Professional Grade

Pigmento Waterbased Ink

High pigment load, high solids — the performance the factories rely on, in pots a small studio can actually use — the high-solids ink the trade runs, not the cheap water-based that let you down.

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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.

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.

Why it performs

What high pigment and solids do on press

Three things shift the moment you leave hobby-grade ink:

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

This is the one printers call the "holy grail" — getting white and bright colour to actually cover black instead of sinking in grey and patchy. Pigmento's high pigment load lays down opaque on black, navy and grey in a pass or two. Colour reads even brighter over a white underbase, but you don't need one to get coverage.

For workability —

Cheap water-based skins over in three to five minutes — long enough to clog your mesh and force you to stop and scrub mid-run. Pigmento stays open across a full run, so you can print, flash and print without it drying in. On hot days, a few percent of Retarder Gel extends it further.

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 —

The classic water-based failure is a print that cracks like an eggshell or fades out in the first wash. Cured properly, Pigmento sets to a flexible film that stretches with the fabric and holds wash after wash — soft, no cracking, no fading. Always wash-test to confirm your cure.

How to cure it — straight answer

The reliable, cost-effective way to cure Pigmento is a heat press or tunnel dryer — and we won't pretend otherwise. A bare iron or heat gun gives uneven heat you can't trust; that's cowboy stuff, and it's the gamble that cracks in the wash.

Only got an iron or heat gun? Add the Low-Cure additive — it drops the cure point so your iron or gun actually sets the ink properly, and faster. No heat at all? With the additive it cures on its own at room temperature over 24–48 hours.

Either way, always wash-test before you sell.

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.

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

Pigmento waterbased textile ink — four tubs in the ink lab

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Choose your colour and size

The same high-solids, high-opacity formula as our Opaque White — now in colour.

Colour: —
Size
Finish your kit (optional)
Quantity

Every run on the cheap stuff is another print that looks fine off the press and cracks in the customer's first wash — with your name on it.

Order today 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.

Pigmento is the direct-to-studio brand of SISS — Britain's largest screen-printing supplier. Made in England; re-order the same colour next year, with real people here when you need them.

Opacity on darksStrong — prints directly onto dark garments. A white underbase lifts vibrancy further, but isn't essential.
Cure1½ minutes at 165°C (330°F) — heat press or tunnel 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.

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. 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), and a heat press or tunnel dryer holds that comfortably. A flash dryer only dries the surface — it won't hold the heat long enough to actually cure. An iron or heat gun can't keep an even temperature across the print either, so on its own we don't recommend relying on one for anything you're selling.

Only got an iron or heat gun? Stir in the Pigmento Low-Cure additive (0.5–2%) — it drops the cure point so your iron or gun sets the ink properly, and faster. No heat at all? With the additive, prints cure at room temperature over about 24–48 hours; 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, a high-solids ink 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 high-solids ink the UK's biggest factories run, now sized for your studio.

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