Plastisol Ink for Screen Printing: The Complete Guide

Plastisol is the workhorse ink of garment screen printing. It’s a PVC-based ink that doesn’t dry on the screen, cures cleanly with heat at around 320°F, lays down with high opacity, and survives wash after wash. If you run a press for a living — or you’re getting serious about doing so — plastisol is the ink you’ll print with most. This guide covers what plastisol actually is, how to print and cure it correctly, how it compares to water-based and discharge, which type to pick for which job, and how to remove it from a shirt or a screen when something goes wrong.

We’ve been mixing plastisol ink in New Jersey for years. The recommendations below come from the same lineup we sell out of our own bucket room — not a vendor brochure. If you’ve got a question we don’t answer here, call us. We answer the phone.

What is plastisol ink?

Plastisol is a screen printing ink made from PVC resin particles suspended in a liquid plasticizer. It doesn’t dry by evaporation. It cures — meaning the PVC particles fuse together and bond to the garment — when the print is heated to roughly 320°F. Below that temperature it stays liquid in the bucket, on the screen, and on the shirt, which is why a plastisol print that wasn’t fully cured will crack and wash out after a few cycles.

What plastisol ink is made of

Three components:

1. PVC resin — the polymer particles that form the printed film.
2. Plasticizer — a liquid carrier that keeps the resin in suspension and gives the cured film its flexibility.
3. Pigment — what gives the ink its color.

There are no curing solvents. Plastisol contains no water. That’s why it can sit on a screen overnight without drying in the mesh, and why it has a shelf life measured in years rather than months.

Why screen printers use plastisol

A few reasons most production shops default to it:

• High opacity. A single hit of white plastisol on a black shirt looks bright. A water-based white doesn’t get there without a discharge process or multiple hits.
• Easy to print. It doesn’t dry on the screen, so you can stop the press for lunch and come back without clearing ink. Forgiving for shops still dialing in their process.
• Color consistency. Plastisol pigments stay accurate across runs — what you mixed today prints the same tomorrow.
• Durability. A properly cured plastisol print survives 50+ wash cycles without significant fade or crack.
• Mixing flexibility. Any plastisol can be modified with reducers, stretch additives, low-cure additives, or flash gels to fit a specific job.

When plastisol isn’t the right call

Plastisol has limits. It prints on top of the fabric, not in it, so it has a hand-feel — you can feel the print on the shirt. For ultra-soft prints on cotton, water-based or discharge wins. Plastisol also struggles on synthetic fibers that bleed dye when heated (most polyesters), which is why we make a separate Bleed Resistant Plastisol Ink line specifically for 50/50 blends.

How to use plastisol ink for screen printing

Plastisol is straightforward to print once your setup is right. Here’s what matters.

Mesh count and emulsion

Plastisol is a thick ink and behaves accordingly. Mesh count drives how much ink lays down on the shirt:

• 86–110 mesh: under-base whites on dark garments — heavy ink deposit.
• 156 mesh: standard production printing — good balance of detail and coverage for most colors.
• 200–230 mesh: fine detail prints and halftones on lighter garments.
• 305+ mesh: simulated process and very fine detail.

For emulsion, plastisol is forgiving — pretty much any direct emulsion holds up. The thicker your stencil (EOM), the more ink deposit you’ll get on the shirt.

Squeegee setup

• Durometer: 70 is the all-around production answer. Soft enough to flex into mesh, hard enough to shear the ink cleanly. Use a 60 for heavier deposits (white under-bases), 80 for fine detail.
• Angle: about 15-20° from vertical. Steeper for less ink, shallower for more.
• Pressure: just enough to cleanly shear the ink off the screen. If you’re pushing harder, your off-contact is wrong or your squeegee is the wrong durometer for the job. Heavy pressure smashes mesh into the platen and ruins registration.

Off-contact and flood stroke

• Off-contact: 1/16” to 1/8” for most jobs. Closer for fine detail, further for heavy deposits.
• Flood stroke first. Always flood the screen before each print stroke. This refills the open mesh with a thin layer of ink so the print stroke is just shearing it through, not pulling fresh ink through the stencil.

