[cowboylife]

For some reason on some of my prints after washing them (testing) and I wear the t-shirt they are very rough where the ink is, to the point is makes my arm sore from rubbing. What am I doing wrong with the printing? I have a new squeegee, am pushing (tried pulling) have 1/4" or so off contact and am using plastisol ink... What could be making the ink so rough on the shirts?

 

[Celtic]

I'm thinking that you're probably using a low mesh, like a 110 and it's related to your print stroke.
Comes with practice. Try a higher mesh screen too and see if that helps too.

 

[tman07]

are you having this problem with your white ink? if so, you might try just a little reducer to make it easier to get through the screen.

 

[cowboylife]

with this particular situation for the prints I have done I was using a 156 mesh and the ink colors were black (mainly), red, and teal blue.

Is there advice on how to push the ink through the screen, I have tried a couple of things... if I try to do a one stroke the ink is visible on the shirt but not good coverage, if I do 2 strokes it is very heavy feeling on the shirts? I know plastisol is heavy but what is too heavy of a feel?

 

[selanac]

I've only experienced that feel on white ink. Used a reducer to thin it. Depending on what brand you're using it might be a little thick. Also try your squeegee angle.

You can also heat press or iron with a teflon, parchment paper. That will soften it up.

 

[tman07]

what brand ink are you using? I use the Union Ultra Soft series and it's very creamy straight out of the bucket.

also stir your inks prior to using - that helps too - I use a drill with a 2 inch spade bit - you would be surprised how much that helps.

A little soft hand additive won't hurt either.

 

[selanac]

Soft hand additive is also known as Reducer. Just in case you can't find it.

Our ink supplier doesn't say who he buys it from. He rebrands it.

I was thinking of selling Ink myself.

 

[JCS2013]

with this particular situation for the prints I have done I was using a 156 mesh and the ink colors were black (mainly), red, and teal blue.

Is there advice on how to push the ink through the screen, I have tried a couple of things... if I try to do a one stroke the ink is visible on the shirt but not good coverage, if I do 2 strokes it is very heavy feeling on the shirts? I know plastisol is heavy but what is too heavy of a feel?

First, Black and red should have soft hand feel even when printing plastisol. What inks are you using? Don't use ****ty ink. ****ty ink will always suck.

You should print color inks IMO using 156 with no problem. The only time I really need 110 is if I need a super opaque print with PFP. if you're printing on light colored shirts you should only have to pp then send to the dryer. IMO

make sure your squeegee is 70 durometer too. I recently printed using 75 durometer and it was giving me a ton of fibrilation on the plastisol print and felt super scratchy.

LASTLY, GO WATCH CATSPITPRODUCTIONS LLC ON YOUTUBE. YOU CANNOT FAIL IF YOU LEARN WHAT HE TEACHES. YOU CAN EVEN CALL HIM AND ASK HIM PERSONALLY WHAT YOU MIGHT BE DOING. SO LONG AS YOU HAVE ALREADY WATCHED HIS VIDS.

Sorry for yelling, but thats the honest truth. I'm running a big shop now and have plenty of work. I started a year ago watching his vids. I'm doing it full time and making bank.

Custom T Shirt Printing Worcester Webster 01570 Auburn Putnam Custom T Shirt Tees tshirts shirts Printing, Embroidery, Apparel Screen Printing, Silkscreen, Direct To Garment Printing DTG you can do it too.

 

[sben763]

a few things, curable reducer and soft hand are 2 different things, softhand will reduce but no where as fast as reducer. I use IC inks and personally use both except black and a few other colors that tend to be thin and then just softhand in the other colors.

You have to experiment to find what works best for you. I can go to 10 shop find 10 different brands of ink and they all say it's the best. If you want to use less strokes and leave more ink on the shirt lower Durometer, I personally use a 60-65 on almost all plastisol inks.