Ink

[BartJY]

Hi Folks,

What's a good source for water based ink?

Thanks
Bart

[Colin]

What kind of dryer do you have?  Oven length?

Do you have much experience with printing waterbased inks?

Also, do you mean traditional waterbase or high solids waterbase inks?

Where are you located so we can help point you towards a good local distributor?

[BartJY]

I have a small basement shop. I built my own four color printing press. I have a few ideas for a design and am trying to produce them. I plan on air drying the prints, and maybe running them through the cloths dryer. Other than what I used in a class for printing on paper, I have no experience of using ink on fabric. I do not know the difference between traditional or high solids water based ink. I live about 40 minutes west of Richmond VA.

I'm starting to think I don't know enough to be on this forum.

Bart

[Colin]

Naaaw, we'll just say you are very much a newbie to this industry.

All waterbase inks will work for you if you are printing on light garments.  What you will need to add to your inks, is an AIR DRY CATALYST.  All ink manufacturers have one.

Rutland, Wilflex, Ryonet, ICC, , Magna, Virus, Matsui, Permaset, are all good ink companies.  If you want to print on dark shirts, thats where the high solid waterbase inks come into play.  Same general idea, but you will need a way to dry the ink in between printing colors.

I would look for a good distributor who can give you some time on the phone to walk you through the products they offer and get you started on the right track.  Have you start building a relationship with them.

Anyone near Virginia that can point him in the right direction of a good distributor?

[rusty]

I'm starting to think I don't know enough to be on this forum.

Bart

Yeah, I say this almost every day on this forum. And I assume a bunch of us also may have started out in a basement. I know I did. If you’re building stuff and wanting to learn it’s all good. It’s a great place to learn.

[Atownsend]

Texsource in NC started carrying matsui inks finally. They are a 1 day ship to us in Richmond. And there is always Nazdar. They have always been helpful for finding the right inks / additives. I don’t know about air dry additives, but I do remember in my early days making extensive use of a heat gun with speedball waterbased ink. If you’re ever in Richmond, PM me for a shop tour.

[numbercruncher]

Atownsend - that's a great post - all are welcome.

[BartJY]

Texsource in NC started carrying matsui inks finally. They are a 1 day ship to us in Richmond. And there is always Nazdar. They have always been helpful for finding the right inks / additives. I don’t know about air dry additives, but I do remember in my early days making extensive use of a heat gun with speedball waterbased ink. If you’re ever in Richmond, PM me for a shop tour.

Thanks for the offer. I'll keep that in mind.

To everyone else, thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Bart

[screenprintdirect]

I'm using CCI's T-charge water based inks, loving it so far!

[Sbrem]

I have a small basement shop. I built my own four color printing press. I have a few ideas for a design and am trying to produce them. I plan on air drying the prints, and maybe running them through the cloths dryer. Other than what I used in a class for printing on paper, I have no experience of using ink on fabric. I do not know the difference between traditional or high solids water based ink. I live about 40 minutes west of Richmond VA.

I'm starting to think I don't know enough to be on this forum.

Bart

No, Bart, you are in exactly the correct forum. Even us old guys still ask for help, and this is the place to get answers that actually work.

Steve

[n_meza13]

check out https://www.ccidom.com/