The 8 Best Black Printing Inks (2023 reviews)

If you often find yourself scrambling for good ink, speedball black printing ink should be your first option for buying. The Speedball fabric block printing ink requires no heat set to get a permanent result. It comes with a wide variety of bold, opaque colors to choose from, and you’ll always have a color for every project.

This block printing ink really pops when you use it on paper and cardboard too. It is designed to be pressed into the fibers. The Speedball fabric block printing ink is safe for adults and children to use. It is no need for smelly solvents or harsh chemicals.

It dries quickly without doing anything.

Why We Like This:

Colors will dry to the touch overnight
Allow 7 days for ink to fully cure before washing and drying
Goes on a little transparent for dark fabric
Available in 14 colors including metallics

Best For Use: Speedball Professional poster Black Ink

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The speedball professional poster black ink is capable of outshining several other ink featured in this list in overall features in its price range. There’s no better place to find top-performing screen printing inks at a great value than Speedball. The Speedball professional poster black ink is a water-based, non-toxic acrylic screen printing ink. It is designed for screen printing on signs, posters, and fine art prints. It cleans up easily with soap & water.

It comes with unrivaled open time, speedball acrylic screen printing inks provide artists with the ultimate flexibility to create without worry. Colors print with richness and are ideal for use on paper, cardboard and wood, not suitable for printing on fabric.

Why We Like This:

Available in 30 colors including process, fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark
Ideal for printing paper, wood, and cardboard
Beautiful color on a light base otherwise it sheer on a dark base

Best For wood Block: Sax Black Printing Ink

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The sax black printing ink is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily usage. This ink does not need linseed oil for thinning because it is water based. The Sax true flow block printing ink is bold, bright, applies smoothly and dry evenly. It features bright colors which apply smoothly and dry evenly. It’s water soluble and will stay soluble.

This ink can not be used on metal. It cleans up with soap and water so it would be great for class projects and would probably work fine on most paper. It is ideal for use with linoleum, wood blocks, polyfoam or flexible vinyl plates.

Why We Like This:

Inspire students to work toward a common creative goal with a group art project
Works great washes off easily with water didn’t even need soap
Delivers what they promise

Best For Fabric: Smalltongue Black Printing Ink

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The smalltongue black printing ink is the best reliable ink on the market today. It can't be used as calligraphy ink with dip pens. It has added moisturizing agent and anti-blocking net agent, which is more suitable for manual screen printing, of course it can also be used for machine printing. It adds to the opacity. The ink is completely dry, and the color will not fade even if it is washed in a washing machine.

Why We Like This:

You can clean it easily even if it gets on your body
Non-toxic and gentle to the skin
Activate your diy genes and complete the masterpiece
Very suitable for clothes, pants, etc

Best For plastic: Sax Great Ink

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The sax great ink's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. Sax art supplies give students the tools they need to help them on their artistic journey. It builds confidence, encourages creativity and teaches the importance of working as a team. It is ideal for use with linoleum, wood blocks, polyfoam or flexible vinyl plates. The non-toxic, water-based formula cleans up with soap and water for classroom convenience. It cleans up quickly and easily with soap & water.

Being that it's water based, it washes off very easily. The additional avenues of communication opened by collaborative art may make it easier for educators to understand and develop individualized strategies for their students with special needs. The tube is so much more convenient than the tub kind.

Why We Like This:

Great ink, rolls out nicely and goes a long way
Produce brilliantly colored prints at budget prices
Cleaned up easily w soap, water and minimal finger scrubbing
Bright, true flow colors apply smoothly and dry evenly

Best For silkscreen: Marabu Black Printing Ink

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The marabu black printing ink's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use. These Marabu screen printing inks are thin and are transparent colors. They are easy to use, easy to spread and clean up easy. The paint slides easily across the screen. The tubes are a double edged sword. These colors mix well together and apply smoothly.

The Marabu ink layers well for the different look of layers of transparent ink. The paint itself is pretty easy to work with and isn't difficult to cure. They are able to mix to create every color of the rainbow.

Why We Like This:

Goes on great, spreads easy, and didn’t fade with washing
Colors can also be mixed for use
You can wash this easily out of your clothes or hands

Best For metal: Jacquard Black Printing Ink

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This water-based screen printing ink is specially formulated to provide an extended open time in the screen, allowing you ample time to work. It won't wrinkle paper when printing artwork. For permanence and durability, heat set the ink when using fabrics. This ink works well with most surfaces including fabric, paper, plastic, vinyl, leather, metal and more.

Why We Like This:

Archival and lightfast with superior detail and coverage
Dry-cleanable and extremely washfast on fabric after heat setting
Good investment for long term

Best For Screen Printing: Jacquard Screen Printing Ink

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This water-based screen printing ink is specially formulated to provide an extended open time in the screen, allowing you ample time to work. It is great for screen printing. It is for permanence and durability, heat set the ink when using fabrics. This ink works well with most surfaces including fabric, paper, plastic, vinyl, leather, metal and more.

Why We Like This: