Need to Register?

Basement Ink · April 25th, 2007

Hello Forum Friends,
I just finished my second big job (big meaning 80 shirts.) I was doing a single color design on the front and one on the back. The mesh I used for the front was a 110 and the ink was international custom color which was an avacado green.

Here's my beef. My prints aren't smooth. They are a little rough. Sometimes the thread shows through. I feel like my off contact is good and I tried different pressure on my strokes, but I always got the same results. I'm stumped. Any advice?

Basement Ink.

Fluid · April 25th, 2007

Sounds like you printing on a light colored shirt? If so you may want to use a higher mesh frame. We only use #110 mesh for dark shirt prints or specialty inks such as high density and gells.

A higher mesh will lay less ink on the shirt resulting in a softer feel. More than likely you will get a smoother print as well since your not dumping tons of ink.

Also what durometer blade/squeegee are you using? Is it an old one? This can effect the print as well.

neato · April 25th, 2007

Did you mix the green? You didn't happen to use a lot of high opacity yellow or white ink, did you?

If so, you need to really make sure you're clearing all the ink from the screen when you print. Sometimes this takes 3 or even 4 passes of the squeegee. You can also experiment with different squeegee angles.

davisint · October 9th, 2007

It sounds like the mesh is not releasing from the screen. When the print stroke is completed is the mesh released or do you have to lift the screen to get it to release? If the mesh is not releasing the problem could be off contact, mesh tension, or squeegee angle. A sharp squeegee with an upright angle will help shear the ink off.

ImageIt · October 9th, 2007

Stir the ink, stir the ink and stir the ink some more.

Squeegee twice, flash and Squeegee twice again.

This should give a high quality result.

Once you are sure that each shirt you produce will look great, start to play with the settings and techniques, especially the coverage from the first squeegee.

Choice of squeegee seems very important. I'm not sure what measurement it is, but i've got a couple of squeegees which is a sandwich of green, white, green. It is very stiff because of the middle material.

fred