I have been screen printing for a couple of years. I can screen print any color but white. I put white done flash it. then I print another color. It always sticks to the second screen. And it is always so hard to push through the screen. What or how do people do it?
printing white ink
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Could be a couple things:
You don't want to lay down the next print if your shirt/platen are still hot.
You may not have enough off contact.
As far as difficulty with printing white ink...you've got to mix mix mix and mix some more, and if you're ink is cold, you'll want to store it in room temperature if possible, or you could also put the container in a bucket of warm water. Also, you can add curable reducer to your ink. That will give it more flow. Push stroke too.
It's a learning curve.
Just keep at it.
You don't want to lay down the next print if your shirt/platen are still hot.
You may not have enough off contact.
As far as difficulty with printing white ink...you've got to mix mix mix and mix some more, and if you're ink is cold, you'll want to store it in room temperature if possible, or you could also put the container in a bucket of warm water. Also, you can add curable reducer to your ink. That will give it more flow. Push stroke too.
It's a learning curve.
Just keep at it.
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Sounds like you don't have enough off contact... or you're not flashing long enough but I wouldn't think that would be it....
Also the screen you use can affect print quality with white. It's so thick that is doesn't go through higher meshed screens as well and needs multiple strokes to get enough ink deposit. Use as small of mesh count as you can that will still support your image.
Most my jobs I use white. 110 mesh with a push stroke. I can usually do it without a flash but I need to flood and print twice.
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Also the screen you use can affect print quality with white. It's so thick that is doesn't go through higher meshed screens as well and needs multiple strokes to get enough ink deposit. Use as small of mesh count as you can that will still support your image.
Most my jobs I use white. 110 mesh with a push stroke. I can usually do it without a flash but I need to flood and print twice.
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Denise is right, you do need to mix it a lot and warming it up on top of the conveyor is a good idea. Try really pushing the ink through the mesh with more of a fill stroke. Then a light print stroke so the ink sits on top of the fabric and doesn't penetrate down into the garment.
Some white inks flash better than others and have lower after tack. It depends upon what flash you're using for the length time it needs to be touch dry. You need to make sure the ink has enough time to cool down before printing again, we used to use a hand held fan when we first started! Off contact needs to be increased compared to other plastisol colours (e.g. black).
We try to use discharge under bases or discharge white where we can these days, makes life easier and produces a better print in my opinion.
Some white inks flash better than others and have lower after tack. It depends upon what flash you're using for the length time it needs to be touch dry. You need to make sure the ink has enough time to cool down before printing again, we used to use a hand held fan when we first started! Off contact needs to be increased compared to other plastisol colours (e.g. black).
We try to use discharge under bases or discharge white where we can these days, makes life easier and produces a better print in my opinion.
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You're printing onto polyester garments then, is that why you're using low bleed white. The poly ink we use is super thick! You definitely need to warm it up and stir it to get it moving. Printing white really well is one of the most difficult things to do on a manual press I reckon. Of course some inks are better than others. Inks for cotton garments a not as thick and easier to print. I'd say never use a curable reducer with white ink, the whole idea is that it's really opaque. Thinning it will more than likely cause you to have to print flash print and maybe more than once! Pull the squeegee hard across the screen so you push the ink into the mesh and out the other side a bit. Then lightly print so the ink sits on top. You might even get away with one print stroke if you get it spot on!
Our school colors are red and blue. So I print a lot of white ink on red shirts. They are usually 50/50. After a couple of washes the white turns pink, that is why I use a low bleed ink. Right. Do I know what I am talking about or not.
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Yeah, that's right, low bleed ink will prevent that from happening. You can use normal white ink on some poly fabrics and blends. It's usually the heat that makes the fabric dye migrate into the ink turning it pink as you say. It doesn't always show right away either and can take hours or even days before it shows. You can also print an underbase as a blocker to stop it happening. Some I've seen but haven't used are a charcoal colour, seems weird putting a dark under base down but I've seen examples and they work well.
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One thing that has not been brought up is screen tension. If your screens have low tension, it will have similar results. The mesh has to be taunt enough to snap back after your squeegee has past. To heat your ink, set it in top of your dryer for 15-20 before using. To mix it, get a paint mixer and put it on a drill and work to the ink for a good five minutes. All will have positive results
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I have been using the Ryonet white. It is quite creamy. I will try stirring it more before I print to see if it helps. I, too, am printing a white image on a 140 piece tshirt and hoody job ... using a manual press ... as we speak. I am obviously taking a break. And, yes, the ink wants to pull the garment up when I lift the screen off the platen. I have been very careful to lift the screen gently because I want to flash to print one more coat. Very frustrating. The image is an area 11 inches high by 12 inches wide. It is these larger white prints that seem to give me the trouble. I really appreciate everyone's tips on this thread because I am in the beginning fourth of my current job and I am looking for tips.
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No matter which white you use (an everyone will have an opinion on what to use because it works for them), you need to stir it.
You can't effectively stir it by hand without your arm falling off. Pick up the equivalent of a mix master beater, mount it on a drill, and work the ink for about 5 minutes (you can buy several different types at Ace Hardware).
If you are printing on cotton (and most will argue against this point but it works for us), ad a little curable reducer to the ink. It will make it flow better BUT will reduce the opacity.
You might also try using a higher mesh screen for your under base.
We use to use 125's and have been using 180's for the last 8-10 years because it works better (for us).
You mentioned your screens are new.
Are they wood or aluminum frames?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after two or three uses, the tension on the mesh reduces dramatically and you have no way to retention it.
Using roller frames, we'll tension a 125 to 40 newtons, let it set for a couple of days, retention it again, then put it into rotation. After a couple of jobs we check tension and usually that screen will be in the high 20's to low 30's (Newtons) and need to be re-tensioned again.
You can't effectively stir it by hand without your arm falling off. Pick up the equivalent of a mix master beater, mount it on a drill, and work the ink for about 5 minutes (you can buy several different types at Ace Hardware).
If you are printing on cotton (and most will argue against this point but it works for us), ad a little curable reducer to the ink. It will make it flow better BUT will reduce the opacity.
You might also try using a higher mesh screen for your under base.
We use to use 125's and have been using 180's for the last 8-10 years because it works better (for us).
You mentioned your screens are new.
Are they wood or aluminum frames?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after two or three uses, the tension on the mesh reduces dramatically and you have no way to retention it.
Using roller frames, we'll tension a 125 to 40 newtons, let it set for a couple of days, retention it again, then put it into rotation. After a couple of jobs we check tension and usually that screen will be in the high 20's to low 30's (Newtons) and need to be re-tensioned again.
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I switched to One Stroke Inks hybrid white and havent looked back. Best white Ive every used.
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We've been printing with a poly white today, can't remember the name of it, it's expensive though! Printing onto bamboo viscose tees from Continental Clothing.
It's pretty cold here first thing in the morning at this time of year, so you can imaging it was pretty thick. We put it on top of the dryer and stuck a fan heater in front of it for 5-10 mins. Stirred it for a little while and started printing. 1 fill stroke - 2 print strokes - no flash. Great coverage on the t-shirt through a 43t mesh.
It's pretty cold here first thing in the morning at this time of year, so you can imaging it was pretty thick. We put it on top of the dryer and stuck a fan heater in front of it for 5-10 mins. Stirred it for a little while and started printing. 1 fill stroke - 2 print strokes - no flash. Great coverage on the t-shirt through a 43t mesh.
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