules” for the Athleisure trend. These rules must be paid attention to if your business is going to keep up with this newly evolving style. The two biggest ones that are especially important to note for screen printers are this:

Number 1: It has to be Seasonal

Remember when you started working out and you went to look for workout clothes, but the only color that was available was black? Not anymore. The Athleisure trend demands that styles be seasonal. This means that the wilder the pattern, brighter the color and color blocks are the go to for this trend.

Number 2: It has to Combine Function and Fashion

Athleisure combines two must-haves that continue to dominate casual clothing - durability and comfort. With the Athleisure trend, many of the clothes we would consider strictly “gym wear” are now work approved. Materials like spandex, polyester, and blended materials like 50/50 cotton and polyester have risen to the top of the comfort charts.

Athletic Materials

As mentioned above there are a variety of athletic materials; all of which can be tricky to print on. Keith Stevens from International Coatings shared a couple of tips to help you master athletic prints:

1. Plastisol inks are usually stretchy by nature, but adding a little bit of stretch additive can greatly improve the stretchability, especially for performance and athletic fabrics, which often contain a high percentage of Lycra spandex. Adding excessive amounts of a stretch additive, however, could reduce the opacity of the ink, so it is important to add only about 1%-5%.
2. There also are new inks on the market, such as International Coatings’ 7100 Performance Pro, which have been specifically formulated for these next-generation performance fabrics. These inks have great stretchability and allow for lower curing temperatures (275°F). The ability to cure at lower temperatures helps to control any potential dye migration issues.

Athletic Inks

Today's athletic inks far out shine the original “athletic” inks that were dull and difficult to work with. With as many materials there are to print on, there are just as many types of inks to choose from. For example:

• High opacity ink. These inks provide good bleed resistance and brilliant colors when printed in a lower mesh range, and used over a low-bleed white. These inks are made to increase the overall opacity and contain a high pigment load over general inks.
• Low-bleed plastisols. These inks are press-ready plastisol meant for printing on polyester and poly/cotton blends. These inks stand out on dark garments.
• Low-cure additives. Low Cure Additives effectively lower curing temperatures of most plastisol inks to less than 300° F (149° C). You can use this additive when printing heat-sensitive materials such as 100% polyester or non-woven polypropylene bags. It is ideal for printing athletic and synthetic fabrics that are prone to dye migration.
• Silicone inks. These inks print well on light and dark cotton, cotton/polyester blends, and 100% polyester. Unlike other types of inks, silicone inks can be ironed without re-melting the ink film. They create a very nice, supple print with the ability to stretch and regain its original shape.      

The truth is that there is no perfect ink for all athletic prints, but it is important to have a good understanding of the inks you have at your disposal when printing on athletic materials. It is also important to understand how the inks vary in printability, flashing characteristics, and opacity to name a few.

Some of these materials and material colors may require you to print an underbase for your athletic graphics. When printing vibrant colors on black or dark garments it is often necessary to print a white underbase first. This is due to the fact that many plastisol inks do not have the opacity to cover well on dark garments. White is printed first to provide a base for the colored ink to rest on. The under base is flash cured before the remaining colors are printed.

It is kind of like using a primer before adding the new color to your kitchen walls. The primer seals the surface which makes it nicer to paint on. Just as important as the ink itself, you also have to select the right screen. Selecting the right mesh for your screen can be just as tricky, but this article should help clear the air.

Choosing the right Artwork

When printing, remember to make your graphics as printer friendly as possible. This goes for all of your prints, not just athletic! And in addition to ink characteristics, you also need to be aware of the fabric type, required cure temperature, and (as always) your clients’ expectations.

In many cases, you will find athletic prints with excessive ink thicknesses on the garment. This is typically the result of overcompensation in fear of the dreaded dye migration.

When printing athletic graphics (as with any of your screen printing projects), the ultimate goal is to consistently reproduce a quality print.

Now that you know a little more about athletic materials and athletic inks, we hope that you are ready and motivated to get out there and tackle this exciting active wear trend!