What is Vintage T-shirt Printing

Today there seem to be a lot of trends becoming popular again. From crop tops to fanny packs, it almost feels like we’ve hopped in our DeLorean and popped out in the mid-’80s. There’s something cool about looking back at old trends and revamping them into your ideas. Here at GetBold, we can help you do that with a method we call Vintage printing.

So what exactly is vintage printing? To create a vintage look to your design, we add a reducer to regular inks to make them thinner and appear faded. We can control how faded the print appears depending on how much reducer we use and how many times we lay down the ink. This has many benefits for you, including a softer print, feel, better washing, and it looks super cool. This option is if you want a washed or worn-out look, something unique and fantastic for your brand, or like that smooth print feel.

Want to take your print even further? Add a distressed effect to give your design the punches of grunge you’re craving. Distressed effects make the print look broken up and cracked, and we can apply a wide variety of versions.

One of the best parts of Vintage printing is that it looks great on so many different items. It prints well on all t-shirt types, including 100% cotton, Polyester/Cotton Blends and Tri-blends. If you want to up the cool factor, we recommend this type of printing on a Heather body. Heather items have a speckle in the body that adds to the vintage experience. It gives the print a multi-tonal look that makes your design stand out.

If you’re going for this, but you need some guidance, look no further! At GetBold, we work hard to help you find the best printing methods to make your design look fabulous. Want to be a bit more hands-on? Check out our handy reducer chart. This chart shows the percentage of reducer we can add to get the exact effect you want. It’s pretty simple, the more reducer you add, the more faded your print! Typically, most reduced prints are done at the 30% mark as it still shows the ink colour but blends well with the t-shirt body. Click the image on the left to zoom in.

At GetBold, we’re happy to help with your design or print questions. Check out our Help page for all the methods you can use to get a hold of us.