Inks

Inks 

Athletic Gloss
Durable plastisol for nylon athletic uniforms
General Purpose
Easy-to-print, light and medium colored garments
High Opacity
Direct print on dark garments
Mixing – PANTONE
High-opacity for color matching
Process Colors
Extremenly accurate, four color process
Fabric – Patch
For printing patches resistant to industrial washing’s

White Plastisols

Bright Cotton White PLUE-1027)
Bright Cotton White is Union’s newest white ink for 100% cotton garments. Its versatility makes it a natural choice for use as an under-base, stand-alone, or highlight white. Bright Cotton White provides excellent opacity, a pure white appearance, and a smooth surface to print over. Its easy printing viscosity ensures that it will print through meshes ranging in size from 86 – 305 (32 – 120 metric). It flash cures quickly with no after flash tack when used as an under-base on dark garments.

Diamond White (PLHT-1070)
Diamond White plastisol is Union’s premium, high-opacity, low-bleed white. Diamond White is formulated to be an extremely bright white exhibiting high opacity, easy print ability through fine meshes up to 196 (76 metric), and excellent bleed resistance on polyester blended fabrics. Diamond White retains a creamy viscosity during storage, is ready to use straight from the container, and is designed for both manual and automatic printing.

Polyester White (POLY-1050)
Polyester White is Union’s ultimate high-opacity, low-bleed white formulated to help fight dye migration on the 100% polyester athletic uniforms or other synthetic substrates prone to dye migration. It provides excellent printing characteristics for both manual and automatic printing.

Beckmar Low Bleed White (LB-1000)
Beckmar’s own version of 100% cotton White LB-1000 is an economical, low-bleed, high opacity white. Works well with 100-160 mesh.  Can be used well as a stand alone white or as an under-base for dark colored garments.


 General Purpose Inks Colors

Ultrasoft Plue 

A versatile, easy-to-print, direct print and transfer ink.

Applications

  • Light and medium-colored shirts
  • Hot-split and cold-peel transfers
Features

  • A versatile, easy printing ink
  • Over 50 standard colors
  • Soft hand prints

General Information: Ultrasoft inks are versatile, lead-free, plastisol inks formulated for direct printing and heat transfer manufacturing. They have good coverage on light and medium-colored garments. When printing on dark fabrics, a white under-base is recommended. Ultrasoft’s new HS (high speed) formulation helps eliminate press stoppages due to build-up on the backs of screens.


High Opacity

Maxopake Plastisol (PADM)

High-opacity, direct print plastisol

Applications

  • Dark garments
  • Direct printing
  • 100% cotton or cotton / polyester
Features

  • Very high opacity
  • Easy to print
  • Low-bleed formulations

General Information: Maxopake inks are the most opaque plastisol colors available. Even the neon colors are bright and highly opaque. Maxopake inks are recommended for direct manual or machine printing on black and dark colored garments. When printing on whites and light-colored fabrics it is recommended to add the appropriate extender base for economy.


Mixing – PANTONE

Mixopake Plastisol (MIXO)

A versatile, high-opacity ink for color matching or all-around printing

Applications

  • For black, colored, or white fabric
  • For accurate color matching
Features

  • Extremely opaque prints
  • PANTONE® approved

General information: Union’s Mixopake inks will enable you to create any color in the PANTONE® Matching System and all Union Ink standard colors when printed on black, colored, or light fabrics. Mixopake inks are also an excellent choice for standard colors when color matching is not required. Mixopake inks are balanced, ready-for-use plastisols – not concentrated pigments.


Athletic Gloss

Athletic Gloss (PATH)

Durable plastisol for nylon athletic uniforms

Applications

  • Athletic uniforms
  • Nylon mesh jerseys
  • Lycra / Spandex and Supplex nylon
Features

  • Extremely durable
  • High opacity
  • Glossy finish

General Information: Athletic Gloss plastisol inks provide glossy, opaque prints with excellent elasticity. Athletic Gloss inks are recommended for printing large numbers, letters, and designs with thick ink deposits on cotton and cotton/ply athletic garments as well as nylon mesh jerseys. Athletic Gloss, when combined with Uni-stretch Additive is excellent for printing on many stretchy fabrics used in active-wear (bathing suits, cycling suits, dance-wear, etc …) such as Lycra / Spandex where great elasticity and toughness is required. Athletic Gloss is also the best choice for printing on nylon jackets with the addition of Nylobond Additive.


