screenprinters & tie dyes
an article from
Feb 2002
Impressions magazine
back to screenprinters info
An Artful Twist Taken from Impressions magazine Feb.2002
There's a widely believed myth in the screen printing world that tie-dye is a fad
with no substantial profit potential. But proactive screen printers who print
on the bright, hand-made designs say making such an assumption can cost you lots of
potential customers-and the money that comes with them.
Backgrounds To The Forefront
Tie-dye hit the mainstream as a niche product-and tie-dyers discovered a vibrant market-
when apparel decorators began to see tie-dye not solely as a decorating technique
but as a background for their own designs.
So basically instead of buying a black shirt,
you're now buying a background built around a graphic.
When you put background and graphic together,
they blend and look like an integrated piece.
While the same hand-dyed method is still used today, advances in printing techniques
have given screen printers the option of printing basically anywhere on the shirt.
Most importantly, dyers no longer have to leave a blank, white area for the screen printing.
When true four-color process was a big deal, back in the mid-90s bullet holes were really important
because they would actually print true four-color process in the white area. But with simulation on darks,
and with all the white bases that everyone is putting down, it doesn't seem to be as big an issue
as it was in the past. Though the path of tie-dye from art to fashion seems relatively obvious now,
what really prompted screen printers and embroiderers to look to tie-dye as a new revenue source?
Perhaps the same factor that lies behind most business decisions-customer demand.
People want it.
Customers are even willing to pay more for a tie-dyed T-shirt when they realize it is hand dyed.
People understand that it is worth something because it is a hand craft.
Tie-dyed shirts have always been handmade, making it more of an art than an industry-
one that many will pay extra for. The process of creating a tie-dye shirt is an intricate chain of steps
involving tying a solid shirt and applying dye to create the unique, colorful designs.
The higher perceived value makes tie-dye lucrative and attractive to screen printers and retailers alike.
Screen printers are also finding success in tie-dye because it sets a shirt apart from solid-colored apparel,
especially when the customer wants to promote an event or brand.
What Every Screen Printer Needs To Know
Because tie-dye shirts are hand crafted, the field isn't open to the unskilled. "You have to have a knack,"
says Shiver, explaining the challenges facing newcomers to the industry. "It's not something you can just start up
and you're immediately producing."
Often, a shirt dyer must undergo six months of training.
Recently, tie-dyers also began to recognize that the screen printers who are their main clients might not be familiar
with the essentials of tie-dye. So dyers are creating shirts specifically for easier screen printing
without sacrificing the quality of the finished product;
and they are extending some essential education.
When choosing a tie-dye vendor, there are several things screen printers or embroiderers should look
for in the finished blank shirt. The first is feel the shirt and make sure the substrate is smooth
and test print is even. It should feel just like a regular cotton T-shirt. Perhaps the most important
question a screen printer should ask is if the shirt is dyed with pigment dyes or fiber-reactive dyes.
The difference between the two methods is crucial for a decorator, as it wil affect the quality
of the screen printed image.Pigment dyes are ink colorings similar to a water-based screen printing ink.
"You take a glue, attach it to the shirt all around, and then put the ink on top of the glue,"
Mark says. "You are no longer printing on cotton as your plastisol inks were pretty much designed to do."
The fiber-reactive method, however, involves soaking the shirt in a chemical solution that activates
the fibers to absorb the dye directly into the fabric."
"Fiber-reactive dye is basically the same kind of dye
that is used in a standard garment dye procedure, or even a yarn dye or piece dye."
It is a chemical that bonds permanently to the fibers so it leaves no residue.
There are several way to tell whether a shirt is pigment dyed or fiber-reactive dyed
just by looking at it. "Fiber-reactive ends up with a smooth, saturated look to it.
And pigment dye looks kind of crackled, almost like a surface print." The crackled appearance
results from the fact that pigment dyes are applied on top of the shirt. The dyes do not saturate
the shirt like fiber-reactive dyes do. "Because the tie-dye is folded and twisted, when the pigment ink
is applied, if you were to look through a magnifying glass, your substrate now has peaks and valleys."
Another way to tell the difference is to check the inside and outside of the shirt.
Because the ink on a pigment-dyed shirt does not fully saturate the fabric, the inside
will be a lighter shade than the outside. It doesn't weave through the fibers, it lays on top.
You'll notice too that if you flip the shirt over, it's a little lighter on the interior than the exterior.
It doesn't soak all the way through. Because of this difference, more and more screen printers
are requesting fiber-reactive shirts over the pigment tie-dye. Many of the dyers using the
fiber-reactive dyes are trying to educate people that fiber-reactive is better. Its starting to
slowly trickle up to the buyers, and the buyers are requesting it. So more people are requesting
fiber-reactive dyes, and more dyers are starting to have to dye that way.
Into The Future
So where is tie-dye headed? Apparently, it will continue to flow straight to the screen printer.
Schools are increasingly ordering tie-dye shirts from screen printers in their school colors
with the logos emblazoned on them. The growing casual work force is also influencing the types of
apparel now getting the tie-dye treatment.
But perhaps the consumers of tomorrow are the biggest guiding forces for today.
"The kids are really
a big part of the market," Marks says. "They like the bright colors."
So what about the more traditional markets for tie-dye, such as the resortwear and travel segments?
They're still viable markets, but the colors requested for tie-dyes are changing.
The major difference now in the resort market is it is shying away from some of the bright, loud,
knock-you-down rainbow color themes. It is getting into things that are a bit more subtle, that can be
imprinted easier with name drops and different things. They're just a little more conservative, but still
not a solid color. The toning down of the traditional brightness of tie-dye seems to be seeping
through other market segments as well. And tie-dyers are responding to this with more subdued colors
such as earth tones and pastels.
All in all, the tie-dye and decorating markets form a cohesive relationship that should benefit tie-dyers,
decorators, and comsumers alike. And with the increase in attention comes the push for new and different products.
Hand in hand with that notion is the fact that the mainstream public has finally embraced tie-dye,
and the more new designs and applications appear, the more it will be incorporated into all levels of fashion.