Here at Rusthead we print only with eco-friendly water based inks. We can go over the different processes we use here!
WATER-BASED (Water-Based, Discharge Water-Based, High-Solid Acrylic)
Water-Based on light color shirts inks allow for an incredibly soft, smooth print that becomes a part of the shirt. This ink gives you a very comfortable, wearable shirt. This is a great option for bight colored prints on light colored apparel. On dark colored fabrics, the print colors will not be as vivid.
Discharge Water-Based inks are designed for use on dark 100% cotton garments. These inks essentially “bleach” the dye of a garment and re-dye. The discharged image can be produced from a base with activator or from discharge colors with an activator. Because the ink reacts with the fabric, we aim for an close Pantone match, but can not guarantee an exact match with water-based and discharge inks. Discharge water-based ink on anything other than 100% cotton will yield a more muted color, to give you a great textured, vintage look.
High Solid Acrylic Water-Based ink is a hybrid, made with a more opaque base, which allows the ink to sit on top of the shirt versus down into the fibers. This allows you get the best of both worlds in one print, instead of the ink settling into the fibers and taking on a slightly duller look, so it stays vibrant and also still feels soft.
SIMULATED PROCESS
Do you need to turn that work of art with tons of different colors into a t-shirt print? We have just the thing for you with our simulated process printing technique. We can achieve photo realistic prints with ease with this process.
FULL COLOR CMYK
Through the use of half tones, angles and inks, we can create a wide spectrum of colors for your print using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks. This process works best on light colored garments.
FOIL
Want to add a little bling to your design? Let us apply some foil and let your shirt shine! In this two-step process, foil is applied to garments by first applying your design using an adhesive ink, then we apply the foil and heat. After heating, we then remove the excess foil, leaving only your shiny design. Properly applied foil will last a long time, but the shine will fade with each wash, starting with wash #1 so special care should be taken. Foil available in Gold, Silver, Red, Green, Blue, Purple.
METALLIC
These inks themselves are metallic, versus being an overlay treatment or transfer, and are available in a variety of colors. We can also customize specific colors by adding just the right level of glitter for you. Metallic inks are a bit thicker than normal inks.
HALF-TONE
Halftone is the graphic technique that simulates shading through the use of dots. We can use this technique to print photographic or otherwise multi-tonal artwork using only one ink color, which can often significantly reduce order costs.