Hey everyone! Total newbie! I know someone knows how to fix this problem!

tvinje said:

If you're using standard plastisol, you should be ok spot drying in place. If you're using a water based ink, Im not sure how that would work since I don't have any real experience with that. A paint stripping heat gun will also work for sport drying. It takes longer and you can run the risk of burning your garment if you hold it too close or don't keep the gun moving around but it works. I have another question but please don't be offend. I can't really tell from your press set up picture, but it almost looks like a table top. Are you just laying the shirt on there and trying to print it, or are you able to separate the front from the back so only the side bring printed is on top of the platten?

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Yes I'm using standard plastisol right now. I went to my local screen supply store and also tried to get some advice. Also very frustrating. The lady recommended some cureable thinner I think it's called. She gave me a little to take home and try. Haven't attempted to use it yet though.

I also have a brand new heat gun still in box that I was going to use to cure the shirts in the beginning. But I came up on a flash dryer so I never used it. I'll attempt using it to spot dry. I also bought a laser heat reader device to check the temperatures.

And as for am I just printing on a table top well, yes and no. I have a standard one color press setup. But what happened was I had a piece of artwork that wound up being to large to fit on the platen. The upper part wound up off the edge of the shoulders of the platen. So in my frustration I got some butterfly hinges and installed them onto the table to try and supplement the space for the artwork. I was putting a piece of cardboard inside the garment to act a a "platen". But I do have a regular one color station available. I believe the platen is crooked though. I can take a picture if you'd want to see.

dmac724 said:

I'm still confused on how to remedy the part of my shirt getting stuck to the screen. I feel like once it has to peel off in any little way, when I lower the screen again to do the 2nd print stroke, it'll wind up being ghosted. Then I'll lose at least 20 minutes to having to clean the screen and start again. Any suggestions?

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1. As I told you before, the t-shirt must be firmly stuck to the platen/table, so the mesh cannot pull the fabric up. The force keeping the fabric down has to be higher than the pulling force of the mesh with the ink. This way the fabric will pull the ink out of the mesh.

2. The 1/4 is way too much. you need 1/10. That's just a bit more than a Nickel in thickness.


Don't use the thinner unless you absolutely have to. You souldn't need it for 110 mesh and fresh ink.
Trying to learn with a bad setup is the problem here. You have too many things that can, and probably do go wrong here.
I'd try and practice on some cheap fabric if I was you. Just until you get the idea. Lint free cleaning tissue should work well but it's not black. It is also what you should be using to clean you screen when it smudges your print. It takes seconds, not 20 minutes.
Also don't put too much ink on the screen. It looks as if you are about to print 100 shirts.

TABOB said:

1. As I told you before, the t-shirt must be firmly stuck to the platen/table, so the mesh cannot pull the fabric up. The force keeping the fabric down has to be higher than the pulling force of the mesh with the ink. This way the fabric will pull the ink out of the mesh.

2. The 1/4 is way too much. you need 1/10. That's just a bit more than a Nickel in thickness.


Don't use the thinner unless you absolutely have to. You souldn't need it for 110 mesh and fresh ink.
Trying to learn with a bad setup is the problem here. You have too many things that can, and probably do go wrong here.
I'd try and practice on some cheap fabric if I was you. Just until you get the idea. Lint free cleaning tissue should work well but it's not black. It is also what you should be using to clean you screen when it smudges your print. It takes seconds, not 20 minutes.
Also don't put too much ink on the screen. It looks as if you are about to print 100 shirts.

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Well, I am about to print 100+ shirts ;-). I already have a brand that does extremely well to say I'm only starting out. I'm only recently trying to produce the apparel myself vs. having a third party printer charge me for labor, etc. But that's beside the point.

1. For some reason, the way you said that made a few things click.
2. I wasn't using a 1/4 inch high off contact. That's ridiculous even for a beginner like me. I meant a literal quarter (coin).

In my haste, I was skipping the spray adhesive step, and the print flash print. I re-arranged my station to where I could move my flash dryer over my platen to print flash print. Once I did that, my shirts now look 100 times better! Whites looking nice and opaque now. I learned a huge lesson about not skipping steps. But thanks everyone for answering my noob questions. It really made the difference. Cheers!