Chapter 27
Jonathan’s Top Picks For Plastisol Screenprinting Inks
These are my top 6 brand picks for plastisol inks for screen printing tee shirts and other textiles. These inks will all perform very well on 100% cotton and 50/50 poly cotton blends. For 100% polyester please check with each brand for their polyester specific inks.
Wilflex - This ink manufacturer is owned by PolyOne. The main corporate office is in Ohio. Wilflex provides a variety of plastisol inks for textile printing, including athletic, bases and additives, color mixing systems, transfer, process inks, automated mixing and dispensing systems, and white inks. They also offer water based inks as well.
This ink is made and distributed in the continental US with factories and distributors worldwide. Their complete line of textile inks also includes phthalate and PVC free plastisol inks. They are readily available from several dealers here in the US.
Wilflex plastisol inks are excellent. I have used these extensively during my career at many different shops. The plastisol inks are smooth, creamy, and thick but not too thick to work with on a variety of mesh counts. Generally, a more open mesh count is best. Their high opacity inks work very well and may often be printed without an under base. These inks will be very consistent and the viscosity will also be very similar from color to color. You can expect the consistency of each bucket of ink to be very much the same.
There is one exception to their inks for me and that is the Tiger white. I really do not like the Tiger white although it does seem to perform very well in many applications. So, with Wilflex I will use all their colors including black but I pass on the Tiger white whenever possible.
Overall, an excellent plastisol ink I recommend very highly.
Excalibur - This ink manufacturer is owned by Lancer Group of Canada. Excalibur provides a variety of plastisol inks for textile printing, including athletic, bases and additives, color mixing, transfer, process inks, mixing systems, and white inks. They also offer water based inks as well. Lancer Group manufactures everything from textile inks to screen printing supplies. They also make a wide range of specialty plastisol inks.
This ink is made and distributed in Canada with distributors worldwide. Their complete line of textile inks also includes phthalate and PVC free plastisol inks. They are available from a number of dealers here in the US but may be limited in supply and stock. These inks are also available from dealers in Canada but importing shipping costs make it wiser to find a dealer who has stock in the States. Sometimes it can be difficult to locate what you need and multiple dealers of this ink may be necessary to keep the stock of your most used colors at hand.
Excalibur plastisol inks are in general excellent. They make several high opacity inks which may be used without under basing. This is another very consistent ink maker in that the thickness will be very much the same from color to color. These inks are also smooth, creamy, and thick while retaining the ability to print through a variety of mesh counts. Generally, a more open mesh count is best. Excalibur makes a line of metallic “glitter” inks which easily pass through a 110 mesh. This is an excellent glitter effect and in fact the only glitter inks I use. Coating and burning screens for standard glitter inks that go on 20 or 30 mesh counts is difficult and uses a lot of emulsion. With the Excalibur metallic you can get a very cool glitter effect without having to use odd mesh count with specific exposure times. These metallic glitter inks from Lancer Group also cover every well on black. There are exceptions depending on the color but the gold and silver kick some black tee butt for sure. Again, this is another ink maker where I do not prefer their white inks. Arctic white is a great white ink and it claims to have a soft hand feel but I think this really depends on how the ink is printed. So here again I love all their colors including those that are specialty inks and black but for white I will pass wherever possible.
Overall, an excellent plastisol ink I recommend very highly.
Triangle - This is an American ink made right here in the good old USA. Triangle manufactures their products in New Jersey and have a full service distribution center in San Diego, CA. Triangle provides a variety of plastisol inks for textile printing, including athletic, nylobond, bases and additives, colors, and white inks.
These inks are readily available in the continental US. You can find this ink at any number of vendors in the continental US. Their inks are also available worldwide in places such as Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Pakistan, Jordan, Mexico, and Dominican Republic.
Triangle inks make a great variety of colors and white inks along with a compliment of black inks. They too make a few high opacity inks but these would need to be tested for printing without an under base. Their inks will vary greatly depending on color and purpose.
