Thin. Washed-out. Cracked in the wash.

It wasn't your technique. You were using hobby-grade ink.

Switch to the professional grade the factories run, and your prints finally do what you pictured — solid coverage on black, colours that pop, a finish that survives the wash.

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Studio pots from £29 · 30-day money-back guarantee

Pigmento ink printed on a black tee
  • Made in England
  • PVC-free
  • Oeko-Tex certified
  • Same-day UK dispatch
  • 30-day Money Back Guarantee

The real reason

There are two tiers of water-based ink. You've been printing with the wrong one.

The same design printed with hobby-grade ink on the left — dull and patchy — and the professional grade on the right, solid and vivid

The same print — hobby-grade ink (left) vs the professional grade (right).

Hobby grade

What you've been buying

  • Mostly water, light on pigment and solids — built down to a shelf price.
  • Soaks into the fabric like a stain, so white and colour come out thin on darks.
  • Dries in the screen mid-run and clogs your mesh.
  • Cures brittle, so the print cracks and washes out.

Professional grade

What the factories run — and what's in this pot

  • High pigment load and high solids — the expensive part that actually does the work.
  • Lays down a dense, opaque layer, so it covers dark cotton in fewer passes.
  • Stays open on the screen long enough to finish a full run.
  • Cures to a flexible film that stretches with the garment instead of cracking.

The factories that print for the biggest brands have always used the professional tier. Pigmento is that exact ink — now in pots sized for your studio.

"I'll never use hobbyist inks again."

Billy

Why it performs

Covers in fewer passes. Stays open on the screen. Survives the wash.

High pigment load and high solids — the same professional ink the factories run, in pots a small studio can actually use.

Close-up of a crisp white Pigmento print on a black garment in raking light
For coverage —

Pigmento colours lay down solid on dark cotton — black, navy and grey. Pastels and mid-tones cover cleanly. Bear in mind colours always look more vibrant over a white underbase, so if you can, we'd recommend one — but it's not essential.

For workability —

It stays wet on the screen far longer than cheap water-based, so you can print a full run without the ink drying in and clogging your mesh mid-pull. Add the Retarder Gel for even more open time on hot days.

A squeegee pulling ink across the screen on the Pigmento press
Thick white Pigmento ink lifting on a palette knife from an open pot
For durability —

Cured properly, the print stays soft and survives repeated washing and stretching — no cracking, no fading, no peeling.

Seen on the press

Proof, not promises.

The same professional ink the UK's biggest factories run — made in Barnsley since 1978, by the country's market-leading trade supplier.

Opaque white Pigmento ink laid solid on black cotton

Solid white on blackOpaque white, laid down on black cotton in a single colour — the objection most printers raise first.

A cured Pigmento print stretched by hand without cracking

Flex without crackingThe cured print stretched by hand. It moves with the fabric and settles back.

A Pigmento print after a domestic wash, colour and feel intact

Through the washThe same print after a domestic wash. Judge the colour and the hand-feel for yourself.

"I've only got room for a one-colour press — being able to print colours straight onto black tees is insane."

Will

Buy 3, get 1 free — applies to all products.

Pigmento waterbased textile ink — four tubs in the ink lab

Configure

Choose your colour and size

High opacity, vibrant colour and a soft feel — in eight professional-grade colours.

Colour: —
Size
Finish your kit (optional)
Quantity

Order by 1pm for same-day UK dispatch

The Wash-Test Guarantee

Print it, cure it, wash it. If it lets you down, you're covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

Buy 3, get 1 free — applies to all products.

Made in England by a 30-year market leader. Re-order the same colour next year — real people, here when you need them.

The professional-grade ink trusted across UK industry, backed by SISS — Britain's largest screen-printing supplier. Here when you re-order.

Opacity on darksStrong — colours print directly onto dark garments. Bear in mind they look more vibrant over a white underbase, so we'd recommend one if you can, but it's not essential.
Cure1½ minutes at 165°C (330°F) — heat press, flash or conveyor dryer. Always do a wash test to confirm your cure.
Low / no-heat cureAvailable with Pigmento Low Cure Additive (0.5–2%). At room temperature, full wash-fastness develops over approximately 48 hours — condition prints before washing.
Pigment & solids12% pigment load for bright, vibrant colour; a high-solids base for full, solid opacity.
Mesh32–77 threads/cm (86–210).
SqueegeeMedium, 65 Shore, rectangular profile.
Print setup3–4mm off-contact; pre-heat pallets to ~70°C (158°F). Flash between colours when printing large or layered areas.
SubstrateCotton and poly-cotton.
CleanupWater and mild detergent.
StorageCool, closed, between 5°C and 25°C (41–77°F).

