The ink of the invention comprises a mixture of finely subdivided polyethylene powder, an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon solvent, a dispersing agent, an indicia material additive such as a dye or pigment and/or a physical property enhancing additive such as alumina, glass beads, silica, metal flakes, etc. Preferably high and very high molecular weight polyethylene is used, alone or in mixture with lower density polyethylene in amounts from 25 to 45 weight percent in the ink. The polyethylene can have a particle size from 1 nanometer to 150 microns, preferably from 0.1 to 100 microns.The printing ink can be used to prepare a transfer having a decorative layer printed onto a carrier sheet. Various printing methods can be used to prepare the transfer such as gravure printing with etched or engraved chrome-plated or copper rolls; flexography printing with a flexible printing plate; and screen printing. The preferred method is screen printing. The printed layer is thermally treated to remove hydrocarbon solvent.The transfers are applied to the surfaces of molded polyethylene or polypropylene parts with adequate heat, pressure and time to fuse the transfers into the walls of the parts. For this application, the transfer is applied by a commercial hot-stamping, reciprocal press which heats the transfer to temperatures from 450° F. to 650° F., and compresses the transfers at a controlled pressure from 500 to 1000 psig. against a molded part, melting and fusing the transfers into the wall of the molded part.