Screen printing on clothing made in Bangladesh

Technically a rotary press runs a fixed number of stations, commonly six to twelve, and each colour including an underbase occupies one. In practice the limit is commercial rather than mechanical: every colour adds a screen, a set-up and a pass, so the price per piece climbs steadily. Most commercial designs sit between one and four colours for that reason, and designers who understand the process get bold results within that limit by using the garment colour as part of the design. If your artwork is photographic or has gradients, screen printing is usually the wrong method: simulated process printing can do it, but the set-up cost only makes sense at volume, and digital printing will look better on a smaller run. Send the artwork and we will tell you honestly which method suits it.

A correctly cured print will outlast the garment in normal domestic washing, which is why screen printing remains the standard for retail. Durability depends on three things: ink deposit, curing and fabric. Under-cured plastisol is the usual cause of cracking, because the ink never fully fuses; too heavy a deposit can crack as the fabric stretches; and printing across a seam or a rib puts the print under uneven tension. Ask for the approved strike-off to be wash-tested before bulk, for dryer temperature to be monitored through production, and for prints to be checked again at final inspection after a wash test on sample pieces. If your garment will be industrially laundered, such as workwear, tell us at the quotation stage, because that changes the ink and curing specification and needs its own test. Ask for the wash-test result with the strike-off approval.

Yes, with the right ink and a lower cure. The problem with polyester is dye migration: the disperse dye in the fabric turns to gas at normal plastisol curing temperatures and moves into the ink, so a white print on a red polyester shirt slowly turns pink. The answer is a low-bleed or blocker ink, which resists migration, combined with curing at the lower end of the ink’s range for longer, and a grey or blocker underbase on the strongest colours. Water-based inks are more difficult on polyester because they need heat to cure and do not block migration, so we would normally steer a polyester programme to plastisol low-bleed, DTF or, for all-over designs on white polyester, sublimation. On blends the risk rises with polyester content. Whichever route, have the strike-off made on the bulk fabric and wash-tested before bulk is committed, because migration shows up after washing and heat, not on the press.

An underbase is a first layer of ink, usually white or grey, printed under the design colours so they sit on a neutral ground instead of on the garment colour. It is needed whenever a light or bright ink goes on a dark garment: without it the colour is dull and the fabric shows through, because most inks are not fully opaque. It costs one extra screen and one extra pass, and on the press it is flash-cured before the colours go on top. Two consequences matter to a buyer. The hand-feel is heavier, since the design now has two layers of ink, which is the main reason a dark hoodie print feels thicker than the same design on a white tee. And the artwork needs a choke, a slightly smaller underbase shape so no white edge peeps out, which is done at separation. On light garments an underbase is unnecessary and we leave it out.

Screen printing is a decoration method that pushes ink through a fine mesh screen onto the garment, with one screen for each colour in the design. The artwork is separated into its colours, a screen is made for each, and ink is pulled through the mesh with a squeegee on the press; the print is then heat-cured so the ink bonds to the fabric. Because every colour needs its own screen, set-up and pass, cost is driven by the number of colours and print positions rather than by print size. That makes it the cheapest and most durable method for bold designs in one to four colours at volume, and the wrong one for photographs and very short runs. On dark garments, light inks are printed over a white or grey underbase. Before bulk you approve a strike-off printed on your bulk fabric and wash-tested to ISO 6330, and curing is checked through production.

Choose plastisol for bright, opaque colour and fine detail on dark garments, and water-based ink when a soft hand-feel on light cotton matters most. Plastisol sits on top of the fabric, so it covers well and holds detail, but it feels more present and must reach full cure through the whole ink layer or it cracks. Water-based ink soaks into the fibres and feels almost like part of the fabric, but it is less opaque, so pale colours on dark cotton need an underbase, which adds back some weight. Discharge ink is a third option on 100% cotton: it removes the garment dye and replaces it with pigment for the softest result, though the final shade depends on how the fabric was dyed and needs a test. On polyester and blends, low-bleed plastisol is usually the safer route, because water-based inks do not block dye migration. Tell us the hand-feel you want and we will propose the ink.

Standard plastisol ink is PVC-based and can contain phthalate plasticisers, and in the EU the print must stay under a legal phthalate limit. The ink maker International Coatings called it PVC plastisol in 2014, and ZDHC’s chemical information document on phthalates, read on 1 October 2026, lists screen print inks and plastisols among the places phthalates may be found. REACH Annex XVII entry 51, as replaced by Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/2005, has since 7 July 2020 barred, with listed exemptions, articles in which DEHP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, alone or combined, reach 0.1% by weight of the plasticised material, and its definition of plasticised material names printed designs and inks. So the limit is measured on the print, not on the whole garment’s weight. A common answer is non-phthalate plastisol; some brands go further and ask for PVC-free ink. State your market and restricted substances list on the enquiry, and ask for a laboratory test on the printed strike-off.

The care label should show the most severe treatment the whole garment survives, print included, so the print often sets the limits. ISO 3758:2023, the international care labelling code, covers washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional textile care. GINETEX, which owns the symbols, says in its Technical Booklet of April 2018 that they appear in that order and apply to the whole of the textile article, and its examples of additional wording include wash inside out and iron wrong side only, two lines that suit printed garments. Ironing over a print, hot tumble drying and bleach are what shorten its life. Do not guess: have the strike-off washed to ISO 6330:2021 at the temperature and drying method you intend to put on the label, then confirm the symbols from the result. Tell us the care claim you want at the quotation stage.