Suggested partners

Complete your bench

The additives and companions that round out the kit. Buy any three items, get a fourth free.

Pigmento Premium Squeegee

Premium Squeegee

A medium blade for clean, even strokes across the run.

Details →
Pigmento Aluminium Screens

Aluminium Screens

Pre-stretched aluminium frames. Pick your mesh count and frame size.

Details →
Pigmento Mixing Cups

Mixing Cups

Graduated cups for measuring additives and mixing colour. Sleeve of 50.

Details →
Pigmento Premium Pallet Knife

Premium Pallet Knife

Stainless blade for mixing additives and lifting ink cleanly.

Details →

What printers say

Don't take our word for it.

I've only got room for a one-colour press — being able to print colours straight onto black tees is insane.
Will
I didn't know water-based could be this good.
Max
I'll never use hobbyist inks again.
Billy
Amazing service, super fast — everything exactly how I needed it. Will definitely use again and again.
Tom Gittins
Delivered an incredibly unique and awkward colour for us on a super tight turnaround. The service was amazing.
ESP Merchandise
Quality ink supplies, mixed to a specific Pantone order. Went above and beyond to meet client deadlines. Would 100% recommend.
South of Heaven

Straight answers

The questions every printer asks first.

The honest version — including the bits cheaper inks gloss over.

This is the question every water-based printer asks first, because most inks let them down here. Pigmento is the professional tier — a high-solids base loaded to 12% pigment, not a thin hobby paste. White and the opaque colours lay down solid on black and navy cotton; pastels and mid-tones cover cleanly in a single pass.

You can print the colours straight onto dark garments. Bear in mind they'll always look more vibrant over a white underbase — so if you can, we'd recommend laying one down first, but it's not essential. Don't take our word for it: there's a real white-on-black print further up this page. Judge the coverage yourself.

A print that survives the studio but dies in the customer's wash is the worst outcome there is — so we built this page around proof, not adjectives. Cured properly, Pigmento stays flexible and moves with the fabric, so it stretches without cracking and holds its colour through domestic washing. The stretch and wash shots above are real prints, not renders.

The one non-negotiable is the cure. Under-cured ink is what cracks and washes out — so whatever your kit, always run a wash test on a scrap before you commit a real garment.

Cure is 1½ minutes at 165°C (330°F). A heat press or flash dryer reaches that comfortably — you don't need a conveyor. An iron or heat gun struggles to hold an even temperature across the whole print, so we don't recommend relying on one for anything you're selling.

No heat source at all? Stir in the Pigmento Low-Cure additive (0.5–2%) and your prints cure at room temperature instead — full wash-fastness develops over about 48 hours, so condition them before the first wash. Either route, confirm it with a wash test before you scale up.

Ink drying on the mesh is the classic water-based frustration — and the reason a lot of printers drift back to plastisol. Pigmento is formulated with workable open time so it behaves like a screen ink, not a race against the clock.

For long runs or a hot studio, stir in the Pigmento Retarder Gel to slow drying further and keep the ink open in the screen. Between pulls, flood the screen and keep it covered, and you'll lose far less to drying.

Fair — the real risk isn't the price per pot, it's committing real money to a litre of ink before you know it suits your press. So Pigmento comes in studio-sized pots from 250ml (£29): prove it on your own setup first, then scale up to 500ml or 1L once you trust it.

And every pot is covered. Print it, cure it, wash it. If it lets you down, you're covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

This isn't a new mystery brand. The commercial trade brand behind Pigmento has supplied the UK industry for 30 years — the market leader, trusted by the biggest print factories in the country, the ones printing for major global brands. The ink in the pot is MagnaPrint, made in Barnsley since 1978 — the same professional tier those factories run by the drum.

Pigmento is our venture to bring that same ink to smaller studios: studio-sized pots instead of 120kg containers. So the colour you mix this year is the colour you can re-order next year — same formula, same source, and a real person to email if you get stuck. Made in England, here when you come back.

Print like the factories

Stop fighting your ink. Start printing with the professional tier.

You've seen the proof, the pedigree and the guarantee. The only thing between you and a print that covers, holds and feels right is the ink in the pot — and that's the one thing we've fixed. Same professional-grade ink the UK's biggest factories run, now sized for your studio.

Configure my ink

Print it, cure it, wash it. If it lets you down, you're covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.