Mixing glow powder with white plastisol?

7319 Views 19 Replies 6 Participants Last post by ChristFollower, Jun 11, 2014

manley92

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2014

Hi Everyone,

First time on the forums, not sure if this is a silly question but can't find the answer searching.

I have purchased some strontium aluminate glow powder and looking to mix it with some plastisol.

Would I just mix it with a white plastisol or is there a clear plastisol option at all?

Thanks

Rob

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20vK

· #2 · Jun 5, 2014

Curable reducer prints and cures. Looks kinda transparent, (since it's just meant to reduce, not discolor)

Is this phosphorescent powder specifically for screen printing? Just check there's no nasty fumes or uncontrolled combustion under curing temps.

As far as I have seen, this type of effect is normally achieved with a pre-prepared ink. Best printed on top of a white underbase, as I understand it.

manley92

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 5, 2014

Thanks for your help!

So would I mix the powder with a white plastisol then add an curable reducer to increase the opacity?

Or instead of a white plastisol could I mix the powder with an extender base?

It is advertised as non toxic and non radioactive which is good. I want to create a brighter glow that standard glow inks available.

Thanks

Rob

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20vK

· #4 · Jun 5, 2014

Almost all typical phosphorescent compounds were radioactive, to my knowledge, even the stuff on your watch. I guess they sorted that.

Glad to hear - but what temperature does it combust at and what temp does it start giving off (poisonous) fumes?

Mix with just the curable reducer and print ontop of white. If you mix it with white, the white molecules above the lower molecules of powder will block them.

manley92

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 5, 2014

Thanks for all your advice,

Defiantly looking into the safety points as we speak before I go any further.

Thanks

Rob

Celtic

· #6 · Jun 6, 2014

I know that when I've checked in the past, the flash point is a danger.
Also, as mentioned, if you mix the powder into white ink, you're not going to achieve your desired effect.
I'd mix it into a clear base.
BUT, first check into the combustion issue.

20vK

· #7 · Jun 6, 2014

Agreed - my reasoning is that if the industry could have found a brighter glow, they probably would have used the compound you mention if it was safe to do so.

Also, after checking out the flashpoint and fume info, see if you can find out about how it washes.

I do a bunch of stupid stuff, btw. (yesterday, for example, I got a guy to raise me up in an excavation digger bucket so I could cut down a tree with a gas chainsaw that was interfering with a mains electricity line. I was wearing boardshorts, a T and flip flops. I'm highly unqualified and the saw was also blunt. I wouldn't put a chemical through a drier without knowing those dangers though. There are limits to my risk taking and complete idioticy).

Grady3rd

· #8 · Jun 6, 2014

For best results use a metallic clear base like Union Ink's PLUE-9030. They are more transparent than any other base which means more glow. You can tint it with transparent process color inks or pigments but any amount of an opaque ink will greatly reduce the glow effect.
The glow pigment he is using (strontium aluminate) has been around for a long time. It is as much as 10 times brighter and lasts 10 times longer than the more commonly used zinc sulfide pigment. It is also much more expensive. It is chemically and biologically inert and stable.

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20vK

· #9 · Jun 7, 2014

Grady3rd said:
It is chemically and biologically inert and stable.

Great info and good to know it's safe. Thanks!

Celtic

· #10 · Jun 8, 2014

It is chemically and biologically inert and stable.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info !

ChristFollower

· #11 · Jun 8, 2014

I can't comment on the safety, but I've done this. I used an opaque white, but wondered if gel clear might have worked better. I used a 110 mesh and the powder I used plugged the screen just a little.

It takes a LOT of powder to make the ink glow nicely

Celtic

· #12 · Jun 9, 2014

Do you remember what percentage, roughly, of the powder to plastisol that you had to use for a good glow ?

thanks

ChristFollower

· #13 · Jun 9, 2014

Celtic said:
Do you remember what percentage, roughly, of the powder to plastisol that you had to use for a good glow ?

thanks

I made about a half of a pint of ink with 4oz. of glow powder. I think I still have one of the shirts around, I'll try and photograph the result and post it.

I think it worked well, but I wouldn't have wanted to use any less.

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20vK

· #14 · Jun 9, 2014

It
Makes sense that you need a strong mix - if you look at 100% powder, the glow will be good.

If you then "cut" it with something else to 50%, you'll have half as much phosphorescent powder per square inch than you did before.

Of course, not entirely accurate with a liquid/powder combo, because the liquid can fill the gaps between the powder crystals, but you get the idea!

Thanks for the ratios - did your shirt glow stronger / longer than the "off the shelf" glow ink?

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Grady3rd

· #15 · Jun 9, 2014

Try 10-20% in a metallic clear base and test on white under, The "right amount will depend on the pigment and the base used. More than 20% may cause printing and durability problems. The pigment needs to be fully wetted to print through the mesh.This takes time and lots of mixing. Blend the pigment a little at a time, let stand, mix again, repeat.

Ripcord

· #16 · Jun 10, 2014

I've done these and I did it as a two color job. White underbase and overprint with the glow powder mixed with soft hand extender. (I tried mixing it with white to see if I could do it as a one color print but it didn't glow very much. I guess the opaque white blocks the glow from being seen.)

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ChristFollower

· #17 · Jun 10, 2014 (Edited)

Found the shirt.

I agree that clear would probably give better results. I think I was up against diminishing returns using white, but I didn't want to order clear and didn't have any on hand. Straight reducer might have been OK but I was concerned that durability would suffer.

These turned out to be very durable - the shirt pictured here was printed in 2001 or 2002. This was one of the first pulls, and by the "N" you can see a huge area where the glow powder plugged the screen. I had added more powder, and missed a big clump. I recall the ink being pretty gritty, so I scraped everything out and reduced it and it worked great.

The band had been painting their name in hot wax by hand onto shirts and bleaching them, leaving a white spot with the name in black. They wanted these to look almost exactly the same so they'd be a big surprise when people saw them glowing.

I printed a big glob of glow white and overprinted Night Shift in black to get the same result. The reason I didn't just knock it out was we moved the shirt between the glow and black imprints, to make them a bit more random and match the old ones' style as much as possible.

In the heat of the oven, the glow powder glows. I was worried that this would ruin the effect, but nope - appeared to have no adverse effects.

20vK said:
Thanks for the ratios - did your shirt glow stronger / longer than the "off the shelf" glow ink?

Definitely! The shirts were charged with a fluorescent black light at the sales table, and were glowing well in the parking lot 4 hours later. Yes, 4 hours - They played a lot of showcases.

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20vK

· #18 · Jun 10, 2014

Awesome! Great job

Reactions: 1

Celtic

· #19 · Jun 11, 2014

Cool, thanks Mike!

So, did I read right that you mixed the powder with white ink ?

Reactions: 1

ChristFollower

· #20 · Jun 11, 2014

Yes, as I recall Union Maxopaque was what I used then. I definitely would try clear next time, because I felt that the white was muting the glow just because it was so opaque. Successive flash/prints didn't up the glow at all.

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