Name: Linda
Message: I am a screenprinter and actually am looking for a dye or paste that can be used to remove pigmentation from the fabric sort of like "etching" with screens. Instead of laying ink down to make the design but remove the fabric pigment or bleach.  Needs to work with the screens in screenprinting.  Can you help?

Removing dye from fabric is called discharge dyeing, although dye itself cannot remove color. 

Discharging chemicals include ordinary household chlorine bleach, which is hypochlorite, and a host of different chemicals that produce sulfur dioxide on the fabric. Although chlorine bleach can be thickened just before use, I don't think it will work with screen printing screens, because it damages synthetic fibers such as polyester (bleach is also very damaging to animal-based fibers such as silk). The sulfur-based chemicals are more compatible with your equipment, but there are many commercially dyed fabrics and garments that cannot be discharged, no matter what chemical you use. Since the dyes used in commercial garments can and do change unpredictably, you will have to view each shirt as an experiment, unless the garments are guaranteed by your supplier to discharge (or unless you first dye it the original color yourself with a dye known to be dischargeable).

There is a form of discharge ink that is commercially available for screen printing, based on zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate, one of the sulfur dioxide-producing discharge chemicals. Here's a rather negative article that describes the challenges involved in its use:
"The Inadequacy of Discharge Ink (in Screen and Inkjet Printing)"
It's just as well to know the possible drawbacks before getting started. You should easily be able find suitable products with a web search, now that you know that you should search with the words "discharge" and "ink" together. There are inks available now that combine discharge step with a coloring step, at the same time.

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