Screen printing water based discharge vs plastisol inks, what's the difference?

Screen Printing with traditional plastisol inks has been the industry standard for the last few decades.
Plastisol is great for many different reasons such as ease of use, a wide variety of additives/special effects, it's vibrancy & predictability! It also has its downsides of being made of PVC particles which result in thicker prints that sit on top of the fibers of your shirt. We often hear the term "Sweat Patch", it can create an impenetrable plastic surface that doesn't let moisture or air through it. Hence the sweat patch nickname.
Water based inks have been getting more & more traction in the last few years for their soft hand feel & breathability. Whether it's standard or discharge activated water based ink, the ink is absorbed into the fabric which allows moisture & airflow to move through the fabric.
Today's we've prepared a test breathability test to show you exactly the differences between each inks. This doesn't mean one is better than the other one. It simply to shed some light on the differences of both.
We've also have more in dept results of clear discharge ink on different types of substrates. 100% cotton, 50/50 opaque & heather blend, tri-blends & fleece hoodies with different face yarns.
Timecodes
0:00 - Intro
0:16 - Breathability test
2:33 - On Press talking about different substrates.
4:45 - Broll Clear discharge Test
5:25 - Clear Discharge Results
To learn more about these processes feel free to reach out! :)
www.printeez.com
[e-mail]
1-855-530-0032

[@RichardThompsonCA]

Thanks for this video. There's not a lot of info out there about discharge, especially water based, compared to plastisol printing, which is everywhere. I personally don't like plastisol much, but that's only because I've tried it 😂

[@Printeez]

Thanks for the comment! :)
Water based inks are amazing! The soft hand & breathability are unbeatable. That's why all major brands use mostly water based inks.
If you'd like to get your hands wet & try water based inks. I suggest starting with a simple 1 color black design. Speedball inks are great and you can order them of amazon easily. :)
Make sure your screen is well exposed is key! Here's a great video that talks about getting started with water based inks. czcams.com/video/PlrMRJIp-Lw/video.html
I hope this shed some light on where to start.
Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
Cheers!

[@devpac7861]

reals this was a good video, been looking for more info on discharge printing..ppl been asking for prints like on the funko pop tshirts and I was boggled how it wasn't a plastisol print, took a couple searches to find out it was called discharge printing...but ur right it's so hard to find info on it other than drg

[@myanntrannn]

Thanks for the video. Do you add the glue additive in the discharge mix, how can we prevent color fading after washing.. ?

[@Printeez]

We typically add 4% discharge additive to our inks so that our colors POP & maintain a good color vibrancy after washing.
Depending on how the client will washes his clothes, discharge inks will always tend to "fade" with every wash since you've essentially re-dyed the fibers of the shirt. With every wash the fibers get worn down so the vibrancy diminishes with every wash as well.
I hope this answers your question!