[mde24]

Bunch of questions about PreTreat and Heat Pressing various AnaJet DTG printed items (white and dark garments). Any help appreciated, hopefully other newbies can use this as well.

HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
edited/added question

When doing tanks, especially medium, small and XS i find that the arm ribbing or bottom ribbing end up in the 18x15 print area platform. I am not printing on them thats not the question.

Its more that when i place the square retainer on the garment those ribbed portions may be sticking up a little more (thicker) than the shirt garment at the bottom or corner. I do a height adjustment but when I go to print I get the ERROR that something is in the way.

I have had to lift the retainer and pull the ribs down in the corners or bottom ... how do I fix this, seems very very very finicky. Is this what the adjustable knob at the bottom is for, if so how should I go about, how much should I adjust, when done and going back to a Large do I adjust back?


PRETREAT INFO

1. Prior to pretreating the garment should you heat press it? If so if not, why, hows it help or not help?

2. Once you pretreat which item should you use to swipe the shirt and why, what are the benefits, personal exp., etc. (roller, paint brush, squeegee)? I tried a squeegee but it seemed to crimp up the shirt. I tried a roller and that seemed easier. The main purpose is to ensure the shirt fibers are in one direct and down, correct?

3. What do you prefer for drying and why (hang dry, heat press dry, something else)?

4. If you choose to heat press the treated shirt three questions. (1) what heat should you use and (2) do you place the heat press just above the garment or do you actually clamp down, and if you clamp down do you use parch paper on the shirt and (3) how long do you clamp or hold above for.

5. If you pretreat your shirts and then store them for later use, do you heat press the shirt again for 10-15 seconds right before you are ready to print on it?

6. How does storing pre-treated shirts for later use effect the fibers, again you want to keep them down I thought, wouldn't folding them or putting shirts on shirt effect that outcome or if you heat press it again before printing does that take out any moisture and put those fibers down again?


HEAT PRESS INFO
if needed I utilize a GeoK20

1. When you heat press a shirt right before printing on it, what is your heat set at and how long are you doing this for? Also are you clamping down or holding a little bit above the shirt? If you clamp do you use parch paper or is that only used for a designed shirt.

2. After a shirt is printed and you go to heat press it what temp are you using (white or dark garment) and how long are you pressing for (white and dark garment).

3. A shirt has a design on the front and has already been pressed, now you want to print on the other side. When you press the shirt before printing and then after printing should you put parch paper on the bottom of the heat press where the already printed design will be? I read you should move the shirt over where the design is under the platform but I find that messes things up when I am removing the nicely pressed shirt down or worse yet trying to get a printed shirt on the press, a part of the shirt touches the design and gets a little smudge?

WHITE INK PRINT QUESTION

I just started with my mp5i, i was doing some samples today and had a questions.

I did a 50/50 blend navy colored tee with a front design consisting of white, yellow, and light blue ink.

I watched the entire design print and noticed the following:

1) the white under base was printed
2) then the colors were printed, the blue and yellow ink

What i noticed was that the white ink in the design was only printed once, part of the under base printing before colors were applied. I noticed that the finished product wasn't really a complete white print, it still looked good but it goes into my question.

Is their a way that white ink would be printed again during the color phase? Can you do a second coat of white ink, is that possible.

I also think maybe because this was a 50/50 and one of my first pre-treated shirts that the final print wasn't perfect but again thought I would ask.

 

[MZDEELO]

Just wanted to let you know that I will answer all these questions for you tomorrow when I get in the office. It will be a logistic nightmare for me to do this all on my phone. Lol. I need my good ol mouse and keyboard.

 

[mde24]

thank you very much ... no rush, i am in the beginning stages and just doing various samples and trying different things out.

Thanks again for any info ...

 

[MZDEELO]

Re: AnJet DTG: PreTreat & Heat Press Info

My answers will be in RED.

HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
edited/added question

When doing tanks, especially medium, small and XS i find that the arm ribbing or bottom ribbing end up in the 18x15 print area platform. I am not printing on them thats not the question.

Its more that when i place the square retainer on the garment those ribbed portions may be sticking up a little more (thicker) than the shirt garment at the bottom or corner. I do a height adjustment but when I go to print I get the ERROR that something is in the way.

I have had to lift the retainer and pull the ribs down in the corners or bottom ... how do I fix this, seems very very very finicky. Is this what the adjustable knob at the bottom is for, if so how should I go about, how much should I adjust, when done and going back to a Large do I adjust back?

A really simple trick that I do when i print tanks or anything smaller then the table size is take 2 CLEAN ink cartridges. Lay them vertically in the middle of the table. Do a height adjustment. Your goal is to make sure that the seams don't get in the way of the printhead so that you are able to get a clear print. Heat press your garment. ALL of it. Especially the seams. Now that you have a nice flat garment carefully lay it on top of the ink cartridges. Now all the seams are folded over the cartridges and everything is flat. Unless you have an unsturdy table that sways when the printer prints, you will not need to worry about using a hoop. Also, depending how thick your garment is, you may need to manually adjust the table slightly lower.



