[Dizzymarkus]

Howdy folks,

Im a total newb but am progressing on my own and having fun :0)

After about 5 or 6 runs on a 2 color shirt -- the 2nd color stared to get blurry-- The first layer stayed sweet. Would the off contact cause this? not dragging enough ink off? It progressively got worse the more I did

sorry no pics

 

[Dizzymarkus]

52 views and you all cant be as new as me lol-- any suggestions?

 

[PatWibble]

Plastisol or Waterbased?

Most waterbased printers will use zero off contact.

If you are using plastisol then
-it could be too much off contact.
-it could be too little off contact combined with too much ink being pulled.
-it could be just that you are pulling too much ink.

Plastisol ink doesn't soak into the fabric - it sits on top of it. Excess ink has to go somewhere, and the only place it can go is outward around the edge of the image.
The reason the problem is getting worse is because with each successive print more ink is building up around the image.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

It is plastisol....is there a standard height for the oc?...i am about 2 quarters stack high

I may have had to much ink also..again first 2 colors ..i also left the screen flooded tween colors and flashing so it wouldnt dry out.. mistake?

Thanks greatly...it was fun to one the less lol

Markus

 

[Ripcord]

If the ink is getting fuzzy where the two colors touch then I assume you are printing wet on wet. Hopefully you used a butt registration for your artwork. If so the first thing to try is reverse the print order. This will remove the buildup on the backs of the screens and hopefully get the prints crisp again. If you're using a manual press you can reverse the order as often as necessary.

That being said, some color combinations print better in a specific order. I do a job every year for a school which is maroon and gold on white shirts. I've learned that the prints look much better if I print the maroon first.

Also, use reducer in your inks to thin them out. This will go a long way in preventing that fuzz because less ink will stick to the backs of the screens.

If none of these works satisfactorily your last resort is to flash the first color before you lay down the second. Even though this may slow down production, you might find that depending upon the length of the run it doesn't take that much more time since you can keep printing away without stopping to wipe the screens. And the quality of the prints will be better which will result in a higher level of customer satisfaction, always a good thing.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

Sorry about the lack of info when asking for help-- does my newness show? lol


Printing black with green lettering-- black was the bottom 1 pass -- then flash then the green screen over the black-- it started out great, In between swipes I left the screens flooded-- I am thinking this was a no no also...

Im gonna try again tonite -- setting the OC closer and less ink. I think there is a pic on my phone ill try to upload..doesnt really show yet in this pic..but it's fuzzy

Thanks for helping
Markus

 

[Dizzymarkus]

These were the beginning..all down hill after that lol

 

[PatWibble]

You should be printing the green first and using the black to 'trap' the green.
It looks like the black extends completely under green. The only time you would usually do this is when printing a white outline onto a dark shirt - you would print the white first as an underbase for the green. You don't need a black underbase on a white shirt.

To get good coverage by the green on the black you must have hit the green quite hard, which explains the fuzzy finish. I usually find on smaller logos that it is best not to flood the screen and to use as little ink as possible. I try to get away with one firm ( but not hard) stroke, if I can.

Remake your screens/film to allow for printing onto light shirts. You can keep the old film for when you print onto dark shirts. Add a few points of line weight around the green layer so that it 'traps' beneath the black. Print the black film just as on outline.

A higher mesh count might also help. Most new printers tend to use a 43t screen (110 US), when a 68t would be better (170(?) US).

 

[Dizzymarkus]

I did in fact do the black first then green...still thinking in vinyl thoughts lol

I did 3 passes on the green flashing each time

So i don't really want colors to be under each other --- yet butt up to (and overlap a touch) reading that right?...the only thing thats full coverage under would be a white 7nderbase?

Thanks for taking the time
Mark

 

[nycmerch]

I agree... Green first... flash and then black. I do jobs like that all day long and will always print light to dark colors with black as the final color to bring it all together.

