Plastisol coated clothing must be cured in an oven before it can be sold in retail locations.
Difference between plastisol and vinyl.
Plastisol ink pigment sits on top of the fabric.
The reason is the fundamental difference between these inks.
But while the difference is easy enough to read in the names how this difference impacts your screenprint takes a little more research.
To produce high quality pre coated roof sheets a system of multi layer coatings is applied to zinc coated high tensile steel strips and then oven cured to ensure maximum.
It s essentially liquid plastic.
The primary difference is that the water based ink would dye the fabric i e.
It would completely replace the fabric color with its own color.
Plastisol served printers well and created some rad designs.
Ink is one of the most used products when you are screen printing.
For a long time plastisol inks were the most common choice since water based inks were more difficult to use.
It s made up of pvc particles or other polymers suspended in plasticizer.
Water based ink versus plastisol.
Plastisol as you might imagine is plastic based.
With any water based or discharge water based ink the pigment actually integrates or soaks into the fabric.
The plastisol applied to the sheets consists of polyvinyl chloride based thermoplastic resins with short molecular chains which gives the sheets excellent resistance to uv.
The printing process and chemistry of water based is much different than plastisol.
The first and most notable difference between these two is the hand or feel of the ink.
So what is the deal with plastisol versus water based ink.
One is made of water and one is made of plastic.
Another popular use for plastisol is as a material for slush molding.
Plastisol is a plastic based ink used on apparel whereas the water based ink is a high end ink used commonly for retail printing as well as apparel.
Also because of their higher build older plastisols are more likely to chip or crack and printing over high nap fabrics or onto areas such as seams creases or contact areas on textiles can.
But this oil based ink.
Plastisol films are more likely to result in harder hand feel and also limit breathability of textiles both of which are considered less desirable.