Plastisol Ink vs. Water-Based Ink. What's the difference?

One of the most common questions we get here at Superior is “What is the difference between traditional plastisol and water-based ink?” We are going to break out the main differences for these two main screen printing ink types, both for feel, printability, and the overall ingredients for each. Let’s dive in and see why you’d want to choose plastisol vs water-based inks, or water-based vs plastisol!

The first and most notable difference between these two is the hand, or feel, of the ink. The printing process and chemistry of water-based is much different than plastisol. With any water-based or discharge water-based ink the pigment actually integrates or soaks into the fabric. 

Plastisol ink pigment sits on top of the fabric. This is one of the main reasons water-based ink has such a soft feel and is becoming more and more desirable for printing onto fashion blanks.  If you are looking to create soft custom t-shirts, water-based ink will give you the softest tees possible.