REHANCE

What is REHANCE?

REHANCE is a patented print technology developed by Burlington Chemical Company and TS Designs. It has two distinct advantages:

  • it allows us to print light water-based designs on a dark shirt (click here to learn more about our water-based inks)
  • it does so in an environmentally-friendly way

How do other printers put light designs on dark shirts?

red plastisol ink printed on blue fabric

red water-based ink & REHANCE printed on white fabric then dyed blue

Most printers use plastisol ink to print a light design on a dark shirt. Plastisol inks have a couple quality and environmental disadvantages when compared to water-based inks:

  • they typically contain PVC (which emits dioxins during manufacture and disposal) and phthalates (which cause negative health effects), both of which leech into the wastewater stream after multiple washes
  • they leave a rubbery, plasticy feeling print on the shirt that is not breathable and will crack and peel away over time

So why do other printers use plastisol?

Mainly because plastisol inks are opaque and sit on top of the fabric which allows for a bright, light plastisol color to be printed on a dark shirt. Water-based inks, on the other hand, are translucent and seep into the fabric, which means they don't show up well if the ink color is lighter than the shirt color.

How does REHANCE solve this problem?

The REHANCE process requires that we print a white shirt, then dye it a color. When we print the shirt, we use the REHANCE chemistry to print an overlay over the top of the water-base-printed design. This overlay essentially "seals" in the printed design and, when we dye it, prevents the dye from covering over the design. It's sort of like using painter's tape on a wall, painting the wall, and then peeling that tape away!

The result is a bright, vibrant water-based print that won't crack, fade, or peel and is 100% breathable; you can't even feel the design! And it's more environmentally-friendly than plastisol.

Note how the REHANCE-printed red in the graphic to the right becomes part of the fabric, whereas the plastisol ink creates a plastic, rubbery layer on top of the fabric.

Learn More

To learn more about how REHANCE works, check out this page.