I own a Anajet and love it. Are you pressing them for about 48 seconds? Also what level of ink are you using 1? I always use Medium 2 or 3 depending on the shirt. For shirts I am using gildan g2000. They work good and haven't had any problems. I was told by Anajet the 1st time that they are washed wash them inside out withou detergent. Sounds like a pain in the *** but my customers don't have a problem doing it. Are you making sure the temp on the heat press is actually the correct temp? I use a Goerge Knight 16x20 press and its great. I hope this helped.
How does one insure durability of Anajet printed shirt?
This spring, I took all my savings out to buy a profitable DTG printer, decided on Anajet. The detailed prints are unbeatable, and the first shirts I did, some for myself, seemed durable in the wash. I bravely started offering it as a soft hand print that might replace screen printing. Oh, lordy. I soon was replacing dozens of shirts that faded first wash. Tests that I did were inconclusive. One shirt faded 10%, the next one 50%. I was told to increase heat press times, I did. I was told to increase drop size. So far, my results are STILL unpredictable. I see posts by Anajet users that claim good results, but the company promised that the prints on light shirts were as sturdy as screen printing!! My press has been heat measured, and is up to par. What method works?? ANYONE!
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Thanks for the response: I have experimented with all settings... for most non-photos use vivid / medium drop size / 2 on 5 oz 3 on 6 oz Ts... I checked my platen heat temp with an electronic sensor and it is good to the guage, so I set it at 335F and press for 100 seconds. Any new conditions that Anajet describes, such as wash inside out, no detergent points to their not quite true advertising. I have been told to expect fading first wash, then it settles down. First wash often fades 50%... even 10% is unacceptable if we are to believe the ads and justifications for $62 for 110 milliliters of their ink. [110 ml=less than 4 oz, 1/2 cup...sixty two bucks]I own a Anajet and love it. Are you pressing them for about 48 seconds? Also what level of ink are you using 1? I always use Medium 2 or 3 depending on the shirt. For shirts I am using gildan g2000. They work good and haven't had any problems. I was told by Anajet the 1st time that they are washed wash them inside out withou detergent. Sounds like a pain in the *** but my customers don't have a problem doing it. Are you making sure the temp on the heat press is actually the correct temp? I use a Goerge Knight 16x20 press and its great. I hope this helped.
Now the Anajet techs and owners are telling me that Tshirt brands, and countries of manufacturing origin could be the culprit...
I buy gildan g2000 shirts and print on medium with ink level at 2 and it comes out great. And that isn't using white ink. I just printed some on grey, ash, and white shirts yesterday and they all came out great.
Thank you...can I call you Park? My prints always look great, so the machine has potential... but my washability has been completely erratic... sometimes, though I have heat set (335 for 95 seconds) sometimes 25-50% of the tone is gone...FIRST WASH. Most of my weak shirts have been ash or the light steel color...which look great before washing.
sure 413-346-8840 or 413-743-2161 ask for Ken
We press for 60 secs twice at 330 degrees and have no problems with ink washing out, just the normal problems with fibers coming up through the print.
Ash and light steel might be part polyester which could create the issues you are describing. The normal ratio is usually small from 1-10% but if it is more, that might be part of the problem. We pretreat our grey shirts with FastColor pretreatment to help offset any possible washout issues.
Ash and light steel might be part polyester which could create the issues you are describing. The normal ratio is usually small from 1-10% but if it is more, that might be part of the problem. We pretreat our grey shirts with FastColor pretreatment to help offset any possible washout issues.
Raise, thanks. This chemical you mention...where is it available? Some years back when I was an airbrush artist, I used Aquaflow airbrush binder which is still $40 a gallon... great compared to Anajet's binder at $75... probably does the same thing. That fast* stuff, who has it?
I buy mine from EquipmentZone.com
I dont think 95 seconds is enough time. Anajet inks are dupont inks and the dupont calls for 120 seconds on light color shirts and 180 seconds for dark color shirts. So its possible that you need to up your time just a little. Also the fast color from equipment zone does make a difference in the washability. It helps keep your colors brighter and was better. It is not necessary, but alot of people prefer using it for better washability.
I get slight wash outs but nothing that severe Ha
Interesting because i set heat at 330 for 40 sec....
Ooo when I heat press white shirts, I get this burnt effect... it is like realli realli light.. That goes away right?
never really bother to look at it when it cools down if goes away oops
Interesting because i set heat at 330 for 40 sec....
Ooo when I heat press white shirts, I get this burnt effect... it is like realli realli light.. That goes away right?
never really bother to look at it when it cools down if goes away oops
Regarding durability: The reason why people can get good cure with different settings is because of environmental/ equipment differences. With equipment, I've measured with a probe thermometer on my heatpress. Depending in the mositure content of a shirt, the amount of ink used, the temperature of the room you are in AND the Mass of the heating device, the temperature of the ink film will not reach the proper temp untill the very end of your dwell time. remember that water boils off at 212F, so this has to happen before the ink cures at a higher temp(drying and Curing are not the same). If you find that the first shirts in a run are the ones with washing problems, the problem is probably that the lower platten is sucking a lot of the heat and not alowing the shirt to get to top temp. Also, say if you have marginal power to your cure unit, it may not be cycling back up to target temp fast enough. The only way I see to really know what's going on is to spend some money on temp strips that target the temp you need to get good results. This needs to be done for different shirts, weights, seasonal changes. I would overshoot on the safe side just short of "burning" a white shirt. After that, your dwell time may change with the season.
Ash and heather shirts are not 100% cotton. Type 3 inks(new on the market) may improve this, but when you print on poly blends, the ink (at least type 1 and 2) say specifically for natural fibers, and will not adhere as well. I print on a lot of grey shirts and I have good results, but I'm upfront to my clients about what the results may be. I'm only in to my first batch of type 3, so I'm not sure if this may help you.Most of my weak shirts have been ash or the light steel color...which look great before washing.
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