People are always looking for something to set their garments apart. Puff ink screen printing may be the perfect option for customers with an eye out for something new. It gives dimension to garments. Great for special effects.
What is Puff Ink?
Puff ink is actually not an ink, but rather it is an additive for plastisol inks. When added to the plastisol the puff additive gives screen printing designs a raised or expanded dimensional look. When the ink is heated the ink raises up and looks “puffy” in nature.
Why should you use puff ink?
Some people want that extra something special with their screen printing. Most designers of prints think in two dimensions. With puff ink you are able to work in three dimensions. A puffy appearance is a great option because it adds depth to a screen print. It works great for words. You can use it to simulate a clothing patch.
You can create a raised puff print by including puff ink into a specific area. It is perfect for outlining areas. Raised outlines look great on letters. Even if the garment is one color only. When you keep the color consistent and raise the outline it gives the look depth.
Puff ink can be added to any ink color made with plastisol. This includes support for the Pantone color matching system. You can use more than one color in a puff ink design. It does not crumble easily.
Is High Density Printing Better Than Puff Ink?
Puff ink is better than high density printing. High density printing is labor intensive which in turn raises costs. Plus you have to add many layers of ink with high density printing to get a raised look. With puff ink you only need one layer.
How Do I use puff ink?
The first consideration is mesh count. This needs to be lower. With a lower mesh count your screen has larger holes. Larger holes mean that more ink can be deposited. More ink deposit means more additive. More additive means more puff.
Ensure that your screen is clean and has good tension. Make sure the screen is treated as you would any other screen. The emulsion must be dried.
The design needs to have larger details as the puff ink does not do well with fine details. So line weights need to be at least 1pt. Puff ink only works with vector art.
Follow the instructions on the container to add the additive to the plastisol ink. Stir thoroughly. Apply the ink to the garment as you normally would.
At this point the ink does not appear differently. The magic happens when you heat the puff ink. The ink needs to reach a temperature between 300° - 330°F. If you overheat the puff ink it may collapse. You will see the ink start to expand when it achieves a temperature around 270°F.
You can use all types of direct or capillary film systems.
To wash it up you can use any conventional plastisol wash-up system.
We recommend Multi-Puff 109 Puff Concentrate.
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