Discharge Printing Bandanas

Discharge printing bandanas

Bandanas Online uses a specialized water-based ink system, commonly referred to as “Discharge Ink Sets” or “Discharge Printing”. The benefit of discharge printing custom bandanas is the super smooth and virtually “hand free” feeling that the ink set offers.

Unlike other inks used for T-Shirt printing, these water-based inks are so light weight that you can wear the design facing your body and not be irritated. This is why bandanas should be printed with water-based inks.  Bandanas are worn on the neck, face, arms, legs etc. and as such, should not pose any issues for the person wearing them.

There are two types of discharge prints that we offer.

 

Method #1 – Discharge Printing Bandanas (No Pigment)

Discharge screen printing is essentially precise bleaching.  The discharge aspect of the print process enables us to remove the original pigment of the bandana and replace it with a new pigment or leave it in it’s natural state. When we say “no pigment”, what we mean is that we discharge print your design into the bandana fabric by simply leaving the natural color of the fabric behind.  In effect, we “bleach” your design into the item. Or though of another way, we chisel the ink out of the fabric and leave your design in it’s place, and since the fabric is naturally bone white, that’s the color of your design.

This type of discharge printing is the most nuanced, and therefor causes the most confusion. There are a few factors that cause confusion when using no pigment.

  • Factor #1 – When discharging and not adding pigment, the end result is the natural color of cotton, which … surprise … is not white. It’s actually “off white”. Many customers expect a bright white with discharge printing, but if you want that, you have to add white pigment, otherwise, the end result is a bone white color. 
  • Factor #2 – Not all colors discharge perfectly. For scientific reasons beyond my current understanding, Red, Purple and All Blue Shades, don’t discharge down to the natural color of cotton, they leave more of a “muddy” yet cool looking result. Hence the chart above, which shows you actual photos of discharged bandanas by color.
  • Factor #3 – Since discharge is a water-based ink set, it will soak through to the back and reveal a mirror image of the printed art on the front of each bandana. However, this is more of a side effect of using discharge inks than a feature. As such, we can not control the amount of soak thru that occurs. Often, customers find this effect desirable, but it is not something that we can enhance or reduce, it simply happens.

Method #2 – Discharge Printing Bandanas (With Pigment)

If your custom printed bandana requires any color other than the natural color of cotton, including if you want bright whites, then pigments have to be added. Consider pigments as dyes that replace the color that we take out of the bandana with the discharge process.

It’s important to dispel a rumor about discharge printing. It is a common belief that discharge printing has no feel to it. That however, is incorrect. Discharge printing without adding pigments i.e. Method #1, will yield a bandana with no feeling to it. As soon as you add a dye to the process, there will be a slight feeling to the print.

If you are familiar with what a plastisol T-Shirt print feels like, you can understand the reference that discharge printing with pigments added feel about 90% less intrusive than plastisol inks.  I would classify this in the category of “virtually no feel” to the print.  This also gets better after several washing of the bandana.

Please review the chart above to get a general idea of how discharge printing without pigment added will show on your bandanas. Keep in mind that monitors do their best to replicate actual colors of both the bandana and the discharge print, but they are not exact colors.

If you are interested in ordering Discharge Bandana Printing No Pigment or with pigment, please consider giving us a call (908) 806-8337 or email us today.