[VictorConcepts]

Hey guys,

We recently did a job which had a red rectangle with white lettering inside. We did a print flash print with the white and did the red on top trapping the white making the letters.

We contact all our customers within a week to make sure they are happy and everything seemed perfectly fine, but 3 moths later they said that the red was now bleeding a bit into the white! I have no idea what could have caused this since i have tested my dryer to cure even the thickest of ink!

 

[Celtic]

It's always a good idea when you're printing, to use your temp gun and check to be sure that your fully curing. I do this as well as the stretch tests during a job.

 

[selanac]

What kind of shirts and what color? 50/50, 100% cotton?

 

[InGearsports]

If you were using a 50/50 shirt then its whats called "dye migration"
50/50 shirts must be cured at no hotter than 290 degrees to avoid such issues...

 

[2020 PrintWorks]

I actually had a similar problem recently. Only it was reversed. I was printing red then white and where the white overlapped the red it was turning tan right after curing. The only thing I can figure is it's the ink because I've never had that happen before. The shirts were navy.

 

[VictorConcepts]

Hey guys,

I do the stretch test to check all the time as well as a temp gun. I used international coatings ink, these were just basic 100% cotton shirts!

 

[LoneWolf2]

If it had happened within a day or so of printing and drying them, then I would understand, but 3 months (and countless washes and wears) after you print them is a little...excessive, if you ask me.

Either way, just make sure you're using an ink that's proper for the garment. Even when I print 100% cotton shirts, if they're red, I won't use a "cotton white".

 

[phatdaddy]

If you were using a 50/50 shirt then its whats called "dye migration"
50/50 shirts must be cured at no hotter than 290 degrees to avoid such issues...

Unless you are using a low temp cure ink, 290 is not enough to cure plastisol. You need 320. I run 100 % poly all the time with regular plastisol on top of a Rutland Poly white and @320-340 with no problems.(NOT DRY-FIT) I think even Low temp inks cure closer to 295... Dry-fit are a totally different animal, any higher than 320 and there could be problems.

Red is often a bit of a problem... I have seen red pigment creep through traps, Navy can do it to, but Red is worse. I think it's a high-pigment issue. When Running red with white, the way you describe, I try to keep the trap as slight as possible. A 2-3 point trap will show a bleed way worse than a 1 point trap... If you can trap even less than that and maintain a good print then I would.

 

[tman07]

if the red ink was "bleeding" into the white ink, it sounds to me that the red ink was washing out.

the description does not fit a dye migration problem.

One may think a shirt is cured properly, but there are many factors that determine how well a shirt cures.
Outside humidity, humidity within the tshirt, room temperature, shirt color, dryer temp, dryer speed, heat element height, etc. are all variables that affect how well an ink cures.

 

[robman]

This is a classic case of Pigment Migration. Happens in reds and yellow primarily. Most manufacturers do not use Non-migrating pigments due to cost.


Talk to your ink supplier. This is an ink issue. Seen it hundreds of times. Athletic inks generally use these non migrating pigments for this purpose of trapping white on top of color.