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FESPA NEWS #2 Nessan Cleary

What are the best inks to use for screen

printing?

Nessan Cleary shares the various ink choices available for screen printing.

Nessan shares the best and most suitable inks for screen printing for garments

and factors that can affect this choice include if the materials are dark blended

or light cotton.

There’s a lot of variety in screen printing, helped partly by the Perhaps the most widely used type is plastisol ink. The ink

sheer number of ink manufacturers catering to screen contains both PVC resin and plasticiser. When the ink is
printing. Not all inks are the same and the freedom to choose heated, the resin absorbs the plasticiser, turning it from a

the ink that works best for a given application or that you’re liquid ink to a solid print. This ink will work with different

most comfortable with gives screen printing a distinct substrates including cotton and blends though you may need

advantage over the digital options. Screen printing is widely specific formulations for some materials, particularly
used in many industrial processes but for this story we’re just polyester and nylon. It’s quite viscous and has a long dwell

going to consider garment printing as there is not room here time, which makes it easy to work with. It cures to a thick,

to cover all the different ways that screen printing is used. tough finish that should give good longevity to printed

garments. Most plastisol inks are supplied as RFU - ready for
For screen printing to garments there are three main classes
use - so that the ink can be used straight from the pot, and
of ink. The choice between them depends largely on the
unused ink returned to the pot to cut down on waste.
substrates you are printing to, but there are also some
differences in their handling characteristics and, of course, in

price.

November 2024 • 51