Hunter777

So I bout a run of about 25 shirts from a local screen printer a while back. it was a black design on a white shirt. after about the second wash the design lost is bold look the ink had faded and the shirt was showing through. the printer i went through has been in buissnes for 25 years so i would hope they know what there doing. now i know that eventually the graphic will fade but i own an obey shirt that ive had for a little less than a year now and it has show no signs of fading but a little cracking if u pull on the shirt. my question is what is happening? are the under drying it? is it the ink? im pretty sure it was waterbased. well any help would be appreciated thanks alot for your time.
Logan Hunter
SI

 

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Hunter777

haha sorry about he typo's *bought not bout

 

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Solmu

Sounds like it was under-cured.

I wouldn't get too bogged down in 25 years of business. It could have been a one off mistake. They may have always sucked (it's amazing how long a poor business can prosper). They may have hired a new incompetent employee. They might be just "over" the whole print game. They might have a problem with their dryer that slipped through.

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Apostolica

Hi,
in the past I have had similar problems with fading with water colour inks when the fabric is a blend of cotton/polyester or polyester. The trick with water based inks is to try and not use any fabrics that require you to put in the ink any fabric additives, such as cold cure or synthetic fixure.
Have a look at what the shirt is made of and if it is a fabric blend of a sort you may be able to get the job printed again or your money back.
Hope this has helped you.
All the best.
Yours in printing.
Apostolica....

 

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vuego100

Might you be comparing a water based printed shirt with a plastisol printed shirt?

From my little knowledge I think the plastisol sits on top of the fabric and cracks over time and the water based ink sits in the fabric and fades to a more vintage washed out look over time....could be wrong tho

 

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Hunter777

thank you all so much for the advice i think it probably was under cured which is unfortunate
im pretty certain the shirts are 100% percent cotton and i was comparing an waterbased graphic to a pastisol. would you say that pastisol is more durable in the long run than a waterbased ink?

 

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