Some of their inks may be every creamy, smooth, and thick while others are thinner. Mixing these inks before usage is critical as plasticizer seems to come out of solution often. Many of their inks will easily pass through 110 all the way up to 160 mesh counts due to their thinner consistency. As a smaller ink maker here in the States the formula can vary over time causing batch inconsistencies throughout the year. This is especially true of their Phoenix white plastisol ink which I like very much. The 1701 Sta True Phoenix white is hands down my choice for white ink. Particularly when dealing with white on black or other dark garments. This white ink even with batch issues will outperform most other white inks on the market today. So, with Triangle I will use their Phoenix white mostly while deferring to other brands for colors. However, I would not use this white ink for under basing. It is too thick and too difficult to print through higher mesh counts.
Overall, an excellent plastisol ink I recommend very highly. But do testing with the colors to see how each performs in your printing application.
Union Ink - Union is owned and operated by Rutland Plastic Technologies AKA Rutland Ink or Rutland Holdings. Union offers a variety of inks for textile printing, including bases and additives, nylobond, athletic inks, process inks, reflective inks, Pantone color mixing, mixing systems, transfer, and white inks. They also offer specialty inks as well as a line of water based inks and solvent based inks.
Union ink is also located in New Jersey and these inks are readily available in the continental US. Their inks are also available worldwide.
Union makes a great variety of colors and white inks along with a compliment of black inks. Their inks will vary greatly depending on color and purpose. Some of their inks may be every creamy, smooth while others are thinner, clumpy, and even runny at times. Mixing these inks before usage is critical as plasticizer seems to come out of solution often. Many of their inks will easily pass through 110 all the way up to 200 mesh counts due to their thinner consistency. I have found that I often use higher mesh counts with Union inks as many do tend to be on the thin side. These inks may also have different odors as they are cured through the belt dryer. Most standard plastisol inks smell little when curing properly. But as their range of ink varies o greatly so does the characteristics of each ink. I have never used their white inks extensively as I have passed them up for inks, I know much better. They do have some high opacity low bleed white inks like EZ Print White and Diamond White that would be worth testing if you are interested.
In general, the quality of these inks is very high even though they may vary in their different purposes. I would recommend testing with quarts before investing in gallons to be sure you like the colors, performance, and the consistency.
Rutland Ink - Often called Rutland Plastic Technologies AKA Rutland Holdings. Rutland offers a variety of inks for textile printing, including bases and additives, process inks, multiple mixing systems, and white inks. Rutland has a huge offering of white inks. They also offer a line of metallic powders that mix into a clear base for creating metallic and specialty glitters with wash resistance. They also have lines of phthalate and PVC free plastisol inks.
Rutland Ink is in North Carolina and these inks are readily available in the continental US. Their inks are also available worldwide.
Rutland produces a decent variety of colors with a few mixing systems and a huge selection of white inks along with a compliment of black inks. Their inks will vary greatly depending on color and purpose. Some of their inks may be every creamy, smooth while others are thinner, clumpy, and even runny at times. Mixing these inks before usage is critical as plasticizer may come out of solution often. Many of their inks will easily pass through 110 all the way up to 230 mesh counts due to their thinner consistency. Again, here I would tend to use higher mesh counts with these thinner inks. This is the type of ink that will fall off the ink scoop in a similar way to many Union colors. Mixing these inks before usage is critical as plasticizer seems to come out of solution often. These inks may emit a small odor as well. Most standard plastisol inks smell little when curing properly. Since this is the parent company of Union Ink, I am assuming the formulas may be similar with focuses on different specialties. They offer a massive line of white plastisol inks including Chino White, Street Fighter White, Fast Cotton White and Dyno White.
In general, the quality of these inks is very high even though they may vary greatly in their different purposes. I would recommend testing with quarts before investing in gallons to be sure you like the colors, performance, and the consistency.