[BIGRICH74]

Okay, hello again TSF. A customer just brought a shirt that came out of and order of 36 and the top half of the design came off after the first wash....I had a similar problem a few weeks ago and you guys were a great help. Only this particular order was done before the advice was needed on my last post. So I asked him to bring me back the remainder of the shirts that were still new.
My question is, Can I get that order and dry it again and perform a stretch test since they are still new? Is there a window that re-drying has that I need to follow?

Hope this makes sense. Thanx guys and gals.

 

[tlbays]

Hi Richard

If it is plastisol ink and you believe the problem to be under-curing,
you can complete the fusing of the ink at this point with a proper cure.

For further assurance, note that plastisol transfers rely upon this "two-stage" ability.

Happy trails!

 

[Celtic]

Okay, hello again TSF. A customer just brought a shirt that came out of and order of 36 and the top half of the design came off after the first wash....I had a similar problem a few weeks ago and you guys were a great help. Only this particular order was done before the advice was needed on my last post. So I asked him to bring me back the remainder of the shirts that were still new.
My question is, Can I get that order and dry it again and perform a stretch test since they are still new? Is there a window that re-drying has that I need to follow?

Hope this makes sense. Thanx guys and gals.

First, yes, it sounds like you didn't fully cure the entire shirt.
Secondly, the term you want is to 'fully cure', not dry. And yes, you can fully cure them now.
Do you have a temp gun? If not, you really want to get one. It will take that guessing out in the future as to whether or not your shirts are fully cured.
Remember not to do the stretch test UNTIL you fully cure. Otherwise you will get cracking.

My guess is that you were using a flash unit to cure your shirts. And, that the design was larger than the heating element of your flash.
Keep in mind that the outer perimeter of your flash may not be heating the shirt to the same degree as the center of your unit.

Buy a temp gun, you won't be sorry.
Do frequent stretch tests especially if you continue to cure with your flash.
You don't want customers continuing to have problems. They won't all be so understanding.
Bad word travels fast. Protect yourself and the reputation that you're building to be a good one.

 

[BIGRICH74]

Thanx.. I am drying, oops,I mean curing , with a flash. I do have a heat gun but bought it after this order was already done. Since I purchased the heat gun gun I have been paying extra attention to the curing method as far as reaching the proper temp and the stretch test.

 

[RespecttheCraft]

I use a flash for curing as well. i cure at about 5 -6" and cure for about 45 - 50 seconds and have no problems. I also let the flash sit over a tabletop, which becomes very hot as printing goes on and acts to create de facto oven, which i feel facilitates the curing process.

I used to use a heat gun and had horrible issues with uneven curing and washout, also scorching the substrate and overcuring. not to mention it takes forever.

 

[Celtic]

Thanx.. I am drying, oops,I mean curing , with a flash. I do have a heat gun but bought it after this order was already done. Since I purchased the heat gun gun I have been paying extra attention to the curing method as far as reaching the proper temp and the stretch test.

When I said 'temp gun' thats to read the temperature as you're curing your shirt.
A heat gun produces heat.
With a temp gun, you will know for sure if all of your areas have reached proper temperture.

 

[BIGRICH74]

Yes, I got what you meant. I don't have a heat gun but a Temp gun to make sure I reach proper curing temp. Thanks for the advice.

 

[latitude42]

use your temp gun to test different areas of the shirts.. when I was using a flash some areas would be 300 while others would be 360.. I ended up moving the flash a little while curing... now I just throw the shirts on the 30" x 8' workhorse and forget them...
Latitude42

 

[corradomatt]

Just a side note.....

Curing with a flash dryer (or heat gun for that matter) can be very tricky. When I first started screen printing, I used a flash dryer because I couldn't afford a conveyor dryer. It worked fine for most jobs, but on any large designs I usually ran into problems.

I had an 18x18 flash dryer and whenever the image was 16" or larger I would have problems with the edges of the image washing out. There was always enough ambient airflow on the edge of the flash dryer to under-cure the image.

For anything where your image is getting close to or larger than the size of the flash unit I definitely recommend curing the image in sections. Just be careful on lighter garments that you don't scorch the fabric.

Here is a good IR Laser Thermometer for cheap.