Discharge Screen Printing

The benefits of discharge ink for your order

Discharge is a screen printing process where the same techniques and equipment are used but instead of normal ink, discharge inks are used, which remove the shirt's dye instead of putting a color on top of the shirt. It is somewhat similar to bleaching in a design, except it doesn't damage the fibers like bleaching would. It results in an extremely soft print, and shows the weave of the shirt. It can be used by itself, as an underbase for other colors to be put on top, or with pigments added. Pigmenting discharge can be difficult to achieve exact color results, as the discharge efficacy affects the color, and what you see is not what you get when mixing the pigments, but it can still be a great way to achieve colors on dark garments. We cannot guarantee 100% accuracy in pantone matching all the time but almost always nail it.

If you have any questions about the discharge process, we would love to answer them. Even if you are a screen printer, feel free to call us, as we are not secretive with our techniques and knowledge as some people in this industry can be. We believe in outteaching the competition.

Positives of Discharge Screen Printing
• Very cool technique that removes the dye from the shirt
• Little to no feeling of the print on the shirt
• Vibrant colors
• The best way to print on dark shirts with non-traditional inks
• Something different from screen printing "norms"
• Still able to do a great amount of detail

Negatives of Discharge Screen Printing
• Some sizes may discharge better than others
• Can be hard to use for photographic style or process printing
• Only works on natural fibers, like cotton, so 50/50 can't be used
• Not all shirt colors will discharge (royal blue never works well, for example)
• Process can be quirky

We specialize in discharge ink and have a lot of experience with it, and will make your prints come out great or it's not going out the door to you.