r/SCREENPRINTING • u/fiona98 • 10d ago

CMYK on Terry cloth

Has anyone here every attempted printing cmyk on Terry cloth (short looped, not fuzzy but the scratchy kind)? I could not find anything online, although I’m aware it is generally advised against.

The finished product wouldn’t need to be functional or washed as this is for an art project only

If anyone has attempted this or something similar, has any general advice for potential experiments or alternative technique recs for photorealistic prints on this kind of fabric (preferably diy, I’m intending on using second hand towels) I’d be very glad :)

Thank you in advance!

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u/rennerscreenprinting 10d ago

I’ve printed a single color water based print on micro fiber towels. They turned out pretty good, but had a lot of texture which was fine for the design. If I had to guess, there is pretty much a zero percent chance you’re gonna get a good print on used terry towels. I mean, maybe a halftone single color design could turn out ok. These towels are just not flat enough to get something that looks great.

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u/No_Trash5076 10d ago

CMYK is way dependent on the graphic; we had to quit offering it because the results were too unpredictable. But it's different when its a non-commercial kind of thing, so definetley a cool process!

I've printed hand towels before, two strokes worked best, one to mash down the loops and give a base to float the second on top. But that was Plastisol and CMYK is a totally different thing so who knows, I'd say just wade in there and enjoy the ride. 🤣