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Waterbase or Plastisol?
There are several schools of thought on screen printing and the products used in the process. We have done extensive research and have been involved with apparel and apparel decoration since 1983. Although there are many improvements in plastisol inks over the years, the fact is they are still petroleum based products and most of the solvents used in cleaning up after them are highly toxic. In fact, many of the products used in the clean up of plastisol inks are clearly marked that “pregnant women should not stand within 50 feet of an open can of this product”: enough said.

Plastisol
Given the health risks, the petroleum content, the environment; even the good things about printing with plastisol inks (they are less expensive to print with, easier to work with and more profitable to use than water base inks), it is our choice to offer water base inks. We believe after all the pros and cons mentioned here, in the long run a water base print is better, softer and lasts longer than any plastisol print.

There will undoubtedly be screen printers who e-mail us and argue against water base printing; we receive those calls almost daily. They can argue all they want: generally speaking it’s because they don’t know how to use water based inks, or have tried and realize the learning curve is very steep. Water base screen printing is cleaner, healthier for both the environment ,as well as the people in the print shop, softer to the touch. Better. If you’re buying organic cotton shirts or other sustainable apparel, water base ink is what should be used to print your garments. Period. Why put a petroleum based product (plastisol ink) on an organic cotton (or other sustainable) shirt? It’s like buying a Prius and having fuel injection put into it! So people can argue all they want: we are committed to water base ink printing.

Waterbase
The truth be told, there is no ink or decorating product that is 100% environmentally responsible; none. However, water base printing is the closest. We continue to look for new products, often trying out new and (supposedly) better options: occasionally we find something better than we’re currently using and move forward. Our vendors always come to us for new products (if they think they’re good ones) because we have a reputation for being a clean, responsible and savvy company (and they know we’ll try new products!).

So the choice is yours. If you want to use use our printing services, we’ll give you a quote. If you want to use another printer, we’ll ship our goods to them for you. If you’re a printer who wants to learn about water base printing, we’re happy to share our process with you.