Printing on black shirts and other dark garments presents unique challenges. White ink must cover the fibers completely to appear bright and resist dye migration over time. Poor ink selection can lead to dull prints or poor wash durability.

At One Stroke Inks, we help printers produce bright, durable prints on dark garments every day. Choosing the right ink and printing process makes all the difference.

Plastisol Ink Is The Most Popular Choice

For most dark garment printing, plastisol ink remains the preferred option.

Plastisol provides:

Water-based inks often require a discharge underbase or additive on dark fabric. DTF inks bleed heavily on 100% polyester. Plastisol will always be the most dependable option across all fabrics.

Why Dark Garments Are More Difficult

Fibers show through the ink on dark garments much more than light garments. Plastisol sits on top of the fabric so it delivers more coverage than many other ink systems. We offer several series designed specifically for fiber matte-down. MIA White or ELT-X White will work great on those fuzzy hoodies.

Unlike white shirts, dark polyester fabrics are heavily dyed. This dye is released and absorbed by the ink causing it to appear faded and dull over time. Good bleed resistance becomes extremely important when printing on dark polyester-containing fabrics. For the most difficult fabrics, like sublimated polyester, we offer ELT Digital Gray and Black Underbases for maximum bleed resistance.

What Is The Best Series For Dark Polyester Fabric?

For most printers, high-opacity colors paired with a quality white deliver the best results on dark polyester. To understand the best ink series for the job, determine the polyester content of the garment. For most 100% polyester, something from our ELT Line is the preferred option.

As the polyester content decreases, printers are more likely to want something softer, stretchier, and geared more toward coverage for fibers like our Hybrid Pro Series.

Do You Need A White Underbase?

White ink is often the foundation for printing on dark garments. A good white underbase allows colors printed over it to remain bright and accurate.

Most bright colors, regardless of the series, benefit from a white underbase when printed on dark garments. Without one, reds, yellows, and other light colors may appear dull because dark fibers show through the ink or polyester dyes eventually bleed into the colors. A white underbase creates a bright foundation that allows colors to stand out and last over time.

Which White Ink Makes The Best Underbase?

The best series for a white underbase depends on the coverage of the colors printed on top of it.

General-purpose options like 480 colors benefit from a smooth, flat underbase white. Super Smooth White and Underbase White are great options to pair with colors from the 480 Series.

High-performance options, like ELT-S colors, have extra opacity that helps colors remain bright on a white underbase. This allows printers to choose a white underbase that is designed for the garment without worrying about how the colors will appear on top.

If a particular ELT-S color does not cover the white underbase, then you are likely using a transparent shade and we recommend switching to our ELT-S Gray Underbase. This ink helps neutralize the underbase and allows the transparent top color to remain as true to the intended color as possible.

Mesh Selection Matters

Heavy white inks generally perform best with lower mesh counts. It allows more ink to pass through the screen without having to stroke it multiple times. The white underbase screen has far less detail than the colors that go on top. For this reason, it does not require as fine of a mesh.

Color screens often require more detail and finer mesh. The best practice is to use as low a mesh count as the artwork will allow. The goal is not to use as little ink as possible; it is to produce quality prints with bright colors.

If a top color is printed too thin over a white underbase, it will not be the intended color. Printers will more than likely have to flash and stroke the color again to keep the white underbase from showing through. This method creates more density and bulkier prints.

Matching the mesh count to the ink and artwork helps produce smoother prints and better coverage.

Final Thoughts

Plastisol is the best type of ink for dark fabrics without a doubt. Successfully printing dark garments requires knowledge about fabric content, ink selection, and good printing techniques.