So I have sold some shirts and they have been done for over a week. I cured them with my flash dryer. A few people have washed them and they said the ink came out. Is it ok for me to flash cure the ones people have not worn yet? How long should I heat them for?
If the shirts are under cured, you should be able to save them. We just had the same thing happen to us.
To make a long story short, my employee didn't understand that a pull test meant pulling like heck to see if the ink cracks. He had gotten the impression that if the shirts handled a gentle tug, that the shirt was cured following going to a store and testing the shirts in the store which also failed a strong tug.
To fix the problem, i used a heat press to assure the ink would get a good reflow. For a heat press we used 330 degrees for 20 seconds. To be safe, we put transfer paper between the image and the heat press.
Following pressing, the shirts fully passed the pull test. Even the shirt which was washed and started to fall apart would pass the stretch test.
To re-cure with a flash dryer, i'd start off with a good distance between the flash and the shirt, so the heat could build gradually. For my flash, this might mean 6" for 60 seconds. Following this, give it a pull test. Since 60 seconds is more than ample, drop the height 1" and try another shirt for 60 seconds and give it a pull test.
When you perform the pull test, pull the hell out of it. If the shirt is properly cured, it will pass.
fred
Presently I am curing with a flash unit. It's not in the budget at this time, but I plan to get a dryer hopefully sooner than later. Not knowing until recently, I was drying the shirts on the platens and just found out that 2 of my 4 platens have warped. What do you put your shirts on to cure them?
Thanks!
I was drying the shirts on the platens and just found out that 2 of my 4 platens have warped. What do you put your shirts on to cure them?
Anything but the platen. Non-warpable countertop, stool, ironing board, stand, etc. Using your platen not only risks warping as you have found out, it can also affect your printing results on subsequent shirts because you are laying ink onto a super hot surface.
Anything but the platen. Non-warpable countertop, stool, ironing board, stand, etc. Using your platen not only risks warping as you have found out, it can also affect your printing results on subsequent shirts because you are laying ink onto a super hot surface.
HELP!!!! 
