Colormaker has introduced an ink to its Permaset range which puffs up when it is cured, adding a three-dimensional effect in screen printing.
Permaset Puff Paste has a creamy consistency on application and can be mixed with other Permaset Ink colours or Permaset Concentrates to deliver a coloured puff effect.
It “dramatically” swells upon heating to produce a vertical rise, providing a raised, textured feel to the finished print, which can be used for emphasising parts of a design.
Permaset Puff Paste can be printed on a full range of fabrics including cotton, polyester, silk and most synthetics. Screen mesh sizes of 32T-43T are required for most applications.
It is now available from UK trade distributor Steve Wood Services, the York-based supplier of screen print products.
Permaset Puff Paste has been used for printing T-shirts, yardage, homewares, flags, sports and fashion wear, scarves, window furnishings, cushions, tea towels and tote bags.
Puff prints can be used to highlight one or a few vital elements of a design such as making a basketball pop out of a sports logo or a company name stand out on a corporate shirt.
Puff prints can also be used to emphasise text prints. With Permaset Puff Paste, ordinary printed text looks bolder and thicker and stands out within a larger design or other text that may be included in the design.
It can also be used to add textures all over the shirt such as dots, squares or other shapes. It can accent certain details of a design in one colour, or make a one-colour image pop.
Puff prints have also been used to create tactile Braille designs for the visually impaired.
The more Puff Paste added to the mix, the greater the 3D effect although the colour saturation decreases.
When curing Permaset Puff Paste, the prints need to be first air dried or heated at 60C (140F) until dry. Once it is dry, it has to be cured for four to five minutes at 145C (295F) for the best print performance.
Colormaker’s Permaset Inks offer a range of special-effects inks for decorating garments including glow-in-the-dark effects and sparkle effects.
Pictured: T-shirt printed with Permaset Puff Paste by Midnight Press in Cheetham Hill, Manchester
