Impressions - June/July 2019 - 26

When printing with waterbased inks, it's important to
understand the system you
want to use. Abide by your kit's
rules and remember that no
two systems are alike.

angles, pressures and flood thicknesses with each ink or kit. Document everything so that you know what to try or avoid next time.
Another important nuance about water-based printing is the variation in effects between garment types. Different blends will yield
different results; sometimes, the only way to figure out what will
work is to try different garments.
For guaranteed success on your first run, get a gallon of discharge
super white and some activator and search the garment manufacturer's discharge rating. Pick the one with an "A" rating; learning to
print with water-based inks on such garments will allow you to discharge anything you want.
No one has definitively mastered water-based printing, but there's
beauty in the trial-and-error method of learning how to do it. Once
you've adopted this mindset, prepare to have fun exploring this rewarding printing process. 
Nathan Foster has been in the screen-printing industry for nearly 20 years.
He has worked in every aspect of screen printing, from production to sales.
He is now the vice president of production at Fayetteville, Arkansas-based
B-Unlimited, where he has led a transition from using plastisol to nearly all
water-based ink. For more information or to comment on this article, email

lack of opacity, color matching can be difficult. However, this ink
type is easy to use on the right garments.
Medium-Solids: These inks have medium opacity and can be printed
directly on some dark garments. A base is required with discharge or
high-solids white inks to print on navy, black or any truly dark color.
When running a job, be sure to warm platens, double-stroke and
flash after every couple of colors. This system has more opacity than
discharge and low-solids ink types, but not as much as HSA inks.
Two colors - and as many as three, depending on the art style -
typically can be printed wet-on-wet. Medium-solids inks have better
screen time than HSA inks, but not as good as low-solids varieties.
Wet-on-Dry, Wet-on-Wet Systems: These inks still are being
developed and can be challenging. They rely on hot pallets for weton-wet printing and are suited for smaller presses, so up to three
colors can be printed before flashing again. These inks are harder
to master because of small print-time windows. However, as these
systems are perfected, they will have an industry-changing capacity.
The most important thing to remember is that none of the aforementioned inks print like plastisol. Experiment in adjusting squeegee

Nathan at nathan.foster@b-unlimited.com.

When printing with water-based
inks, flood the front of the screen,
as it helps save time and keeps the
mesh loaded with ink.

More Water-Based Printing Tips
1. Determine Your Goals: How does your shop want to work with water-based inks? Do you eventually want to make a complete transition? Are you catering to customer needs? Are you
trying this as a hobby?
2. Prepare for Problems: Save some frustration and don't plan any jobs or deliverables until you've
tried and implemented this process, and know that you can successfully print with water-based inks.
3. Document Everything: When experimenting, establish processes and document everything so
that you can retrace your steps and solve problems, if needed. If a job fails but you don't
remember what you did, you won't know what to adjust for future success.
4. Make Friends with Your Vendors: Those who supply your equipment have a vested interest in
your success, so lean on them as a resource. Don't be afraid to ask for samples and advice.
5. Start with Something Easy: Set yourself up for success early in the process so that enthusiasm builds as you keep printing.

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Impressions - June/July 2019

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