[mustfly]

I'm getting lots of white flecks within colors after printing on black and dark hirez HOP, which is a profile I normally use because of the vividity of the final colors. Now, even on ringspun, I'm getting lot's of white flecks, which when viewed from the side before curing, appear to be little fibers sticking straight up,...getting coated with white underbase, and then laying down ON TOP of the surrounding color, causing white flecks to appear. What's the problem all of the sudden with this profile. Got 4 beautiful white and 4 beautiful color channels, so I'm definitely getting the ink. Also using IA dark shirt pretreatment. This literally cropped up just within the last couple days and is irritating the s#!t outta me. See pix. Any remedies would be greatly appreciated

 

[23spiderman]

this is directly related to your pretreat method. right after i spray, i flatten the fibers of the shirt with a plastic squeegee (some use a Wooster paint brush), then i put it on the heat press with heavy pressure which dries the pretreat on fibers that are already laying flat. this method has virtually eliminated those pesky fibers from standing up. the only other place this can happen in your process, is if the sheet you are using on top of the shirt sticks to the shirt. this will pull up a ton of fibers. make sure when you lift your press that the paper slides right off without sticking. you may need to up the time of the first press, flip the paper, then just give it another 10 seconds or so.

 

[KristineH]

Sean, like a screen print squeegee?

 

[mustfly]

Hey Spidey ! I suspected pretreatment without mentioning it in my post so somebody on the same sheet of music might confirm. Thanks amigo. I've never used a roller, although I've read it many times in this forum. I suspect I might not be using enough pretreatment, as I just converted to IA from Dupont and have fallen victim to "muscle memory" when it comes to applying the IA. It takes quite a bit more than I'm used to. Two days ago I was very meticulous in slowing down my pretreatment (Wagner) passes,....I think I sped things up yesterday without really intending to and voila! specks all over my product. I've noticed that with IA the shirts need to be quite a bit wetter, but it's so much easier equipment,..my legs,...my hands,...my clothes,...the toilet seat in the shop bathroom (shower stall converted to pre treatment booth),...you know...sticky, sticky, sticky. Thanks again.

PS. I also seem to be treading a fine line between which colors the LIGHT IA is intended for, because it doesn't take much to leave that yellow green stain. Any suggestions along those lines?

 

[mustfly]

PPS. Sean, are you talking a blade type squeegee? Will a small hard plastic roller work equally well?

 

[mustfly]

PPPPPPPPPPPPPS. Now that I think about it,...the squeegee is brilliant,...pushes the fibers down without the risk of a roller standing them right back up as it rolls past after flattening. Am I on the right track with that reasoning?

 

[23spiderman]

no go on the roller. attached is a pic of the squeegee. it's what is used to apply sign vinyl. just lightly smooth the shirt in one direction several times.

as to when to use the light shirt IA, i don't really have a guideline. all the lighter shades, plus charcoal and orange would be a good starting point.

 

[mustfly]

Thanks again Sean. Got a small squeegee at Ace today,...soft blade 6" wide,..been swiping twice, from top to bottom very lightly to lay the fibers down. Much obliged pard !

 

[UNERA]

Could too much white underbase make the same to happend? (White spots coming thru)

Erik


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[mustfly]

I doubt that too much underbase would be the CAUSE of white flecks. It's more likely going to cause bleeding of the color layer once it's laid on top or cause poor adherence after curing, which in turn would relate back to pretreatment rather than an printing/ink volume issue. The rip software can only lay down ink (color or underbase) in volumes that are established within the profile settings, so it's unlikely that you can get too much white down unless you instruct the rip software to repeat the white pass only, in which case you could get too much white and the resultant poor curing results. My $.02

 

[mustfly]

What is the possible cause of the flecks and chips of ink that you see in the photo. They are only occurring AFTER curring. When I lift up my teflon cover sheet, they are there. Printing is beautiful,...no flecks, solid underbase and color. Curring is causing these. What is it?

 

[23spiderman]

from my experience, it's your Teflon sheet. the Teflon will repel 100% of what it touches, so if it moves, ever so slightly, on your shirt, this is what you will get. i've had the same thing happen on white ink and on cmyk only prints. this is why i quit using the Teflon sheet.

the best paper i've used is Kraft paper from Stahls. AA sells it as well.

 

[spiderx1]

I have seen this issue several times. And several things can contribute. First Sean is talking about a sign vinyl squeegee. They are very stiff not soft. U get them from sign supply stores. Basicly what's happening is a wicking of the white ink thru the fiber sticking up bringing the white to the surface (thanks eric). This is allowed to happen due to not raking fibers prior to pretreat cure, cure paper sticking after pretreat, not dry enough, not enough pressure on pretreat, not enough pretreat , over used cure paper. If you only see after ink cure then this is usually overused cure paper, or combo to heavy pressure combined with heavy underbase and to shirt cure time prior to lifting paper and pulling color off white. So yes this happens a lot more with high res due to heavy ink underbase. So use correct amount of pretreat, rake fibers, use heavy pressure for pretreat and light for ink, adjust cure times to reduce paper sticking to shirt, replace cure sheets often and don't use same sheet for ink and pretreat.

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[mustfly]

I think I've got it dialed in. This problem was eliminated by hovering for 30 seconds and pressing with lower pressure. Zero defects in the shirts I did this with so I'm assuming it was a pressure problem and splattering ink under the heat press.

 

[mustfly]

See my response two messages below. Solved. I prefer a teflon sheet for the repeatability. I hated the silicon and quilon papers. HATED.

 

[23spiderman]

i get hundreds of uses from one sheet of Kraft paper. it's much more durable than the silicon sheets. but if you like the Teflon, then hovering is a good choice. i should have mentioned that, but i've never seen the hover method change anything in my shop. so keep doing whatever it is that has fixed your problem!

 

[mustfly]

I'll definitely check out the Kraft paper. Just got tired of the crinkling with the silicon and quilon I got from AA. Nothing against them,...just my experience.

 

[UNERA]

Kraft paper is a strong/thick paper with a coating? Feel like trying as we also get these spots coming thru. We reduced the white underbase and its better.

Erik


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