Have you ever had a need for custom printing? Now there is an eco-friendly company that can fulfill these needs. Ecoprintworks uses sustainable organic products, from t-shirts to totes, and water-based inks for their screenprinting. Ecoprintworks is one of the few companies that uses Permaset Aqua, a solvent free, water-based ink from Australia.  Most printers use PVC-based plastisol ink.  PVC is largely regarded as one of the most harmful of plastics.  Permaset Aqua are Oeko-tex certified class I meaning they are safe for children’s garments under two years of age.

Plastisol inks have been the standard in the screen-printing industry for good reason. They are quite easy to work with and provide great color representation. The downside is that they are based off PVC (generally agreed upon as the most environmentally damaging plastic produced) .

Water-based alternatives were out there, and we gave them all a shot. Besides being a very finicky lot, the color opacity was underwhelming to say the least. Furthermore, most contained significant amounts of distillates – negating some of their supposed environmental benefits.

That’s why we were so excited to come across Permaset Aqua – the new 100% solvent free, water-based ink from Permaset – the industry leader of fabric printing inks in Australia for the last 40 years. Not only were our new prints softer to the touch, but they passed the color spectrum tests with flying colors. (Gone too were the noxious fumes that used to permanently occupy the work floor.)

As one customer wrote:

Ecoprintworks was an ideal printer for our promotional gear because they provide a service that jives with our environmental commitment. When we received our beautiful bags, we were ecstatic. Needless to say, we’ll be back.

I think it would be fun to have a child’s artwork or commemorate a milestone, such as a birthday, with a custom printed product.  Ecoprintworks offers free custom artwork and free shipping, and best of all, there are no minimum orders!  Printing on organic cotton or bamboo fabrics with water-based inks makes Ecoprintworks the most eco-friendly custom screenprinting company I have encountered.