Hi I have been screen printing on and off since high school I have worked in three or four shops seen things done right and wrong, Anyways I am now running an M&R Gauntlet s auto and it is only a 6 color, I never printed wet on wet before and I need tips.
I have in an old shop been told to spray a lubricant on the bottom of the screen which does help ink getting picked up but it still seems like the wrong way to do things. I also have been reading about discharge printing as another option but the dryer does not get hot enough.
My new boss keeps saying wet on wet, every shop does it and they have no trouble with it.
the problem.
Any and all tips appreciated, the current job I am working on is a 4 color on black and needs a high light white along with an underbase If I could flash between the colors it would look great but I can't. I have no more head space for a flash and I am using the one flash to gel the underbase.
I have heard that I should have no trapping but right now the issue it with ink getting on the back of the screen, I have adjusted off contact and squeegie pressure, with no positive results.
Thanks
i got a few tips for u on this one.. first of all consider the mesh you are using.. if you are using and underlay and a highlight white, then you may wanna consider using a 230 mesh for the other colors.. Definitely at minimum 156 mesh.. also try and get your palletes hot by just running the carousel around with all print heads turned off and let the flash unit warm those palletes up.. the trick after all said and done with the press u are using is squeege speed and squeege angle. speed them babies up and angle the hell outa the squeeges.. the straighter they are, i have found, the more they tend to give nasty bleeding..
You can print wet on wet on dark or light shirts. The trick is to use high mesh- i.e. 230 or more screens. Also they need to be tight- the tighter, the better. With M&R machines you can use the "revolver" program to cycle the press around several times using the same flash for several different screens in your print order. It takes waay more time, but it works and you only have to have one flash.
Take this scenario; you have a 6 color design on black. Print the underbase, flash, cycle the press around once, print underbase again, flash, print 2nd color, print 3rd color, print 4th color, cycle press around, flash, print 5th color, print 6th color.
I use the revolver program a lot when doing dark- multi-color prints. While the press is cycling in auto mode, you dont even have to be there, you can be folding or stacking shirts, or doing something else productive. The press has an alarm that will let you know when your programmed sequence is finished.
the other colors are suppose to build up on the back of the screens. you only clean them when it effects the print. use a ink made for autos, that said i've had good luck using all purpose international coatings.
Wet on Wet 
