How To: Soft Screen Printed T-Shirts | Soft Hand Screen Printing

[printavo]

How do you get a soft screen printed t-shirt? Can plastisol make soft screen printed t-shirts?

Whether you're a customer that wants a soft screen print, or a screen printer that wants soft hand prints, here's 3 powerful and simple tips for getting a softer screen printed t-shirt. The answer is yes, you can get soft screen printed t-shirts (even with plastisol ink) but there are a few things you should know first.

Remember! Don't take a shortcut and try to add soft hand additives and curable reducer to your ink (that's only part of it). There's more to making a softer print than altering your ink's formula.

First, let's define a couple of terms:

Hand refers to the way a shirt or print feels. "Soft hand" is a way to describe a soft print.
Plastisol is the most common type of screen printing ink. It's derived from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and can last for the lifetime of a t-shirt.
Fibrillation is when the fibers on a t-shirt show up as visible debris on the print. This is due to loose fibers on the t-shirt contaminating the ink.

Tip number 1: Print on the right type of shirt

For soft screen prints, you want a ring spun cotton shirt versus a carded open-end cotton shirt. Ring spun cotton shirts are ideal for screen printing. They retain more detail, are a better printing surface, and are softer to the touch compared to carded open-end cotton shirts.

Why are ring spun shirts better for screen printing? Cotton t-shirts are nothing more than thousands of thin cotton threads woven together. The composition of that weave – the quality of the fibers, the density of the weave, and the overall uniformity of the fabric – determines whether the t-shirt is great for screen printing (versus merely acceptable).

The "holes" created by the gaps in the shirt's woven fibers are smaller on a ring-spun shirt because the cotton is woven together tightly. Because of the tighter weave, ink is deposited higher up on the fabric. Since you don't need to push ink into the shirt, you can deposit less ink – which makes the print feel softer.

Read the full article here: https://www.printavo.com/blog/how-to-screen-print-softer-shirts