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Setting up your press for water based printing shouldn’t be too hard, as the process isn’t too terribly different from printing with plastisol ink. The devil is in the details though. You’ll need to make some adjustments to your supplies, off contact and tilt, and overall setup to accommodate for the minor differences in the […]

Screen printing on non-cotton fibers is difficult no matter what kind of ink you’re using. But with water based ink it gets particularly tricky. Here are a few non-cotton garment types you might encounter and how best to approach them with water based printing. Screen Printing on Tri-Blends: A tri-blend garment will act more like […]

Okay. You’re convinced. Water based ink is softer and easier to print with and allows for more eco-friendly cleanup and habits. Not to mention the varied printing possibilities newer HSA water based inks provide printers for learning the procedure of how to sell water based prints. Now, how do you go about selling water based […]

Starting water based printing isn’t as hard as you think. Yes, really. “I’ve been printing with water based inks since 2008 and have helped hundreds of printers successfully transition. If you step into it the right way, water based screen printing can actually be easier and save you more time and money than printing plastisol. […]

Garment selection is much more important when printing with water based ink, than in plastisol printing. Since water based inks are traditionally a little thinner, they do not cover fabric as well as a thicker ink, like plastisol, does. When you are printing with high quality garments, like 100% combed and ring-spun cotton, this won’t […]

Imagine this: You’re a water based only screen printing shop. A customer walks in through the door, carrying cash in hand and says he wants to order 600 two color back print t-shirts. You say sure, give him your prices, and ask him what kind of shirts he wants to print on. He says he […]

Dustin Burnett started the retail store, Nothing Too Fancy, only three and a half years ago. Now the largest retail and contract print shop in Knoxville, his was the first boutique t-shirt store to hit the city. “We typically do vintage style t-shirts,” Dustin said. “Our retail store, without any intentions, has turned into a […]

“We’ve been printing with water based ink for a year and our printers love it, just because of the ease. The softness of the ink in particular, especially with discharge. It’s easy to clean up – no mess, and it washes up with water. We have one full time printer, now when he gets plastisol […]

I learned how to print using plastisol on an old beat up press I bought off Craigslist. A common beginning for most screen printers. The first paid job I did was for a very large and well-known fitness brand – 2,500 white hand towels. In my haste and inexperience, I printed them with plastisol. Can […]

Designing for water based printing isn’t that much different from plastisol printing, but there are some minor changes that need to be addressed in order to get the best out of your artwork. The biggest consideration being the number and frequency (or infrequency) of your flashes during the printing process. With plastisol ink, most people […]

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Plastisol inks have dominated the United States market for the last few decades. So it’s easy to forget that the history of water based inks were actually the first inks used in screen printing. The History of Water Based Ink While the art and industry of screen printing was forming in the early to mid-1900’s, […]

Well folks, here we are for another rousing edition of automatic printing tips and tricks. The topic this time: water based ink. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t always been my favorite medium. My very first print way back in 1986 was done with water based ink, and turned out to be a huge failure. Looking […]