# REHANCE Technology



## Annushka (Jul 26, 2006)

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know anything about REHANCE technology? Here's their site (hope it's ok to post it, I'm not promoting them just trying to see if members know anything about it):

tsdesigns.com

A friend recommended checking into it. Wanted to see if any members had experience with it. If so, maybe we can get some details on the entire thing. I am not very clear on what is it exactly. Thanks.


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## asapscreenprint (Aug 12, 2006)

Annushka said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Does anyone know anything about REHANCE technology? Here's their site (hope it's ok to post it, I'm not promoting them just trying to see if members know anything about it):
> 
> ...


I can tell you TS DESIGNS are your only option for good rehance..tom sineath and eric henry own the company and helped develope this technology several years ago.. they are super nice people and very professional...call them and they will be happy to explain the entire process to you first hand...hope this helps...rick


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## Annushka (Jul 26, 2006)

Thank you Rick


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## webby (Oct 3, 2005)

We currently use REHANCE with our tees. The quality is tremendously better than PVC printing. Like Rick said, call Eric he is extremely helpful and will guide you in the right direction. Also their website provides a lot of detail as to how the process works. http://www.tsdesigns.com/rehanceoverview.htm

Keep in mind the cost of this process is roughly double what it costs to print with PVC.


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## neato (Mar 21, 2006)

What exactly is the process? Is it discharge and waterbase printing?

That's the thing that really bugs me about the screen printing industry. There are people out there that print with inks other than plastisol that are better for the environment and for those using it, but they are all EXTREMELY secretive. They preach that they're so concerned about the environment, but are not willing to help other printers make the same choice. I think they're more concerned about thier own pocket book. I find it hard to swallow that kind of hypocrisy.

I'm not picking on TS Designs in particular, just on the industry as a whole.


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

Ouch! Just look above your post and go to the link Webby offered. Pretty much tells you exactly what the technology is.


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## neato (Mar 21, 2006)

Again, I'm not attacking this company in particular at all. It looks like a very cool process.

But I also guarantee that it's a 'secret'.

Yeah, that explains the process to the general public. But it sure doesn't tell me 'exactly what the technology is'.

For us screen printers, in general, it's very hard to come up with any info on these 'safer' methods. 

And many of these companies claim to be so concerned about the environment. Just not enough to help others learn how to print with safer methods.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

neato said:


> And many of these companies claim to be so concerned about the environment. Just not enough to help others learn how to print with safer methods.


Well that's the total spirit of these forums: sharing information

I'm sure that sooner or later a printer with experience in this area will become a member and share info on the topic. 

Maybe you could post your questions about it here in the screen printing section of the forum as a new topic, you never know what you might learn  

There might already be members here (or reading waiting to join) willing to share the knowledge.


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## Annushka (Jul 26, 2006)

Thank you everyone for the info.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Rodney said:


> I'm sure that sooner or later a printer with experience in this area will become a member and share info on the topic.


Or a member will become a printer with experience in this area  (stranger things have happened)


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## Artevist (Oct 31, 2007)

To neato's posts: I know that T.S. Designs is contemplating licensing their process to others, but so far they haven't found any that are willing to make the initial investment. Apparently, and I would think it's true, the initial costs are significantly higher than with a PVC shop.

And as to sharing it with everyone... put yoursef in their shoes. They've spent years and $$ developing their technology, why should they give it away for free. The world will slowly come around, and no doubt others will develop similar technologies. I just don't think the pressure 'against' PVC is strong enough yet.


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

neato said:


> That's the thing that really bugs me about the screen printing industry. There are people out there that print with inks other than plastisol that are better for the environment and for those using it, but they are all EXTREMELY secretive. They preach that they're so concerned about the environment, but are not willing to help other printers make the same choice. I think they're more concerned about thier own pocket book. I find it hard to swallow that kind of hypocrisy.


No offense, but that's the thing that really bugs me about the environmental movement: the tendency to see profit motive as the enemy, when it might actually be the solution. Of course people are more concerned with their own pocket books. That's human nature. 

The biggest reason that we haven't made significant advances in cleaning up the environment is that it has not been profitable to do so. In an ideal world, yes people would work to improve the environment out of the kindness of their hearts. But this is far from an ideal world.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Artevist said:


> And as to sharing it with everyone... put yoursef in their shoes. They've spent years and $$ developing their technology, why should they give it away for free.