White under-base for dark garments

The fastest way to get bright prints on a black or navy shirt is a white under-base, flash, then your color hits on top:

1. Lay down a white under-base with a high-opacity white like our Bleed Resistant 5-Star Bright White CQ plastisol on coarser mesh (86–110).
2. Flash cure the white at 250–280°F for 3-5 seconds — just enough to gel it so the next ink doesn’t blend in.
3. Print your colors on top with standard mesh (156-230) at lower deposits.
4. Final cure the whole print at 320°F.

This is the standard production approach for any print on a dark shirt.

How to cure plastisol ink

Curing is where most shops get into trouble. The ink doesn’t show that it’s uncured — it looks finished as soon as it leaves the dryer — but a print that didn’t hit 320°F throughout the entire ink film will crack and wash out.

Cure temperature

• Standard plastisol: 320°F throughout the ink film.
• Low-cure plastisol (our Extreme 270° Low Cure line): 270°F. Used for polyester and dye-migration garments that can’t handle full cure temperatures.
• Athletic / fast-flash plastisols: 320°F, but they gel faster on flash for production speed.

The number you care about isn’t the dryer’s set temperature — it’s the temperature inside the ink film at the end of the cure tunnel. A heat gun on the print surface tells you the surface temp; full cure needs the bottom of the ink film to hit temperature too. For thicker prints, this means a slower belt speed.

Conveyor dryer vs. heat press cure

Both work. Pick based on your volume.

	Conveyor dryer	Heat press
Throughput	High (hundreds/hour)	Low (handful/hour)
Equipment cost	High	Low
Cure consistency	High once dialed in	Operator-dependent
Best for	Production shops	Sample work, transfers, low-volume

For heat press cure, set the press to 320°F, dwell for 35–45 seconds with medium pressure. Place a piece of parchment between the platen and the print to avoid scorching.

How to test for full cure

Three tests, all simple, all reliable:

1. Stretch test. Stretch the print across its width. Properly cured plastisol stretches with the shirt and snaps back. Uncured plastisol cracks or flakes.
2. Wash test. Wash the shirt three times in hot water. If the print loses color, cracks, or fades, it wasn’t cured.
3. Temperature probe test. Stick a temperature gun or laser thermometer at the print as it exits the dryer. You want 320°F at the ink surface, with belt speed slow enough that the ink had time to reach temperature throughout.

If you’re not sure your cure is right, do all three on the first shirt of every run.

Common cure problems and fixes

• Print cracks after one wash → undercured. Slow belt speed, raise dryer temperature, or test with a probe.
• Print scorches on dark shirts → overcured or dryer running too hot. Drop belt speed isn’t the answer — drop temperature.
• Dye migration on polyester (red shirt turns the white print pink) → switch to low-cure plastisol like our Extreme 270° Low Cure at 270°F.
• Inconsistent cure across the shirt → uneven dryer airflow. Check belt tracking and heater element distribution.

Plastisol vs water based ink (and vs discharge)

This is the most-asked question in screen printing. Here’s the honest answer.

Property	Plastisol	Water-based	Discharge
Where it sits	On top of fabric	In the fabric	Bleaches the dye
Hand feel	Noticeable	Soft	Very soft (almost none)
Cure temperature	320°F	320°F (cure additive)	320°F
Print on cotton	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
Print on polyester	Yes (low-cure required)	Limited	No
White opacity on black	Excellent (single hit)	Poor (needs discharge or multi-hit)	Excellent on natural fiber
Bucket dries on screen	No	Yes (with stop spray, slow)	Yes (limited working time)
Color consistency	High	Medium (color shifts wet → dry)	Variable (depends on garment dye)
Forgiveness for a new shop	High	Low	Low
Equipment requirement	Dryer	Dryer + good ventilation	Dryer + ventilation + cure additive

Plastisol vs water-based

Water-based prints feel softer and look more vintage. Plastisol prints have higher opacity and are easier to produce consistently. For commercial production work, plastisol wins on operations. For high-end soft-hand cotton prints, water-based wins on aesthetics.

