Silicone ink

[Emma A]

Hey Everyone. Looking for some silicone ink, anyone have experience with it? What is the best one?

[Chuggins]

Hi Emma,

There are a couple of Silicone Inks on the market. They are all very similar. The biggest takeaway is that the ink needs to be catalyzed in order to use it and once catalyzed it has a pot life. So printing with it is very similar to waterbase and discharge printing.

You will need to flash EVERY color. You can not print this wet on wet.

You will get better print results with lower mesh counts.

Also, as the ink was designed to print on synthetic fibers - primarily polyester - printing on cotton is very challenging as the ink has no fiber matte qualities. So if you have a fuzzy surface, your ink will show that fuzz.

Tldr: The ink can be challenging but looks great on polyester garments - especially athletic garments.

[Emma A]

Very helpful, thanks! Any suggestions on a brand?

[Chuggins]

Nazdar has a product as does Avient/Polyone - links below. Your biggest hurdle will be finding a supplier near you so you don't spend much on shipping or getting samples to play with and determine if its an ink you want to use. Let us know how your experience plays out!

https://www.polyone.com/products/scr...s/zodiac-libra

https://sourceone.nazdar.com/Promo/IMS-Silicone

[tmorgan]

We use the Imagestar at my shop but there is definately a learning curve when you first get into it.