Discuss the different plastisol, discharge and water based screen printing inks on the market. Share tips on getting the best results with the different ink manufacturers.
for some reason, i can never get my white to look like this
were you can still see the cotton weave and its white. usually it looks like this
is there something im doing wrong? is there better ink? what exactly do i have to do to make my prints look like the first picture without having to use discharge?
if its a simple white on black image try heatpressing the shirt when your done. reheats and smooths out the ink. just a quickie fix for a few. longer runs may need further help
there are other methods - more with ink mixes and stuff. type of fabric, drying heat etc...
thats a problem most printers have when printing white...myself included...I have noticed if I lower the squeegee angle to about 65 degrees it helps minimize this..but I still havent found a way to get it totally smooth like the first pic...also the shirt quality has a lot to do with it too.
I print with alot of pressure and a 65 degree squegee angle then flash the come back with less pressure and a higher squeegee angle ..about 80 degrees...seems to help also.
ive read some article and i think the term use for this is "fibrillation"..from what ive read it says that this occurs when not enough ink is deposited on the shirt..maybe that explain why making the angle to 65 minimizes this problem due to more ink deposit..
High tension screen, any mesh count will work (you might have to double stroke the higher mesh counts) thick stencil, 1/8" off-contact, good print technique/stroke, make sure and clear the mesh of any ink or particles, then p/f/p. We still have issues with fibrillation from time to time but it usually comes with a certain type of shirt, or if we are forced to use a less than perfect screen.
If you're a manual printer you probably pull the squeegee toward you. if you notice the screen mesh is probably still buried in the ink film so when you pull the screen up you're also pulling up the ink and the fibers of the shirt. It's important that the screen naturally peels away from the ink film bfore you raise the screen. Try setting your screen at an angle/ and push the squeegee giving a natural peel.
the other possibility is the first print is rubber ink. the first layer gives excellent fiber matte down
Great example of a "good" print though. That is exactly what I'm trying to achieve.
Heading out to the shop to try new inks in a few minutes.
There are a ton of contributing factors to printing white on dark. Take your time, and make 1 change at a time. Don't change to a new screen, ink, and technique all at the same time.
I would like to know what was used for the OP's 2nd example. What ink, mesh, stencil thickness, number of passes, etc.
That looks like most of my P/F/P results with a 1/1 screen, and any of the 7 whites I've tried. If I go P/F/P/F/P there's no black but still some fibers.
What shirt also.
Last edited by 13Graphics; October 7th, 2009 at 01:35 PM.
is this because of ink or printing error? 
