Paul,
My experience on this subject says it is two fold:
1. When printing on bright colored shirts, you have to change up your pretreating method. If you have an automatic pretreater, you can adjust the amount of fluid being applied pretty easily. I also know that some people will spray distilled water on the shirt before pretreating it. This is like diluting the pretreat fluid down. What I would recommend doing is creating a log and track some minor changes (i.e. the amount of fluid you apply, slightly shorter heat press time,...) to determine which is the optimal settings for the equipment, garments and pretreat you are using.
2. The dyes in different shirts will react differently to both the pretreat and the heat. Some shirts will distort in color by just heat pressing them while others might look a little different for a while till the shirt cools down. I have seen the same brand / model of a shirt handle pretreat different depending on the country of origin that it was made in. Basically, not all the dyes and chemicals used to make shirts are the same. Try a couple of brands and see what works best for you.
If for some reason you are not able to get it to your desired results, I have heard of some people that will take a hand-held streamer to the shirt to reduce the stain.
Hope these suggestions help you work through your challenges. Best wishes.
Mark
My experience on this subject says it is two fold:
1. When printing on bright colored shirts, you have to change up your pretreating method. If you have an automatic pretreater, you can adjust the amount of fluid being applied pretty easily. I also know that some people will spray distilled water on the shirt before pretreating it. This is like diluting the pretreat fluid down. What I would recommend doing is creating a log and track some minor changes (i.e. the amount of fluid you apply, slightly shorter heat press time,...) to determine which is the optimal settings for the equipment, garments and pretreat you are using.
2. The dyes in different shirts will react differently to both the pretreat and the heat. Some shirts will distort in color by just heat pressing them while others might look a little different for a while till the shirt cools down. I have seen the same brand / model of a shirt handle pretreat different depending on the country of origin that it was made in. Basically, not all the dyes and chemicals used to make shirts are the same. Try a couple of brands and see what works best for you.
If for some reason you are not able to get it to your desired results, I have heard of some people that will take a hand-held streamer to the shirt to reduce the stain.
Hope these suggestions help you work through your challenges. Best wishes.
Mark
