Several varieties of water-based inks work well for printing on fabrics which stretch.

For white or pastel colored fabrics, try sublimation transfers or transparent water-based inks. Medium and pastel colors, elastic water-based inks can be used effectively if they have sufficient density to hide the substrate color.

Open weave substrates which allow the ink to coat individual threads are printed well with opaque water-based inks which have fair to good stretch. Tightly knit fabrics work better with super elastic heat transfers than direct print inks.

Use an ultra soft pad on the pallet and/or a very thick stencil for best results.

Author: Charles Leach
Source: SGIA Journal, Q4 1999, p. 22-27.