While I wouldn't expect them to give away the technology, I would have expected them to give away enough information to indicate it really is a new proprietary technology they've come up with, and not just marketing spin on pre-existing tech. The whole thing has always sounded sketchy to me.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

AustinJeff said:


> In an ideal world, yes people would work to improve the environment out of the kindness of their hearts. But this is far from an ideal world.


And that's rather missing the point.

(and the problem with profit motive is it doesn't work - humans are inherently stupid, so we tend to look at short-term profit motive and not even mid-term, let alone long)


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

Solmu said:


> While I wouldn't expect them to give away the technology, I would have expected them to give away enough information to indicate it really is a new proprietary technology they've come up with, and not just marketing spin on pre-existing tech. The whole thing has always sounded sketchy to me.


Me too. I looked at this a while back, and it looked to me like they were talking about the entire process as a new technology, and based on the limited information they supply, I really don't see how that could be the case. Maybe I'm missing something.



Solmu said:


> (and the problem with profit motive is it doesn't work - humans are inherently stupid, so we tend to look at short-term profit motive and not even mid-term, let alone long)


That's true, but I wouldn't describe it as "the problem" with profit motive, I would describe it as the nature of profit motive. It is what it is. It's not likely to go away, or even change much, so the only realistic option is to deal with it on its own terms.

Another possibility is that if we continue the productivity gains and technological advances at current rates (without killing ourselves or irreparably screwing things up), in anther 50 years or so, we will effectively eliminate scarcity and could then come up with a new economic model.

Anyway, I love the cooperative spirit of this board, and I wish that more people would adopt it. But I think that bashing the profit motive hinders, rather than helps the environmental movement.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

AustinJeff said:


> Me too. I looked at this a while back, and it looked to me like they were talking about the entire process as a new technology, and based on the limited information they supply, I really don't see how that could be the case. Maybe I'm missing something.


We could be missing a whole truckload of somethings, but if so that's because they choose to keep us in the dark 

I always thought environmentally conscious people were naturally suspicious, because they'd seen too many outrageous claims turn out to be lies. So I've been surprised at how much people have been willing to take Rehance on faith. I don't trust what they won't back up with facts.



AustinJeff said:


> That's true, but I wouldn't describe it as "the problem" with profit motive, I would describe it as the nature of profit motive.


Yes, "problem" is subjective - it's the problem with the nature of it when you disagree with it 



AustinJeff said:


> the only realistic option is to deal with it on its own terms [...] I think that bashing the profit motive hinders, rather than helps the environmental movement.


I agree. Commerce is inherently amoral, not evil as some extremists like to think of it. I think more and more we're seeing companies realise it can be profitable - in the short term because they can exploit people's goodwill (which is actually a win-win for consumer and company, provided they're being honest), and in the long term because they need to in order to continue operating.


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## dfalk (Apr 11, 2007)

I came across their site in the begining of 07' and was confused about the process. I contacted them to find out more information and I left still confused. To me it sounded like they are just discharge printing with water based inks.

I think they are possibly doing exactly what my buddy does that prints in my shop using the same Union discharge as I do. He had a sticker printed up to slap on every one of his packaged shirts that says something to the effect of, " This shirt was printed with special, advanced inks and should be washed prior to wear." I have heard people ask him what inks he uses and he treats the information like it's some secret formula he made up. People buy into it and he has actually gotten contract work from people that want their shirts printed with his special recipe. What a jackass.


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## shirtjunkie (Oct 30, 2007)

After reading their site info, I have a question for the forum. I have not used water based inks. And my t-shirts are printed (plastisol) distressed, grinded, dyed and eco washed for a vintage feel. 

The process is very costly, but what "TS" claims is that the "Rehance" Technology they can print water based dyes on a white t shirt and then it can be dyed any color without losing print detail. My dye source says that they can dye water based inks as well. 

But when you look at these quotes from TS Designs 

"Looking for a breathable, "no hand" print that does not contain PVC or phthalates? Water based inks are your answer. We also offer four color process in water based inks. Through improvements in the curing and special binders we have developed, the days of fading out after laundering are history. Keep in mind water based inks are transparent and will only work on white or light colors and is one of the key reasons we developed *REHANCE"*

*"What about white T-shirts?* Since REHANCE is a garment print and dye process, it isn’t applicable to garments that are to remain white. For white T-shirts, we can provide many of the benefits offered by REHANCE such as a breathable, “no hand” print and a product that’s environmentally responsive. Utilizing water-based inks and T.S. Design’s printing methods, we can help you can achieve your promotional goals on any color shirt, including white. We do recommend a cold-water wash after printing so that garments shrinkage is minimal."