Most shops we work with run plastisol as their default and pull water-based out for specific jobs. If you’re starting out, learn to print plastisol well first — water-based requires you to nail your cure and your process before you can troubleshoot anything.

Plastisol vs discharge

Discharge ink doesn’t sit on the shirt — it bleaches out the garment’s dye and replaces it with pigment, so the print has zero hand. But it only works on natural-fiber garments that were dyed with discharge-capable dyes (most cotton, but not all). Discharge is also more demanding on cure — undercured discharge means uneven bleaching across the run.

If you want the discharge look without the hassle, a soft-hand plastisol additive gets you most of the way for production work. Reserve discharge for premium jobs.

Hybrid prints

The pro move for high-end work: discharge under-base + plastisol top colors. The discharge bleaches the shirt to white where the print will go, then plastisol colors print on top with full opacity and no hand penalty. This is how most premium streetwear gets printed.

Specialty plastisol inks

Standard plastisol covers most jobs. Specialty inks solve specific problems:

• Low-cure plastisol — for polyester and tri-blend garments where dye migration is a risk. Our Extreme 270° Low Cure Plastisol Ink White runs at 270°F instead of 320°F.
• Athletic plastisol — formulated for fast flash cycles on production presses. Our Athletic White Fast Flash Polyester Plastisol is what we run for sports apparel work.
• Bleed resistant — for 50/50 and tri-blends where the polyester wants to bleed into a white print. Our Bleed Resistant Plastisol Ink lineup is built for this.
• Stretch plastisol — for performance fabrics and stretch garments. Our Stretch Plastisol Ink stays flexible at high strain.
• Specialty effects — puff, glow-in-the-dark, metallic, glitter, reflective, suede. Each is a category of its own; we cover those in separate guides.

Best plastisol ink for screen printing — our recommendations

We mix our own plastisol ink. That’s not a sales line — we own the chemistry, we adjust the formulas based on customer feedback, and we sell the same buckets we run on our own test press. Here’s what to use for what.

If you want one general-purpose plastisol

All Purpose Plastisol Ink for Cotton & Poly Blends — the everyday workhorse. Prints clean on 100% cotton and standard 50/50 blends. $29.99 quart, $424.99 5-gallon. Works for the vast majority of shop work.

If you need a strong white for underbases

Bleed Resistant 5-Star Bright White CQ Plastisol Ink — high-opacity white that holds up on 50/50 blends without color bleed. The brightest single-hit white we make. From $23.99.

If you need a basic 100% cotton white

General Purpose White Plastisol Ink – 100% Cotton — formulated specifically for cotton, lower price point than the bleed-resistant line. $24.99 quart up to $2,899.99 30-gallon.

If you’re printing polyester or running into dye migration

Extreme 270° Low Cure Plastisol Ink White — cures at 270°F instead of 320°F to prevent polyester bleed. The go-to for moisture-wicking athletic wear and red/black polyester garments. $28.99–$379.99.

If you’re printing sports apparel at production volume

Athletic White Fast Flash Polyester Plastisol — formulated for fast flash cycles on automatic presses. $39.99 quart up to $3,999.99 55-gallon.

If you need color, not white

General Purpose Plastisol Ink Colors For 100% Cotton — base colors for mixing or direct print. $19.99 starting price.

Additives for tuning your ink

• Super Stretch Additive — added to standard plastisol to dramatically improve stretch and recovery for athletic wear.
• Curable Ink Reducer Soft-Flow — thins ink without losing cure or opacity. Useful when shop temperature is cold and ink is printing thick.

Need help picking? Call us. We mix plastisol every day; we know what works for what.

How to remove plastisol ink — garments and screens

Things go wrong on press. Misprints, reprints, screen reclaims. Here’s how to handle plastisol when it ends up where you don’t want it.

Removing plastisol ink from a shirt

If you catch the misprint before curing, the ink wipes off with a screen wash or ink remover. Once the shirt has hit 320°F, the ink is fused into the fabric and removal is mostly cosmetic.

For uncured misprints:

1. Blot, don’t smear. Use a clean rag to pick up as much wet ink as possible without spreading.
2. Apply OPTI Spot 303 — our spot-cleaning fluid formulated for ink and fabric stains. Work it through the fabric.
3. Rinse with cold water, then wash normally.

