What is a soft-hand print and how do I get it on a T-shirt?
The feel of a plastisol print is called the hand. It’s controlled by the type of ink and how thick an ink layer you print. To achieve soft-hand prints you have to start with a soft-hand ink. The trade-off is in opacity. Soft-hand prints are not very opaque. For an extra-soft hand print on white garments, use Union Ink’s SuperSoft (PLUM) series printed through a 230 or higher mesh. If you need more opacity, try our UltraSoft (PLUS) inks through a 160-180 mesh. You can add 10-20% PLUS-9090 extender base but remember that higher mesh counts and adding extender base lower opacity. Properly printed, these inks will allow you to achieve an extremely soft-hand print. In fact, after a couple of washings, the print will be nearly indistinguishable from a design created with dye or a water-base inks. If you are printing on dark garments and need good opacity, then you can’t have a really soft-hand print. There your best option will be our MIXO Inks through a 60-110 mesh. It won’t be really soft
