# plastisol vs versatex



## katfish (Jan 5, 2007)

which of these 2 inks do the best? or are they just both better than speedball because they are oil based?


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## katfish (Jan 5, 2007)

i want to do like 25 shirts each stencil and then save them for later use.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Plastisol is an ink type, Versatex is an ink brand. Also Versatex is waterbased (like Speedball). Also, Speedball is considered crappy because it's Speedball, not because it's waterbased (personally I have no experience with Speedball ink, though I've heard plenty of bad things said about it).

Plastisol vs. waterbased depends mostly on your equipment and your desired results. Waterbased is the more popular home solution as it's easier to clean up after, and cheaper to cure (if you're willing to use a home iron for the job). Plastisol is more popular in industry because it's easier to print and easier to get an opaque result with.


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## katfish (Jan 5, 2007)

ok well i am starting with a home based iron so i am going with versatex. i found the speedball patchy


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## bungaloe (Feb 2, 2008)

i really like versatex, their colors are really smooth & creamy.
only thing is the opaque white is like chalky dry and the black is too thin.
does anyone have suggestions about that??
also, i have been printing with one color press I am getting a 4 color press soon,
can i find any tutorials about multicolor printing anywhere and can you use waterbased (versatex) ink for multicolor??
Thanks!!!!
oh p.s.
i see alot of people saying they use home irons to cure versatex, that doesnt work for me, the color was running. we got a heat transfer press and it cures the versatex ink perfectly its so much easier than an iron.
also some guy in pearl paint told me to lay the shirt ink side down (dry!!!)
on aluminum foil then heat. so i put foil down then shirt then press for like 40 sec on 300-350 degrees, i've never burnt a shirt but i think my boyfiend did once.


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## rabbitonthemoon (Jul 11, 2008)

I think that in all water base ink brand, the white is always thicker than the dark color, its normal because in the black the pigment is stronger.

i m french and i used a really good french brand water base ink called TIFLEX, and the white was thick to.

I don t like at all the Standard silkscreen ink (standard is in NYC) because the color are drap, if you know where i can buy good water base ink in NYC let me know!!

versatex doesn t sound just for professional silk screen printer, but more general art and craft.....is it good tho?


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## the great enzo (Sep 21, 2008)

Bon jour, if you haven't already tried, Da Vinci Art in NYC carry Permaset which is a professional brand from Australia. With practice, the standard inks can be used through 120T metric (305 tpi) mesh, wet-on-wet to achieve spectacular results.


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## rabbitonthemoon (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for the advice for the ink , i think i am gonna buy one of each brand and try it!!

somebody said that you can cure the tees and fabric with heat press ( i don t do just tees shirt but also yard of fabric) and i need to cure them, Should i get a 
Black Body flash dryer?

are your sure that we can cure the clothes just with the a heat press for foil?


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

You should also try Spectrachem. Their White ink is much more opaque and easy to print with than others I've tried. They also have awesome specialty colors, gold, silver, and metallic colors that look really good on dark colors.

Hope that helps


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## ciscobigtruck (Jan 2, 2011)

Speedball is crappy! Does not set, had to redo 50 shirts.


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

ciscobigtruck said:


> Speedball is crappy! Does not set, had to redo 50 shirts.


I've printed hundreds of shirts with speedball and have never had a problem. I'm willing to bet it was user error that you could not get them to set properly.

Waterbased inks don't cure like plastisol, so curing times change with each job. To fully cure waterbased inks you need to evaporate ALL water from the ink so that the bond between ink and shirt is ensured. If there is any moisture still within the ink and you wash it, the ink will come right off. Unlike plastisol which ALWAYS cures at 330F (or lower with specialty additives/ink lines) waterbased cures when the ink has been fully removed of all water. This means it could take 4 minutes per shirt with a flash unit instead of maybe 35 seconds for plastisol.

Also on a conveyor dryer, it's best to run the shirts through more than once, or slow down the dryer speed (be careful not to scorch shirts)

If you're using the clothes iron method, it's a very difficult method because unless you have a giant clothes iron you can't always ensure you've hit each area of the image for enough time, cause washability issues. As far as drying them in a clothes dryer, each dryer is different and you would have to determine how long is enough.

This is why doing wash tests are the best. Take one shirt, cure it to what you think it should be cured for, then cut it in half. Wash one half, and then put it up to the unwashed half. If there is significant fading & washout, then you need to increase how long you dry them for or how much heat you give them...or both.

Good luck!


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