Discuss the different plastisol screen printing inks and curing methods on the market. Share tips on getting the best results with the different ink manufacturers.
You will need a water based emulsion for discharge inks. A 230 mesh can be used but the inks will dry faster in the screen. We'll only use a 230 if we have to discharge a halftone...it's a pain in the *ss sometimes. I wouldn't recommend a flash unit for discharge, especially if you're going to use it with pigments. The discharge needs to be cured for 2.5 to 3 minutes at anywhere from 300 to 350 degrees (depending on what the manufacturer suggests). You'll need to make sure that all moisture has evaporated from the ink in order for it to set properly. If there's any moisture left, the pigments will bleed. Lots of airflow is needed to get it to evaporate.
how about water base inks.....what im trying to do is get a vintage or antique look to the print and I dont think plastisol will do it the way I want..not really sure how to go about it to be honest.what inks are availible to get a vintage look ?
Discharge with pigments will give you the vintage look you want. You can do discharge with a flash, it just will be less easy. Discharges need airflow to work fast, but i've done it in a kitchen oven, and they turned out great.
I've done ~20 shirts with Matsui discharge on QX-1 emulsion. When I went to wash it out, the entire layer of emulsion on the squeegee side was gone, I wouldn't have gotten many more shirts out of it..
try out Wilflex's Plascharge. It's a Plastisol/Discharge hybrid. You can use a plastisol ink to add the color.
what is this....an additive ?
i would like a soft hand as much as possible ..and i know with plastisol the hand isnt as soft as I would like to achieve.
what type of emulsion would be recommended for waterbased or discharge inks?
The Plascharge is a base that you add plastisol ink and discharge activator to. You add 50% Plascharge and 50% plastisol (by weight) and then add in about 6-10% of the discharge activator. It comes out nice and soft. Maybe not quite as soft as Matsui discharge and pigments though.
We've been using a water resistant dual cure emulsion by Ulano and really like it. For some reason I can't remember right now what it's called though (long day). I'll check tomorrow though.
Emulsion for discharge printing 
