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aguynamedwade · April 23rd, 2007

We recently had silkscreened t-shirts made. It was a six-color process. The person who made them had registration and color problems and ended up hand-painting a good deal of the image on each shirt. (It was his first time with a six-color job).

When we washed them for the first time, half the color came off--it looks like maybe the top two layers. And one white layer is peeling up.

The person who made them claims that he simply didn't cure them long enough or at a high enough heat and he says that if we return the shirts that we haven't yet washed (the ones that look fine, that is), he can re-cure them and then the color and image will be permanent.

As you may imagine I am now a bit skeptical, but I don't know anything about the process, so I can't verify or dispute his claim on my own. I checked the "Quick How-To in Screen Printing" and that post seems to suggest that as long as he got the temperature to 320 degrees it should have been ok. The person who made them is saying that because it is six-color he thinks he needs to do it longer or hotter than he normally would for a one color process.

Here are my questions:

Do you think that the hand-painting might have contributed to the image coming off in the wash?

Can silkscreens be cured twice? Or should we simply write off these t-shirts and start again?

Any thoughts you have on this will be very gratefully received.

fullthrottlewear · April 23rd, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by aguynamedwade


	We recently had silkscreened t-shirts made. It was a six-color process. The person who made them had registration and color problems and ended up hand-painting a good deal of the image on each shirt. (It was his first time with a six-color job). When we washed them for the first time, half the color came off--it looks like maybe the top two layers. And one white layer is peeling up. The person who made them claims that he simply didn't cure them long enough or at a high enough heat and he says that if we return the shirts that we haven't yet washed (the ones that look fine, that is), he can re-cure them and then the color and image will be permanent. As you may imagine I am now a bit skeptical, but I don't know anything about the process, so I can't verify or dispute his claim on my own. I checked the "Quick How-To in Screen Printing" and that post seems to suggest that as long as he got the temperature to 320 degrees it should have been ok. The person who made them is saying that because it is six-color he thinks he needs to do it longer or hotter than he normally would for a one color process. Here are my questions: Do you think that the hand-painting might have contributed to the image coming off in the wash? Can silkscreens be cured twice? Or should we simply write off these t-shirts and start again? Any thoughts you have on this will be very gratefully received.

You can run the shirts through the conveyor again to cure them. See if they have a temp gun to shoot in at the shirts to make sure the shirts are curing. Be careful with light color garments. If its to hot they mite get some burn marks. Hope this is some help!

Fluid · April 23rd, 2007

Yes running the shirts through he dryer will work yet if some of the white ink came off it sounds like the underbase was cured thus the top colors will not adhere properly. After a couple of washes you'll probably have the same results. Good luck