PRETREAT INFO

1. Prior to pretreating the garment should you heat press it? If so if not, why, hows it help or not help?

No, you do not need to heat press the garment before you pretreat it. The samples team just take it straight out of the box and onto the table. You can lay them on the table in stacks. You dont need to set a shirt one by one. I would get another chair or table to put the newly treated shirts on. You can stack them wet but you can not let them dry that way. I'm not sure how you are drying them but drying them outside in the sun.. folded over (pretreat side up) on a clothesline works best. Tunnel dryers work too. If you are using the AnaJet pretreat solution, do not heat press the shirt right after you pretreat. This solution works best air dried in the sun.

2. Once you pretreat which item should you use to swipe the shirt and why, what are the benefits, personal exp., etc. (roller, paint brush, squeegee)? I tried a squeegee but it seemed to crimp up the shirt. I tried a roller and that seemed easier. The main purpose is to ensure the shirt fibers are in one direct and down, correct?

We dont like using rollers. If you are able to get an even pretreat and youre happy with the results, by all means go for it. We use the card squeegee to swipe the shirt. Hold the shirt by the top corner and while holding the squeegee horizantally, swipe the shirt downwards vertically to the bottom of the shirt. the start back at the top of the shirt and repeat the process.


3. What do you prefer for drying and why (hang dry, heat press dry, something else)?

I answered this in question 1.

BONUS PRETREAT TIP:
If you feel like you are still recieving dull results on your garments, try this ratio: 60-65% pre treat. 35-40% DISTILLED water. (it MUST be distilled. Even filtered water will screw with the chemistry of the mix) and a couple capfuls of distilled white vinegar. If you are mixing directly into you wager sprayer, add about 3-4 capfuls to the solution.



4. If you choose to heat press the treated shirt three questions. (1) what heat should you use and (2) do you place the heat press just above the garment or do you actually clamp down, and if you clamp down do you use parch paper on the shirt and (3) how long do you clamp or hold above for.

After the pretreat is dry on the shirt. Heat press the shirt when you are ready to print. You can do a batch of them but whatever you dont use and is left overnight, I advise to repress them because the fibers can start sticking up during the night. Heat press the area you are planning to print on. Clamp all the way down for 10 seconds. You dont need to use parchment paper if you are just pressing the shirt before you print.

5. If you pretreat your shirts and then store them for later use, do you heat press the shirt again for 10-15 seconds right before you are ready to print on it?

Yes. I can personally say that once you pretreat the shirts, they can store for a year. Possible longer, but I cant vouch for that since I've never used a shirt that was treated over a year ago. But we've treated shirts that got sent to a show in China. They finally came back by boat about a year later. Took them out of the box and they printed just fine. As long as they are stored where they are not exposed to moisture you are good to go.
I answered the second part of this question on question #4.

6. How does storing pre-treated shirts for later use effect the fibers, again you want to keep them down I thought, wouldn't folding them or putting shirts on shirt effect that outcome or if you heat press it again before printing does that take out any moisture and put those fibers down again?

To prepare for trade shows, the boys pretreat boxes.. I mean boxes of shirts. They stack the shirts in stacks of 10 so that they can keep count and fold the stack once (treated side up) and put them into a box. You can fit about 60 shirts into a box. When we recieve them at the show a week or two later, we just press them the morning of the show and use it for the entire day.

We are able to do that because of the type of shirt we are using. Heavier carded cotton knits (i.e. Hanes beefy T types) Would need to be pressed right before you print and wouldnt last very long before you would need to repress it. We highly advise to use 100% Ringspun cotton. (We like using SPECTRA but Hanes NANO will work the same) They have less fibers to worry about and its a tighter knit. STAY AWAY FROM GILDANS. GILDAN SHIRTS DO NOT WORK WELL ACROSS THE BOARD FOR ALL DTG PRINTERS AND INKS.


HEAT PRESS INFO
if needed I utilize a GeoK20

1. When you heat press a shirt right before printing on it, what is your heat set at and how long are you doing this for? Also are you clamping down or holding a little bit above the shirt? If you clamp do you use parch paper or is that only used for a designed shirt.

You can leave it at 330 degrees. No need to change the temps. 10 second full clamp down. No need for paper for prepressing. You dont need to press white shirts.


2. After a shirt is printed and you go to heat press it what temp are you using (white or dark garment) and how long are you pressing for (white and dark garment).

Dark...(any print that uses white underbase) 330 degrees for 90 seconds. If you notice the temp on your heat press fluctuates below 330 i would set it a bit higher like at 337 to counter act it.

White.. (any print that uses JUST CMYK inks: if you are doing a large batch of white shirts, then I would set it at 356 degrees for 40 seconds. Again, if it fluctuates, set it a few degrees higher.

If you are printing a mix of black and white shirts the white shirts can be pressed at the black shirt temp setting just fine.

3. A shirt has a design on the front and has already been pressed, now you want to print on the other side. When you press the shirt before printing and then after printing should you put parch paper on the bottom of the heat press where the already printed design will be?
NO.

I read you should move the shirt over where the design is under the platform but I find that messes things up when I am removing the nicely pressed shirt down or worse yet trying to get a printed shirt on the press, a part of the shirt touches the design and gets a little smudge?

