Contract Discharge Printing

Contract Discharge Printing

Are you a fan of screen printing, but you wish there was a way to get a softer hand to your prints?  Well, luckily for you, there is such a way to get those ‘barely there’ graphics onto your custom garments!  You can jump into contract discharge printing and feel the difference immediately.  Contract discharge printing uses water based inks instead of the typical plastisol inks, which leaves a different, softer feeling on the garment that many people love.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me explain how the inks work differently.  With plastisol inks, there is virtually no solvent and adequate heat is required to cure and set the ink.  Water based inks contain solvents, often times including water, which must be evaporated to set the print.  Since water based inks are susceptible to drying out, they cannot be reused like plastisol inks and are more expensive.  The benefit, however, is that the dye can penetrate deeper into the fabric and deposit the color while producing that softer touch that is so desirable.  Plastisol inks only remain on the surface and become rigid after curing.

Contract discharge printing is just an extension of water based ink screen printing where a discharge agent has been added to the ink.  Discharge printing works by removing the preexisting color from the garment via the discharge agent.  If you tint the ink containing the discharge agent, you can simultaneously take out the old color and input your own new color!  So, in the battle of plastisol inks versus water based and discharge inks, there is not clear winner.  It all depends on your customization needs and aspirations.  If you work with us at AMBRO Manufacturing, you won’t have to choose because we can offer you both!  You can contact us to place and order, or to find out more about our company, by email or by calling us at (908) 806-8337.

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Discharge Screen Printing

Discharge Screen Printing

So let’s talk screen printing.  Firstly, what is it?  Screen printing, at a glance, is applying ink to the surface of a garment through silk screens.  The screens have designs etched out in an emulsion that covers the holes in the mesh.  Once all the layers of the design have been applied, the garment can be dried and it is ready to hit the market.  If you’ve been researching around, you might have heard about discharge screen printing.  You may be wondering what that might be and how it is different than other screen printing.

Discharge Screen Printing

Originally, practically all screen printing was done with plastisol inks.  Plastisol inks are made from PVC and contain virtually no solvent, which means that they won’t dry up when left exposed to the air.  They are user-friendly inks that can be re-used over and over again with no degradation in quality.  For some, however, the ‘hand’ that plastisol inks leave behind is unappealing.  Also prints printed with plastisol inks cannot be ironed as it will re-melt the ink.  Luckily, screen printing with plastisol inks isn’t the only option around anymore.  With discharge screen printing, you can get a whole new look for you custom goods.

Discharge screen printing is a method of printing that uses water-based inks to create the image.  The ink is specially formulated to remove the existing color in the garment, the ‘discharge’ step, and then apply a new color in its place.  This method leaves behind a very soft ‘hand’ which many people like for their prints.  If you are interested in having your own custom discharge screen printing projects done, I urge you to come visit us at AMBRO Manufacturing.  You can contact us to place an order, or to find out more about our company and services, by email or by calling us at (908) 806-8337.

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