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Is It worth it to switch to water based?

1473 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  drivernumberone, 
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I have purchased a few test colors for water based (because i'm looking for a solution for fibrillation/ alternative print style) and i was curious about how well water based colors stay with the shirt after wash out. It seems that most wash out or fade after the first wash (or at least what i am using: Ryonet enviroline WB inks)...

any thoughts about this? I know there is an endless battle going on between plastisol and WB and arguments for both sides, but i just want some testimonies i guess. Tips for working with WB ink and stuff like that.


thanks for any responses!
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drivernumberone said:
I have purchased a few test colors for water based (because i'm looking for a solution for fibrillation/ alternative print style) and i was curious about how well water based colors stay with the shirt after wash out. It seems that most wash out or fade after the first wash (or at least what i am using: Ryonet enviroline WB inks)...

any thoughts about this? I know there is an endless battle going on between plastisol and WB and arguments for both sides, but i just want some testimonies i guess. Tips for working with WB ink and stuff like that.


thanks for any responses!
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Not sure exactly what your question is, but if you're using waterbased inks to fight fibrillation, it isn't going to help. In fact it will make it worse.

The reason your waterbased might be fading could be that you are not fully curing it. Curing waterbased is actually tougher then curing plastisol. Plastisol needs to reach a certain temperature, waterbased cures when all of its moisture evaporates. Usually forced air dryers are used for this, and usually longer conveyor dryers are needed.
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D
thanks for the input. i guess the real question is, how well does water based ink retain color quality after washing?

i realize that the ink needs to evaporate... any ideas how long this might take with a standard flash?

thanks again
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neato
Alot of it depends on the brand of ink you use. Some can even air dry.

As far as colors go, many believe that waterbased produces more vibrant colors than plastisol.
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D
There is a place for plastisol and waterbase. It matters what your looking for. Waterbase is going to give you the softest print and if cured properly should give you pretty vibrant, lasting colors. It will not really battle fibrilation though. It is just going to dye those fibers your print color.
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To retain color quality you need to cure Matsui water base inks correctly. Here's a few tips.



DRYING/CURING: The 301 Enviro-Series ink must be cured for 2.5 to 3 minutes at 300 to 320 degrees F under typical infrared heat.
Curing Options: Water based inks cure differently from standard plastisol inks. While plastisol inks cure with infrared once reaching 320 degrees, water based inks cure best with air movement and heat. Air movement is preferred to drive water out of the ink and blow away steam so heat can cure water base pigment properly. Without hot air movement across the ink, water based inks will take much longer to cure. In good air flow, water based inks can cure in under 1 minute while it may take 2.5 to 3 minutes in a standard infrared dryer. (Paper can be allowed to air dry)
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D
cool, i will be testing that out then.... I will just have to modify the height of the flash i guess so it doesn't get too hot. as far as air flow goes, can i get away with using a fan or something without losing too much heat? maybe just blowing some?


thanks for the help everyone!
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tdigital
When I take the dive into waterbase, I'll be modifying my conveyor dryer with a heat-resistant fan (possibly taking the fan portion of a heat gun) on opposite corners facing downwards in order to creating a downward spiral to add the forced air circulation in the dryer.

Never hurts to try...
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D
that would be interesting to try out.. maybe i'll look into something like that.
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