 

[PatWibble]

I did in fact do the black first then green...still thinking in vinyl thoughts lol

I did 3 passes on the green flashing each time

So i don't really want colors to be under each other --- yet butt up to (and overlap a touch) reading that right?...the only thing thats full coverage under would be a white 7nderbase?

Thanks for taking the time
Mark

Thart's correct. Just a few points around the green so there is not too much of an overlap. You wil;l then only need to hit the green once, which should solve your problem.
If you think of traditional CMYK printing - the 'K' stands for 'Key', which is the top colour that locks everything together.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

Awesome thank you a lot-- I am still thinking like a vinyl guy :0)-- so that's lights-- what about dark?

White under-base under the whole thing then the same process?

Markus

 

[gardenhillemb]

Another thing to watch for is to keep your squeegie angle fairly high. You shouldn't be trying to mash the ink into the screen, you should be shearing it off. If you need two pulls, that's ok. You shouldn't need to flood the screen to keep it wet with plastisol.

 

[Ripcord]

I see quite a bit of trap. If these were butt registered it should print fine wet on wet in either order. As I mentioned sometimes a print looks better with the light color printed second especially if it's yellow.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

Just trying to wrap my head around this.....so no colors should be over another less it's a white underbase?..well wirh a small overlap

 

[Ripcord]

As long as your press holds registration well you should not need a trap for most dark-on-light jobs. That's what gives the print a fuzzy look. But since you already trapped it, try printing the green first and flash it until it's dry to the touch and then lay down the black. That should clean it up quite a bit.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

I washed the screens lol...

The black went totally behind then green..if I printed the green first..the black would cover it up ..im starting to f9llow. I'm heading to my shop soon..i will post photos before printing new films

 

[Dizzymarkus]

So before I burn another useless screen lol..i think I have a small handle on what's need shared to me, I can't thank you guys enough.

I redid my image, the right hand side or the text(green) is slightly larger than the cut out on the left so the black will overlap the green just a bit. My press is a 4c/2s riley Hopkins jr table top brand new, economy flash dryer..essentially the entrepreneurs kit from ryonet.

I reset the off contact much lower and have 156 screens using plastisol inks...i won't get to try it till tomorrow but wanted to make sure the screens were correct and should work

Thanks again,
Markus

 

[PatWibble]

So before I burn another useless screen lol..i think I have a small handle on what's need shared to me, I can't thank you guys enough.

I redid my image, the right hand side or the text(green) is slightly larger than the cut out on the left so the black will overlap the green just a bit. My press is a 4c/2s riley Hopkins jr table top brand new, economy flash dryer..essentially the entrepreneurs kit from ryonet.

I reset the off contact much lower and have 156 screens using plastisol inks...i won't get to try it till tomorrow but wanted to make sure the screens were correct and should work

Thanks again,
Markus

The artwork looks good. 156t screens will be about right.

 

[Dizzymarkus]

I so appreciate everyone's help. I tried a run of a few last night again. The fuzziness now seems to be gone, I lowered the OC and redid the art--thanks for the correct set up there.

Now for the newb stuff lol the squeegees I have are to small for the design top to bottom, need to go sideways to cover in 1 pass lol-- so wider ones will be ordered but I made it work for this trial.

The first few, the registration was off by such a little bit, it showed some white-- needed a slightly larger overlap-- lesson learned. It was spot on but the press even brandnew had just suck a little movement-- why I needed a larger overlap.

I don't think Im flashing correctly even after watching videos till my eyes bleed lol. I made my pass of purple, flash for about 8 secs or roughly 260 and the ink is tacky but doesn't come off on my finger. Back the black(is a nasty color for clean up), 1 pass and cure to 320--- sorry trying to be complete-- After about 3 or 4 trys the back of the screen seems to get sticky. I did notice in one case the outside edge wasn't dry and it smeared. Im getting closer lol--I may even be doing the squeegeeing improperly-- again any tips are greatly appreciated. Should the screens get sticky?

Markus


the blue was 2 pass purple 1 black
white was 1 pass on both