Unlike printing with Plastisol, Screen Printing with water based inks will provide you with a softer “vintage feeling” print. This is due to the color pigment being suspended in a “water” base which is evaporated during the curing process. Most of the color penetrates into the fabric which leaves a softer feeling print. The print will soften after the first wash and when cured correctly will last the life of the shirt.

Discharge printing accomplished using a special water based ink that actually removes the dyes from the shirt leaving the natural color fibers. This will yield an extremely soft print for your shirts. It can be used by itself, as an under base on dark shirts for plastisol screen printing, or combined with color pigments to achieve a dye discharge color. Discharge screen printing is less detailed than plastisol and exact colors are difficult to achieve, however they are great for vintage and distressed looks.

Printing Over Seams: Printing over seams can be achieved with water based and discharge screen printing, and tends to be much better than plastisol. Please expect reasonable variances in ink coverage and color due to the uneven surface.

100% Cotton: Discharge is only designed to work on 100% cotton shirts. 50/50 blend and polyester shirts will not discharge fully. Please expect some variance in colors due to the discharge process. Some garment colors are extremely difficult to discharge completely. Not all garment dyes will be able to discharge. Red, Kelly Green, Royal Blue, and Purple are a few that are notoriously difficult to discharge.