There is increased interest in printing textiles with water-based inks.
This is for the following several reasons, some of which seem reasonable and some to this observer which do not.

There are new laws in the USA which prevent the use of phthalates in ink and printers are using water-based ink because they do not contain phthalates. The laws only pertain to baby sleepwear and bibs, but there is a combination of panic out there and people that are being prudent and preparing for when this may apply to other categories of garments.

Water-based inks tend to have a softer hand which is highly desired these days. Thin soft garments are the rage and people don’t want a thick heavy coat of ink on their 34 singles 4.3 ounce shirt or their 6.1 ounce plush ring-spun cotton Beefy T.  However, plastisol can be printed in a less heavy way and not all water-based ink is soft either. Some water-based ink, particularly if acrylic, dry to a hard “plasticy” shell. However, water-based ink is still going to be one possible solution to making a soft print on a soft shirt.

Water-based ink is considered by some people to be more ecological. Water is the vehicle (delivery means) in water-based ink. Water is a renewable resource compared to plasticizer and other petroleum-based elements of plastisol inks. However, that does not mean you can exactly drink the stuff. Discharge ink for example is a water-based ink that has some pretty nasty amounts of formaldehyde. 

At any rate, water-based ink is going to be used and this blog is going to help you with tips on using it.

Today’s tip is about mixing it up.  You take that gallon of water-based ink off the shelf that you paid good money for just a month ago. You look inside your bucket of magenta ink and you find that there is a vaguely pink liquid on top and there is an inch of rock hard substance on the bottom.

Take that bucket and throw it in the dumpster and do some really creative cursing and in particular utter some oaths to the effect of never using water-based ink again.

Actually, there is a better approach as all is not lost. The pigments in water-based ink can settle out over time, even in a few weeks. This is particularly true of the flourescent colors. If you are a big shop, you would put the container on a paint shaker and the pigment will re-disburse and the ink probably  will be as good as new. If you are like most shops, you don’t have a paint shaker around, so go to the hardware store and get a mixing bit for a drill. It should cost $10 or less. These bits are used to mix paint, grout or plaster. Attach the bit to a drill and wail away at that hard crusty bottom and low and behold you should have ink that you can use again.

Mix that settled out water-based ink with a drill

You can also sometimes avoid this settling by giving your ink a bit of a shake every few weeks if it is going to be sitting around. Also always make sure that you seal the bucket very tightly and put your ink in as small a container as possible. The more air in the container, the more it may dry in the bucket.