Print Like a Pro with the Best Silkscreen Inks for Paper and Fabric
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To get the best results from a screen-printing press, you need a reliable ink that has consistent flow, low tack, and longevity. The type you buy will depend not only on what material you’re printing on, but also on how much time you want to spend prepping and curing the ink. You might even want to buy different kinds of ink depending on the project. Our picks below will help you find the best silkscreen ink available in a growing market.
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How we pick each product:
Our mission is to recommend the most appropriate artists’ tool or supply for your needs. Whether you are looking for top-of-the line equipment or beginners’ basics, we’ll make sure that you get good value for your money by doing the research for you. We scour the Internet for information on how art supplies are used and read customer reviews by real users; we ask experts for their advice; and of course, we rely on our own accumulated expertise as artists, teachers, and craftspeople.
ARTnews RECOMMENDS
Speedball Professional Acrylic Screen Printing Ink
If you need to print on paper, wood, or cardboard, consider Speedball’s acrylic ink formula. These water-based inks offer amazing coverage in addition to smooth application and a fast drying time. Choose from about 30 colors, including fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark ones! Each can also be mixed with ease to create more colors. The ink spreads smoothly, presents vibrant tones, and showcases even consistency for solid and clean coverage. It also stays wet for a good amount of time and makes for easy cleanup.
Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Ink, 32-Ounce, Fluorescent Blue
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Nazdar 5500 Series Flat Poster Screen Ink
If you’re making serious, professional-grade posters, consider using a solvent-based ink like Nazdar’s. Compared to water-based formulas, they are more durable and lightfast, and they’re also more resistant to external elements. Nazdar’s ink comes in brilliant, opaque colors that are best used on cardboard and paper stock. They dry in about 30 minutes to a velvety matte finish that looks sophisticated and clean. You can use it straight from the can or tweak the formula with Nazdar’s retarder, transparent base, or extender base. The ink comes in gallon cans—ideal for large-scale work or high-volume poster makers.
Nazdar 5500 Series Flat Poster Screen Ink
STUDENTS’ CHOICE
Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Ink Starter Set
Beginners might consider purchasing this user-friendly set of inks from Speedball, which is ideal for printing on fabrics, particularly common light fibers like cotton, polyester, linen, and rayon. You get six basic colors in four-ounce jars—black, red, blue, white, green, and yellow—and each can be mixed with ease. Although less viscous than Jacquard’s product, these inks offer amazing coverage in addition to smooth application and a fast drying time. Once the ink is heat-set, it won’t bleed, peel, or flake off the base fabric even after it’s been washed. Cleanup is also a breeze with this water-based ink.
Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Ink Starter Set, 6-Colors, 4-Ounce for T-Shirt and Silkscreen Printmaking
TOP OF THE LINE
Jacquard Screen Printing Inks
Jacquard’s product is a professional-grade and archival-quality water-based ink that will look stunning whether you are printing on fabrics or paper. It’s sold in a set of six or as individual jars. The latter option is nice if you need to build a specific palette, and while the cost can start to add up, the top quality is immediately apparent. These buttery, pigment-rich inks have a longer open time than lesser products, allowing you to be more precise and careful with your process. They can take a while to get used to, as they are quite thick, so you might try experimenting with adding water or an extender to achieve your ideal viscosity. But they blend beautifully, dry with a slight sheen, and will help you produce consistent batches. Used on fabric, the results are safe to wash many times over once properly heat set and air cured for at least 72 hours.
Jacquard Screen Printing Inks
ALSO CONSIDER
Ecotex Water-Based Standard Ink Kit
These bright and vivid inks from Ecotex can either be used alone or as discharge inks, with the addition of the brand’s discharge powder. Due to its thin formula, you can use it on high mesh counts to produce very fine image detail. You can achieve soft-hand printing or excellent coverage without a bulky finish. Easy to mix and compatible with natural fibers, ideally 100 percent cotton, this ink must be cured at 320 ˚F. Choose from 16 colors, available in 16-ounce containers.
Ecotex® Water Based Standard Ink Kit for Screen Printing 6 – 8oz Ink Bottles by Screen Print Direct
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Brought to you by the oldest and most widely circulated art magazine in the world, ARTnews Recommends helps you make the choice that suits you best from products in hundreds of art and craft supply categories. Our offerings are based on intensive research, interviews with artists and craftspeople, and the accumulated experience of the site’s editors and writers. We provide trustworthy and helpful advice about materials to artists ranging from beginner to professional.
1. Speedball Opaque Screen Printing Ink
Bold, easy to apply, and reasonably priced, Speedball’s water-based inks are at the top of our list. These are truly opaque colors that will show up even on dark surfaces, and they can be used for printing on fabric, paper, and cardboard, This set comes with six four-ounce jars in red, yellow, blue, silver, black, and a pearly white. They can be mixed to create more colors, and they dry quickly with a subtle, pleasing sheen. They’re ready to use out of the jar and flow easily through screens. If you’re printing garments, the colors will last after many washes as long as you heat-set them properly—simply use an iron to heat each side of the fabric for several minutes.
Speedball Opaque Screen Printing Ink
2. Ecotex Plastisol Ink Set
Ecotex’s product is a plastisol ink, which is an ink composed of a thick plasticizer and PVC resin. Compared with water-based inks, these have better color vibrancy, are easier to cure, and have a heavier body; in fact, they’re a standard in the garment industry. We like Ecotex’s product for its creamy consistency and easy workability—unlike water-based inks, they won’t dry during the printing process. It sets well into fabric without building up, retains color accuracy, and cures at 320 ○F. Printed fabrics emerge from the washer and dryer without fading, and the designs should last as long as the base material does.
Ecotex Plastisol Ink Set
3. Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Ink
If you need to print on paper, wood, or cardboard, consider Speedball’s acrylic ink formula. These inks offer amazing coverage in addition to smooth application and a fast drying time. Choose from 30 colors, including fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark ones! Each can also be mixed with ease to create more colors. The ink spreads smoothly, presents vibrant tones, and showcases even consistency for solid and clean coverage. It also stays wet for a good amount of time.
Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Ink
4. RapidCure Plastisol Ink
This is another plastisol ink, but it cures at a lower temperature of 270○F, which reduces the risk of harming heat-sensitive fabrics. As its name suggests, it also cures quickly, which helps you save time. Like Ecotex’s ink, this one is creamy, smooth, and easy to spread. Keep in mind that because it has a very low viscosity, you may go through more ink, particularly if you’re working with darker fabrics.
RapidCure Plastisol Ink
5. Jacquard Screen Printing Ink
Jacquard’s product is a professional-grade and archival-quality water-based ink that will look stunning whether you are printing on fabrics or paper. It’s sold in individual jars, so if you need several colors the cost can start to add up, but the top quality is immediately apparent. These buttery, pigment-rich inks have a longer open time than lesser products, allowing you to be more precise and careful with your process. They can take a while to get used to, as they are quite thick, so you might try experimenting with adding water or an extender to achieve your ideal viscosity. But they blend beautifully, dry with a slight sheen, and will help you produce consistent batches. Used on fabric, the results are safe to wash many times over once properly heat-set and air cured for at least 72 hours.