So, basically what they are saying is it's just not in the printing process, but "REHANCE" is the whole package. Printing and Dying. 

I am going to have some samples done on white t-shirts using water based inks, and have my dye house do some samples for me in a few colors. They do some eco friendly things, but I really think that is what you are paying for at TS Designs. Being "green" is not always cheap and someone has to pay for it.

So, if you are still reading this, my question out there is:

Has anyone printed with waterbased inks on white and dyed them either in the washer or professionally?

Thanks and I hope that I helped a little bit too!


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## FunkiMunky (Sep 12, 2008)

This thread is probably dead now but is there a way to print onto a white t shirt then treat the print so that during a dying process non of the dye fixes to the printed part?


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## iasiis (Oct 8, 2008)

FunkiMunky said:


> This thread is probably dead now but is there a way to print onto a white t shirt then treat the print so that during a dying process non of the dye fixes to the printed part?


I assume you have attempted this and had the dye soak into your print. In that case I have questions:

What type of ink did you use for the print?
What type of dye did you use?
What temperatures did you use in dying process?


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## ytfeLdrawkcaB (May 6, 2009)

This thread seems to have been resurrected a couple times, so I thought I'd bring it to life one more time.

I work for TS Designs in a couple capacities, including web development, and found this site as a referral and stumbled upon this thread. 

We're a pretty open-source company and don't really have problems explaining our techniques or pretty much anything else about the company, so I'll give you the rundown on REHANCE.

REHANCE is indeed a patented printing technology. As others have guessed, it is indeed similar to discharge, but is actually more like reverse discharge. We print water-based inks onto a white t-shirt, then cover it with resist, a special ink that bonds to the cotton molecule where a reactive dye would normally bond. As a result, when we dye the shirt, the dye does not adhere to the areas we've printed resist. It's sort of like putting painters tape on parts of a wall before painting it, then peeling the tape back. Printing resist only on the shirt, rather than printing it over a water-based ink, will basically leave that printed area whatever the original shirt color was (in our case white).

As a result, we can get a nice bright, no-hand water-based print on a dark dyed t-shirt. Resist is also significantly more environmentally-friendly than most discharge inks, which often contain fermaldahyde. Our resist printing is certified by the Oeko-Tex 100 standard, and conforms to the Global Organic Textile Standard, though we're not currently certified by GOTS because of the expense.

The answer to the question about why our old website didn't explain REHANCE better is pretty simple: our old website sucked  It didn't really explain a lot of things very well. We also sometimes struggle with how much technical information to put on our website. Most of our customers are not in the apparel industry, so too much info can confuse them.

Hope some of you who made this thread are still out there!


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## iasiis (Oct 8, 2008)

Hi, 

REHANCE sounds great. I have known about TS designs for some time and their dedication towards the environment. I know this may be a bit off topic but do you know of any dye houses that use different clays to dye their shirts/clothes? 

I ask this because I am seeking out the most enviro friendly method of dying. I know Earth Creations does this process but they never reply to my questions.

Thanks,
iasiis



ytfeLdrawkcaB said:


> This thread seems to have been resurrected a couple times, so I thought I'd bring it to life one more time.
> 
> I work for TS Designs in a couple capacities, including web development, and found this site as a referral and stumbled upon this thread.
> 
> ...


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## ytfeLdrawkcaB (May 6, 2009)

iasiis said:


> Hi,
> 
> REHANCE sounds great. I have known about TS designs for some time and their dedication towards the environment. I know this may be a bit off topic but do you know of any dye houses that use different clays to dye their shirts/clothes?
> 
> ...


We use GOTS certified bi-functional reactive dyes from Huntsman (I believe it's Huntsman; it was originally Ciba, then Huntsman, now it might be something else). The only thing we're not crazy about is how much water & steam we have to use to dye a given volume of shirts.

People have asked us about natural dyes, but we've never found one that holds up to our quality standards as far as light/wash-fastness go.


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