Water based inks, another look
We are presently sampling a new range of waterbased inks, we are always looking for the ink that does everything, the ink that uses no solvents or plastics, no hazard signs on the tin. It seems that the UK and America committed almost entirely to plastic inks and their developement in recent times. It looks to us like some of the best waterbased products are coming from other parts of the globe. We are testing the products at the moment and it does look promising, we feel discharge T-shirt printing on dark shirts is really only suitable for larger orders, and that discharged reds we have come across so far are not permenant enough or bright enough for some jobs. Opaque waterbased inks with good flexability, that will not dry in fine mesh screens is what we want, if these inks really do tick all the boxes we will seriously consider converting all our screen printing jobs to waterbased ink. It is a difficult transition for us to make, some of our printing jobs go back so many years, it is hard to convince some people to try a new product when they are happy with the one they have. There is also the question of choice, some of our customers have requested plastic ink specifically, because they want to attain a certain look. The change to pthalate free inks is seemless and goes unnoticed, we hope that an almost entirely waterbased print shop is just around the corner. Then perhaps we can make a start on the small orders department and our cad cut materials!
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