We use Permaset water-based inks for most of our printing work. The majority of screen printers use plastisol inks, these contain PVC and phthalates which are harmful to the environment. We don't use 'water‑based' discharge inks either as these inks contain chemicals to bleach or remove the original colour from the garments.
Permaset inks contain no toxic chemicals and are also free from lead and other heavy metals. They do not contain ozone-depleting chemicals such as CFCs and HCFCs aromatic hydrocarbons or any volatile solvents, and as the inks are water-based the screens can be cleaned with water rather than solvents. The water-based ink we use have passed the Oekotex Class 1 standard so they are safe to use on babies clothes.
When printed on light coloured garments Permaset inks feel extremely soft. On darker garments we use the Permaset Supercover range of inks that enable us to print bright colours without the need for an underbase. These inks contain a lot of pigment so these inks can be felt on the t-shirt, but not to the same extent as plastisol ink. After printing, the ink is cured in a tunnel dryer. This evaporates the water from the ink allowing the polymer to bind the pigment to the fabric so the t-shirts can be washed.