For cured prints, removal isn’t realistic on a finished garment — the print is part of the shirt at that point. Add it to the reject pile.

Reclaiming a screen with plastisol residue

Screen reclaim is part of the workflow — get good at it and you save real money on screens. Plastisol comes off easily because it never bonded chemically to the mesh; it’s just sitting in the open mesh openings.

1. Card off the bulk — use a piece of cardboard or a putty knife to scrape extra ink back into the bucket.
2. Ink remover — flood the screen with OPTI Wash 125 or Saati IR14 Ink Remover, scrub both sides with a soft brush, rinse with a pressure washer at low pressure.
3. Emulsion remover — once the ink is out, strip the emulsion separately.
4. Degrease and dry before re-coating.

If the screen still has a ghost image after reclaim — a faint pattern that won’t wash out — that’s stain, not ink. Use a dedicated haze remover. Franmar Greeneway Multipurpose Ink Remover also works well as an all-around shop chemical.

What to use for an odor-free shop

If you’re printing in a space that doesn’t ventilate well, switch your wash chemistry to low-odor formulations. Our Opti On Press Color Change lets operators change colors on a multi-station automatic without filling the room with solvent smell.

Frequently asked questions

What is plastisol ink made of?

Plastisol ink is made of PVC resin particles suspended in a plasticizer, plus pigment for color. It contains no water and no curing solvents — the ink cures through heat, not evaporation.

What temperature does plastisol ink cure at?

Standard plastisol cures at 320°F throughout the ink film. Low-cure plastisol cures at 270°F. The temperature must be reached throughout the ink, not just at the surface — undercured prints will crack and wash out.

How long does plastisol ink last on a shirt?

A properly cured plastisol print survives 50+ wash cycles without significant fade or cracking. Uncured prints fail in 1-3 washes.

Can plastisol ink dry out?

No — plastisol doesn’t dry by evaporation. It can sit on a screen overnight, sit in a bucket for years, and still print. This is why production shops choose it over water-based ink.

Do you need a heat press for plastisol ink?

You need a heat source that reaches 320°F. A conveyor dryer is standard for production. A heat press works for small runs, samples, and transfers. A regular household iron does not get hot enough to cure plastisol properly.

Can plastisol ink be used on polyester?

Yes, but use a low-cure formulation like our Extreme 270° Low Cure Plastisol Ink to prevent dye migration. Standard plastisol at 320°F will cause many polyester dyes to bleed into the print.

How thick should plastisol be applied?

Thick enough to cover the fabric weave. For most production work, a single deposit through 156 mesh is the right balance. White under-bases for dark garments need coarser mesh (86-110) for a heavier deposit.

Is Speedball ink plastisol?

Speedball makes both water-based and a small line of plastisol inks for the craft/hobbyist market. Speedball ink is not what most production shops use — their volumes and color range are limited compared to commercial plastisol lines.

How long does plastisol ink last in storage?

Unopened buckets of plastisol have a shelf life of 2+ years stored at room temperature out of direct sunlight. Opened buckets can be used as long as the ink mixes back to even consistency and prints cleanly.

What’s the difference between standard plastisol and athletic plastisol?

Athletic plastisol is formulated for fast flash cycles on production presses, plus low-bleed performance on polyester athletic garments. Standard plastisol is for general cotton printing.

Can you mix plastisol with water-based ink?

No. The two systems are chemically incompatible. Use one or the other, or use them in separate stations on a multi-station press with proper cleanup between.

Do I need to flash plastisol between colors?

Only when one wet color would lift or mix with the next. For lighter colors on light garments, you can usually print wet-on-wet. For dark garments with white under-base, flash the white before adding color hits.

Ready to print?

We mix plastisol in New Jersey, ship from New Jersey, and we’ll talk to you about your print if something’s off. Browse our plastisol lineup or call the shop:

• Browse our plastisol inks — house brand, mixed by us.
• Need help picking? Call us. We’ve seen the problem before.

Family-owned, customer service that actually answers.