Process Colors

Tru-Tone Plastisol (PRPL)

For extremely accurate and consistent process color printing

Applications

  • Four color process printing
  • Wet-on-wet direct printing
  • White garments
Features

  • Ready-to-print accurate colors
  • Minimal dot gain and build-up
  • Extremely soft hand

General Information: Union’s Tru-Tone (PRPL) plastisol inks are the premier inks for process color printing textiles. Tru-Tone inks have extremely accurate, consistent colors, very low dot gain, and are ready to print right out of the container.


Fabric – Patch

Fabric Patch Solvent-Based Ink (PACH)

Ink for printing patches to resist industrial washings

Applications

  • Polyester and other textiles
  • Industrial uniforms and patches
Features

  • Withstands industrial washings
  • May be dry-cleaned

General Information: Fabric Patch is a two-part textile ink formulated for the ultimate in wash-ability and dry-cleaning. Recommended for direct printing on polyester and other textiles. Specifically designed for special thermal path fabrics. These are fabrics with a special heat sensitive adhesive coated on the reverse side. They were originally designed to allow screen printing to replace embroidered logos and names on uniforms, jackets, etc … The inks are designed to withstand 52 industrial wash cycles, which represents on year’s use.


 SOFT-HAND PRINTING

FASHION SOFT OR CHINO

Just as soft as water-based inks. You can’t feel any ink after one washing! These base additives are the plastisol answer to soft hand printing.

DETAIL

Inks mixed with soft-hand additives are able to hold the same amount of detail as their standard pantone counterparts.

PRINT-ABILITY

Since the ink is still plastisol, these are ideal for printing soft-hand in the majority of screen print shops.

OPACITY

Pantone colors mixed with a soft hand base are more transparent than regular plastisol formula colors. They tend to have a washed out look when printed over white under-bases. For this reason they are not recommended for use on dark garments, but are really geared for white and light colors of shirts. Soft hand bases are not visible on dark garments.

PANTONE MATCHING

Because the inks are more translucent once the base is mixed in, the pantone colors may not print exactly, though close.


WATER-BASED

SOFTNESS

The chemical make up of this ink lends itself to a less-like-plastic softer print.

DETAIL

This ink has a tendency to dry in small design areas, so there is a bit of loss in any detail area or fine halftone.

PRINT-ABILITY

The curing time is slower and the ink has a tendency to dry at the edges of the stencils. More manpower is needed on press to maintain consistency in print. Expect a higher rate of spoilage.

OPACITY

This ink is more transparent than regular plastisol and does not print well on white underbases, nor do they appear on dark garments. Stick to water-based ink on white or light colors.

PANTONE MATCHING

There is no pan-tone matching with water-based ink. water-based inks have a tendency to print lighter than their PMS counterpart.


DISCHARGE INK’S

SOFTNESS

Discharge ink is the water-based ink for dark garments. It is considerably softer than any plastisol print requiring an under-base. Discharge ink utilizes an activator that bleaches the dye out of the t-shirt and deposits the pigment of the ink.

DETAIL

Since it is a water-base ink, avoid designing with detail and fine halftones.

PRINTABILITY

The curing time is slower and the ink has a tendency to dry at the edges of the stencils. More manpower is needed on press to maintain consistency in print. Expect a higher rate of spoilage. Rich colors such as red, turquoise, purple, and royal discharge very unpredictably. The inks are often contaminated by the dye in the shirt. Black garments also discharge very unpredictably.

OPACITY

Discharge colors can appear quite vibrant, although this ink has a look that differs from plastisol. Be sure to discuss the variables that affect the final print with your customer service rep.

PANTONE MATCHING

The number of variables that affect the ink deters us from being able to guarantee pantone matching with discharge inks. Discharge colors tend to print 1-2 shades lighter than the called out pms color.


 SPECIALTY SCREEN PRINTING

 MIXED MEDIA

So many of these inks can be mixed at matched for some really impressive effects. Our graphic designers can help you come up with some really unique prints. Some of our favorites include faux applique, discharge foil distress, and faux leather.