[railhead]

Hey all

For startes — TOTALLY new to this! Been experimenting with plastisol and water based printing, and so far, I prefer water base due to the soft hand and that there's no tacky feeling like I've experienced with plastisol prints.

My questions, then...

- Should EXPECT plastisol prints to always have a slight tacky feeling? About a week after making some shirts, during a regular laundry cycle, one plastisol-printed shirt went through the clothes dryer and the ink smeared/melted like it came in contact with the drum surface. Seems like the tackiness could be a culprit in the smear situation.

- IF plastisol prints are easily melted by household dryers, do most commercially-bought printed shirts still use plastisol — or are they using water base?

- No screen printed shirts I've bought have the tacky, rubbery feeling of the plastisol tests we've done, so I don't know if we're just not doing something incorrect, or if all my shirts are water base.

Thoughts?

 

[beanie357]

Ummmm, a clothes dryer will not cure plastisol.

 

[railhead]

Ummmm, a clothes dryer will not cure plastisol.

You misunderstood: this was just a regular laundry cycle a week after it had been cured, etc., etc.

 

[beanie357]

Then curing would be the issue.

 

[sandmanbjj]

Sounds like you need to cure it a little longer and or a little hotter. I'm not sure where you are located but I'm in Louisiana. My heat and cure times are hotter and longer due to the humidity. Just be sure to not scorch the shirt. So longer cure times may be more of an option than increasing the heat

 

[railhead]

Sounds like you need to cure it a little longer and or a little hotter. I'm not sure where you are located but I'm in Louisiana. My heat and cure times are hotter and longer due to the humidity. Just be sure to not scorch the shirt. So longer cure times may be more of an option than increasing the heat

I'm actually in Cambodia, so temps aren't much different than Louisiana (or Texas, where I'm from). I'm trying to help one of our scholarship students improve his shirt printing side-job so that his work could be sold to USA standards when we go back to the USA. He's using "get it done" equipment because that's all that he has access to over here.

Screens and print work looks great -- but as he says, "Cambodians don't mind sticky ink on shirts but foreigners don't like it."

Flashing is done with a heat gun, then he has a press he uses to cure. We'll experiment with longer cure times in his press (I'll grab a photo of it and post here when I go over to his house this week).

That said, DOES plastisol always maintain a slightly tacky feel? Internet searches also say that even cured, it can melt/smear under high heat or if ironed...

 

[superD70]

Properly cured plastisol will not feel tacky at all.
But you cannot iron it no matter how cured it is, it's still plastic so it will melt

 

[debbbbsy]

That said, DOES plastisol always maintain a slightly tacky feel?

Hi,

For light colour T-s with a dark print,you need to order from your ink supplier a tub of soft hand base. Simply add this to your ink and it will take away that sticky plastic feel.

Debbie x

 

[railhead]

Properly cured plastisol will not feel tacky at all.
But you cannot iron it no matter how cured it is, it's still plastic so it will melt

Understood! We'll go back over the cure process. I need to bring my infrared thermometer next time we come over, because I question how hot his press is actually getting.

ONE LAST QUESTION (famous last words)...

When plastisol IS cured properly, is there any legitimate concern about it becoming tacky or melting to itself or the drum of a household clothes dryer?

 

[sben763]

When plastisol IS cured properly, is there any legitimate concern about it becoming tacky or melting to itself or the drum of a household clothes dryer?

Not unless there is something wrong with the dryer. A household dryer has a high temp thermostat of 145F. Its been the temp for many years that is simply not hot enough to distort cured plastisol.

 

[railhead]

Thanks for the info!