Since its development in 1959, plastisol has been the most common preference for clothing decoration within the apparel industry for the past five decades.
Admired by manufacturers for it's Great colour opacity, clear graphic detail, practicality and almost effortless ease to work with.
It's a fairly simple process of layering a thin sheet of plastic over the surface of the chosen fabric and allowing it to set.
Although this material is great for the manufacturer, it's really the individual that discovers the pitfalls with this method of production through simple wear and tear.
Since the base component is plastic, they demonstrate the same flaws and weaknesses as other plastic based products; they're sensitive to heat, developing cracks and flake when dried repeatedly on high temperatures, and everyone knows how frustrating they can be when caught under the grip of a red hot iron.
The other main problem with plastisol is that it can't capture truly fine artistic details and also has a number of unpleasant environmental side effects.
For a long time though, plastic based inks have been the most commonly used material in apparel decoration, the main tool of choice for clothing manufacturers to make quick, cheap, mass produced t-shirts.
The tide is turning however due to innovative new developments and technological advances within the world of water based ink printing and artistic designs.
Unlike plastic based inks, water based screen printing isn't layered directly over the fabric.
Instead, it's actually absorbed into each and every fibre, allowing the shirt to stretch and breathe the way it naturally would before decoration.
In stark contrast to plastic based inks, these prints are soft, delicate, detailed and nearly imperceptible to the touch.
Often not being able to tell where the prints end and the dyes begin.
The fabric retains its breathability and the prints themselves last a lot lot longer than those made by traditional methods of production.
All of this comes down to the fact that a shirt produced with these inks are generally of much higher quality, are easier to look after and are a lot more comfortable and enjoyable to wear.
A wide range of special effects can also be achieved when using water based inks, since it's easier to capture fine artwork and precise detail.
Some of the most beautiful prints out there are made with these impressive looking materials and work with them is usually reserved for rich yard-long tapestries or adding designs to warm thick towels.
While it's true these inks had their flaws originally - the inability to print well on dark shirts, slow cure times, and a tendency to dry in screens if left overnight - these problems have all but been eliminated by advances in modern technology, allowing for much more stunning designs and breathtaking artwork to be printed onto smaller fabrics and with much greater efficiency and precision.
Water based inks can routinely and reliably produce prints that are far superior in quality than their plastic counter-parts, while at the same time maintaining their much more stunning and breathtaking results.
If you're interested in impressive effects and comfortable, environmentally friendly fashion, water based ink designs are definitely the next big thing to look out for within the constantly evolving and ever popular, apparel industry.
While shirts produced with these inks may be a little more costly, the extra value is definitely worth every penny.
See for yourself and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by the impact a splash of water can make.