[Sparkie]

I have this one job that I do about 4 times a year (100 - 300 shirts each time) and I'd say 4 out of 6 shirts will have the pills located where the ink goes down. The graphic has a massive amount of white so the chances of me catching a pill are pretty good.

I usually take the time to pick off the pill and fill in by hand. This time around it was a rush job (48 hours) so I had no time to strive for perfection.

What do YOU do about pilling?
Do you find one brand to be more pill free than the other?

Cost is a factor to this client and the price must be low (Gildan, Jerzees, Hanes 50/50's).

 

[fdsales]

Most likely this has to do w/ your base coats prior to flash. When printing large areas of white or gold on darks, I like to use a 125 mesh, a hard squeegee about 70 durometer, slight off contact so that the screen pops off the shirt. The key here is to make sure that your base coats prior to flash are even & flat, with no pills or holes. I print 2 to 3 passes, then pull one more stroke with no ink using the edge of the squeegee to really press down the ink into the fibers. Once you flash, you seal the base coat, and if it's not perfect, then no amount of top coats will cover up the pills & holes.

 

[Sparkie]

This time I used a 137 mesh with an 80 squeegee. Last time it was a 110 with a 70 squeegee.

I'm going to try a thinker coat of emulsion next time.