[nicmstop]

We are experiencing a moire-like pattern in a detailed design we are trying to print. It is wavy lines that vary in size, direction, and placement across the design and are inconsistent from shirt to shirt and is MOST noticeable on 100% poly shirts. Cotton shirts seem to be ok. It is only in the white print.
We have changed screens, changed mesh counts, used hard/soft squeegees, raised/lowered pressure, raised/lowered speed, and altered the choppers. We ran a round of 3 shirts with the 1st shirt being bad, 2nd being acceptable, and last being good. We ran a round of 6 shirts and had varying results back and forth of bad or acceptable, but not good. We can tweak settings and print a great shirt, but the very next shirt looks horrible.
At this point, we have no idea what to do next besides grabbing a 3rd screen and having someone different coat/burn it.
Any ideas????? Normally we can tweak to get jobs going if we run into moire, but this is inconsistent and nothing seems to fix it for an extended period of time.

 

[Industryps]

It's hard to tell without pics, but it sounds like you're experiencing Dye Migration...

 

[nicmstop]

We've had dye migration before, and this looks nothing like it. I couldn't figure out how to upload pics to the post, but I can email them to you?

 

[splathead]

I couldn't figure out how to upload pics to the post, but I can email them to you?

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/forum-information/t11206.html

PM me if that doesn't work and I'll give you my email then I will post them.

 

[splathead]

Here are the pictures.

 

[Industryps]

To me, it looks like a couple things:

The "Pattern" in the white part of print:
• What"s the conditions of the pallets the shirts are being printed on? Old pallet tape with a bunch of old prints on it will cause the ghost of those old prints to show up in your halftones and solid areas of your print when using high mesh counts. The detailed work you are printing leaves a thinner ink deposit on the shirt, which makes it more likely to show any unevenness to your printing surface.
• How well are the screens being reclaimed before being used for this design? Just like above, if your screens are not completely clear of old grit and ghost images, these can show up in your halftone work and any solid areas on a higher mesh screen

The darkness of the last print:
• Are you using a low bleed Poly White Ink? The darker print on the poly shirt you mentioned seems most likely to be from dye-migration. Even on better quality blended blanks this can still be an issue. High dryer temps, long times in the chamber, thin ink deposits on thin shirts that are saturated with dyes, stacking warm shirts on top of each-other at the end of the belt... These all add up to a list of variables that can cause dye-migration.

 

[nicmstop]

Thanks for your suggestions!!!
here is what I know...
The "Pattern" in the white part of print:
• Production informed me that the pallets are good and have recently been resurfaced.
However, the location and direction of the wavy lines is different on each shirt, and randomly isn't as bad on some shirts and happens with all pallets, so we're not thinking that is the issue. Also, the wavy lines are inconsistent with any design that we have printed.

• How well are the screens being reclaimed before being used for this design?
We are currently proceeding with a theory that the issue is caused by the coating process of the reclaim, but I have been informed that they are thoroughly rinsed/cleaned out.

The darkness of the last print:
• Are you using a low bleed Poly White Ink? I'm not sure which darkness you're referring to. One of those prints may have had more/less pressure to try and fix the issue, or my pictures may have been lighter/darker, but in the printing room, the boldness of the white looks the same.

 

[nicmstop]

update... it appears that if we look closely enough, it is in the screens after we burn art, but is inconsistent from screen to screen.