Hello, I am new to this forum as well as DTG printing, got my Blazer Express in last week and have been working with it day and night. Everything is going well but one problem.
It seems there are thousands of little tiny fibers sticking up off the shirt and when I print white ink on a dark shirt, say black. The image looks terrible because the under base of white makes it seem like its not spraying the entire area. Basically right after a print, before the heat press, the image looks cracked all over from a distance but if you take a closer look you can see that all these black little fibers sticking up.
Is there a way to eliminate these fibers from sticking up?
Ive tried the following.
Heat Pressing the shirt for a few seconds from different temperatures ranging from 330F-345F, from anywhere to 3 - 10 seconds.
Heat pressing the shirt, pre treating it, then heat pressing the pre treat from different tempratures and times.
Even went as far as heat pressing the shirt, pre treating it, heat pressing it with the pretreat curing sheets, then pressing it with no sheet at all. Still nothing, the fibers insist on standing.
Anyone know of a way to get these fibers to lay down or burn off?
What kind of shirts are you using? Also what are you using to brush down your pretreatment with after spraying it on. What direction are you brushing your pretreatment in? are you brushing all one direction?
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
Haha that is too funny ok a little part of pretreating that maybe got overlooked hehe. I will tell you how I do it. First I apply a light mist of distilled water (with a spray bottle set to mist) this little trick will make sure you dont have any box from the pretreatment. Then I spray the pretreatment on going side to side and up and down but not too much. Then I use a boar bristle paint brush and I brush all the fibers in a down direction. I only brush down and no other direction. Then after I brush down and make sure my pretreatment is even, I heat press for around 10 seconds with quilan parchment paper, take off the paper and press another 10 seconds. Then I am ready to print There are 2 reasons you want to brush the pretreatment into the shirt. 1. you want your pretreatment even and by brushing you can make sure it is evenly distributed. 2. lol to make sure the fibers are flattened down so they dont stick up thru the print.
And dont feel bad you didnt know because it is amazing some of the smallest details that can make a difference and that get overlooked, and look you gave me a big smile in the process
Let me know how this works for you.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
Awesome this is great news and makes perfect sense!
Another couple questions popped in my head when you replied which is:
You mentioned 'the box' from pretreatment. I get this, I was told by support that the pretreatment washes out and that it will not be there anymore once washed. I tested it out and it seemed to be true but I did find that sometimes when I heat press shirts after they were printed I get the box from where they were pressed and it looks slightly discolored from the rest of the shirt, is that normal?
Also what kind of pressure are you using for pretreament when it comes to the heat press.
Thanks again, im sure you just solved every last problem I had with this Express!
If it is a colored shirt you will see a little discoloration but once it cools it should go away. As far as the pretreatment box, sometimes if it is sprayed too heavily it will be hard to wash out, but most times yes it should wash out. By spraying a light mist of distilled water on the shirt first usually you wont even see any box at all, even before washing.
I use light pressure for everything I do with my dtg, pretreatment and curing. If your using heavy pressure, your probably over doing it light pressure is usually all that is needed.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
I just wanted to let you know that I tried your method, and the first time I tried it improve the quality probably 40% or so. Then I adjusted the ammount of pretreatment i used, the pressure of my press and it has improved 10 fold! It looks amazing!
Here is what we do, it might not be as good as the brushing but seems to work.
Do the regular pretreatment spray, do regular press time, then flip over the parchment paper and repress shirt for 5 -10 seconds.
It seems the first time we press, pulling off the parchment paper sometimes pulls up the fibers and by flipping the paper and pressing alittle more it doesn't stick to the shirt and presses down the fibers.
That is the reason I do the second press for 10 seconds after I remove the paper, because it is dry enough after the first press to not stick to your platen. I find by pressing directly with the platen the second 10 seconds works best for pressing down the fibers well.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee www.brightlittlebeginnings.com
You could also try using a different brand of t-shirt. Ringspuns seem less prone to fibres sticking out.
I've found a t-shirt that doesn't require any more brushing of the pretreament. Also silky smooth and the white ink just loves pool (so now I drop it back to 720dpi layer, less ink, better washability).
Little Fibers Sticking Up Off Shirt any fix? 
ok a little part of pretreating that maybe got overlooked hehe. I will tell you how I do it. First I apply a light mist of distilled water (with a spray bottle set to mist) this little trick will make sure you dont have any box from the pretreatment. Then I spray the pretreatment on going side to side and up and down but not too much. Then I use a boar bristle paint brush and I brush all the fibers in a down direction. I only brush down and no other direction. Then after I brush down and make sure my pretreatment is even, I heat press for around 10 seconds with quilan parchment paper, take off the paper and press another 10 seconds. Then I am ready to print 