Smudges occur because 1. the shirt folded onto itself during the time from you removed it from the printer to the heat press. A trick to help save you some headaches is that when you are facing the printer and take the hoop off, cross your arms and then grab the shirt. By doing this when you remove the shirt and uncross your arms the shirt is already facing you so that you can have more visibility the print.

2. when you put the parchment paper on, DO NOT SLIDE IT onto the shirt. That will cause smudges. Take the parchment paper, hover it directly above the shirt (close to the shirt) and then gently drop it down. (that is why you dont want to hold it too high above the shirt. Then clamp the press. That should help you with the smudges.

WHITE INK PRINT QUESTION

I just started with my mp5i, i was doing some samples today and had a questions.

I did a 50/50 blend navy colored tee with a front design consisting of white, yellow, and light blue ink.

I watched the entire design print and noticed the following:

1) the white under base was printed
2) then the colors were printed, the blue and yellow ink

What i noticed was that the white ink in the design was only printed once, part of the under base printing before colors were applied. I noticed that the finished product wasn't really a complete white print, it still looked good but it goes into my question.

Is their a way that white ink would be printed again during the color phase? Can you do a second coat of white ink, is that possible.

We NEVER print white twice. I would need to see photos of what you are talking about. it might just be how you did your settings on the rip. If you were to print white twice, it would drip off the shirt once you remove it from the platen.

I also think maybe because this was a 50/50 and one of my first pre-treated shirts that the final print wasn't perfect but again thought I would ask.

50/50 shirts will NEVER print a vibrant white compared to a 100% cotton shirt. The printer uses 100% waterbased inks made for natural fibers. Since 50/50 is cotton/polyester, the ink will not stick to the polyester and will "burn off" after you heat press it causing it to look dull.

If you were to print on a 50/50 light colored garment using only CMYK i would still advise to use the "poly primer" to keep the wash-ability. Again, waterbased ink for natural fibers. When you wash an un treated light garment that is 50/50 the parts where there is polyester will wash out since the ink cannot adhere to it. The poly primer will help solve this.

Added Tips

Since you asked me about front and back prints, i need to mention this. Do not pretreat both sides at the same time and then print.
the pretreat will draw to the insides of the shirt and when you print white ink on one side, once you heat press it it will pull to the other side of the shirt and ruin it.

Pretreat one side first. Let it dry. Print whatever you need to print on that side. heat press. Then Pretreat the back side and repeat the process. This also saves you time and money in case you screw up the front side of the shirt.. you didnt waste your time and pretreat on the backside...


Whew! I'm done. Hope this helps you out!

 

[mde24]

MZDEELO

First thanks for the reply, info really helps.

1. Your first reply about the ink cartridges for printing with tanks ... should I assume you are using two ink cartridges under the portion of the tank you are printing on, so the cartridges are acting as the flat surface correct? If I am printing say a full 10x10 design on a tank then I need enough cartridges or lifted surface under the area of the actual print correct? Just making sure I understand fully.


2. At the end you mentioned a "poly-primer", I apologize I am unfamiliar with this, what it is, when to use it, where to get it?


Again thank you, already printed out your replies and will continually reference back to them. Great job.

 

[MZDEELO]

First thanks for the reply, info really helps.

1. Your first reply about the ink cartridges for printing with tanks ... should I assume you are using two ink cartridges under the portion of the tank you are printing on, so the cartridges are acting as the flat surface correct? If I am printing say a full 10x10 design on a tank then I need enough cartridges or lifted surface under the area of the actual print correct? Just making sure I understand fully.

Yes thats correct. Doesnt need to be ink cartridges. Can just be something with a flat raised surface.


2. At the end you mentioned a "poly-primer", I apologize I am unfamiliar with this, what it is, when to use it, where to get it?

It's a primer to use for 100% polyester garments. I would use it for 50/50 as well. The primer is ONLY FOR CMYK PRINTS. Does not work for white ink. You can find it on the website store or call customer care about it. It's a tiny bottle (concentrate) that you mix with 64fl distilled water.)

Again thank you, already printed out your replies and will continually reference back to them. Great job.

You're welcome. By the looks of your questions, you havnt been to training. Not sure why you wouldnt before you get started but here is a link to AnaJet University Online. a condensed 2 hour video of training.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIBYkkH5f30

 

[mde24]

Thanks for the links I have been watching the online video ... good info in it, much harder though to ask the screen questions.

No training yet, distance to California and timing is rather difficult. Am looking at a trip to go to the one-day training, however and again the flight just for one day seems kind of crazy but from what I hear the training seems to be highly recommended.

 

[MZDEELO]

Thanks for the links I have been watching the online video ... good info in it, much harder though to ask the screen questions.

No training yet, distance to California and timing is rather difficult. Am looking at a trip to go to the one-day training, however and again the flight just for one day seems kind of crazy but from what I hear the training seems to be highly recommended.

Then bring your family and stay for the weekend! Plenty to do here in Southern California!

 

[mde24]

ha, its just me no family vacation to plan around ... been to California many of times, just hard in the schedule right now to plan a trip revolving around 1 Friday of training.

 

[pen554]

Great Info!