Veteran Avient screen printing ink rep John Magee. Photo courtesy of Avient
Long a leading manufacturer of screen-printing inks Avient currently carries no less than eight different brands: Wilflex, Rutland, Zodiac, Union Ink, Printop, MagnaColours, QCM and Avient Specialty Inks. To find out the latest from the company, which has its roots in the early ‘60s, when screen printing on T-shirts was just beginning to gain in popularity as a means of self-expression, Impressions content director, Adam Cort, spoke with the Avient’s Sr. technical service representative, veteran screen printer John MaGee.
Adam Cort: There appears to be a growing interest in special effect screen-printing inks throughout the textile industry. What is your explanation for this resurgence in effects that were mostly popular in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s?
John MaGee: Screen printing trends tend to be cyclical. I was once told that all-over printing (AOP) comes back into popularity every 10 years. That seems accurate, as we are seeing a return to AOP printing nearly a decade later. This time, there is a different story behind the interest in special effects. Of course, there is the retro appeal. Fifteen years ago, retro prints from popular retail stores in the mall tended to be ultra-soft, distressed and faded prints. However, our current group of new printers likes to pull inspiration from 25 years ago, when puff and thicker prints were more common.
More importantly, screen-printable special effects also help printers compete with digital methods of garment decoration, as those technologies have limited special effect options. Overall, screen printing is still more efficient for mass production, and screen-printable effects will likely still require less handling to apply than a comparable print from digital technology.
The wide range of special effects inks also allows screen printers to experiment with new ideas. Although it may seem impractical at first, Avient Specialty Inks’ Infinite FX Brittle Base is a unique special effect ink that provides a lot of impact. After it is cured, Brittle Base can be stretched to create tiny fatigue cracks, giving the appearance of an old print. The effect isn’t for everyone, but let’s say you want to re-create a t-shirt from the ’60s when shirts were printed with modified house paints. Brittle Base will give you that effect, and it’s satisfying to crack the print.
Avient Specialty Inks Infinite FX Luna Clear is also a popular option. Under regular light, it’s just a clear ink that you can use to seal a print or add some gloss highlights, but under UV black light, it glows. Most printers play it safe and have a message or something simple in the design that will glow, like the eyes of a skull. However, if you print a paisley or a filigree type of image, I suggest filling all the negative space with Luna Clear to create a dynamic print in regular light or even under black light to really pop.
AC: Avient Specialty Inks Infinite FX Nupuff is a much-loved special-effect ink for its lifted effect and excellent stretch properties. Can you share some printing tips specific to Nupuff?
There’s nothing like screen printing in 3D to promote a design’s impact. Photo courtesy of Avient
JM: Absolutely. First, it’s key to understand that getting a successful puff print relies on three important factors: heat, time and, most importantly, stencil thickness. The phrase “low and slow” comes to mind when curing a puff print. You need 60 seconds or more of dwell time in the dryer and ten or more seconds at the product’s stated cure temperature. You don’t want to heat the puff too quickly, or it will collapse, and you don’t want to use too much heat, or the puffing agents will swell, blister, and pop, leaving a rough surface. Stencil thickness is also important; I like to see a stencil gasket about the thickness of two business cards or more. This helps deposit more puff ink onto the garment without pushing the ink “into” the weave of the fabric. Once you have that dialed in, you can then engineer the print. I find that printing puff over an under base encourages the puff ink to rise upwards instead of up and outwards. Additionally, it reduces or eliminates fabric “puckering.” Another trick is printing the puff by itself and then printing the color through an additional screen. This prevents the top color (like a Pantone match) from lightening up in tone and allows you to design more dynamic textures for a single top color or several top colors.
AC: Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the screen-printing industry. Can you discuss advancements in sustainability specifically for special effects inks?
JM: One of Avient’s core initiatives is to develop more sustainable products and to operate as an increasingly more environmentally conscious company. For Avient Specialty Inks, this means creating inks with bio-derived content and naturally occurring pigments. Regarding special effects, we are pursuing lower cure options to pair with our low cure ink matching systems and ready-for-use colors. Currently, our clear inks are low cure, and the glitters, shimmers, and metallics are also low or flexible cure. You not only use less energy to cure the ink, but in air-conditioned shops, you will require less cooling in the production area. Don’t forget that by lowering the cure temperature, you are also minimizing the chance of dye migration, ghosting, or damage to the garment. This can translate to less damaged garments ending up in a landfill. So, while environmental sustainability may not be top of mind for a small up-and-coming shop, financial sustainability absolutely should be, and that is another benefit to converting much of our inks offering to flexible cure .
AC: With other technologies edging into the screen-printing industry, like digital printing, where do you see garment screen printing going in the future?
JM: To answer this question, you have to look at the record-pressing industry and the poster-printing segment of our market. Vinyl records have come back hugely and continue to appreciate in value. In fact, phonograph record sales are at the highest in 30 years and are currently out-selling CDs. The same is true for limited edition screen-printed posters. They continue to appreciate due to their rarity and vintage feel. This reflects what we are seeing with screen-printed garments. They will continue to become more valuable because creative artwork always stays in style.
As far as future trends, I hope that augmented reality prints become more common. These are prints that can look differently on a phone or device than they do in person. Right now, you must view augmented reality prints with a phone or smart glasses, but perhaps that will change in the future. Imagine walking past a store window and seeing the employees wearing shirts that display animations, but once you walk into the store past the electronically equipped glass, the prints are standard static images again. I’ve also been excited by smart prints for a while. Smart prints are created with conductive or resistant ink that can measure stretch, heartbeat, impact, or temperature changes across the body.
For more on Avient, including its entire line of screen-printing inks for textile decoration, click here. You can also contact John directly on Instagram at @traveling_screenprinter.
