bobbob1982

Hi I've been printing t-shirts for a few months now and I am using a mix of union and sericol plastisol ink they are printing fine it's just I am not quite happy with the end result I don't no how the ink should feel once cured. I have seen a lot of printed t-shirts and the ink feels very rubbery and smooth the only way I can describe my prints are they feel very ruff like sandpaper am I doing something wrong with my curing or do I need to use an additive in my ink. Once I have cured my ink my prints have a very glossy crystal like effect to them I know water based inks are soft to touch but I would rather use plastisol am I doing something wrong thanks.

 

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thutch15

I know when my dryer gets to hot then it causes the ink to be glossy...also some of the inks are made to be glossy.

 

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KaceMN

Your stroke will improve with time and you'll get a smoother overall finish when that happens. I'm 2 years in as a printer...and I can guarantee that simply acquiring a better stroke through repetition has made me 10x better than I was initially.

Getting the ink to fully clear the screen on the first pass is a big part of it...the sooner you can get to the point where you're achieving full, even coverage out of your first stroke, you'll see a huge improvement.

Also, my inks appear too glossy if I have to make unneccesary, 2nd and 3rd coats of ink...and (as mentioned above) if I cure it to high a temperature. When I got a conveyor and started curing at 340 for 30 seconds (rather than curing quickly at 370 using a flash), I saw a huge improvement in feel and look.

 

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MarshallA

Sounds like your screen mesh may be to coarse especially if your printing on light colored garments. If so a little reducer will ease the force needed to clear the screen and allow more penetration of the ink.

 

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