[SJWatty]

Hello friends,

My first post here, I have been doing very low tech screen printing for some time (all self taught) and as a recent project I built my own 4 color screen printing press with one platon arm to help me with making more advanced prints. I am using water based speedball ink on fabric, starting with an opaque white and working up from there with process colors. I find the white has to be dry (ish) before layering on the other colors. Does anyone have tips on drying ink between colors? I don't want to remove the shirt from the platon because it will screw up my registration, but I don't want to be waiting 20 minutes for one shirt to dry before I can print the next color on it. Thinking about using a hair dryer or heat gun. Please, any tips welcomed.

 

[cyclesurgeon]

no problem using a heat gun or hair dryer to flash your waterbase or even a 500 w halogen light. Just get it dry to the touch and you'll be fine to print again.

 

[JantexInks]

Hi SJWatty,
Welcome to the forums!

A couple of thoughts and suggestions for you.
Waterbase inks are generally non-tacky and can be printed "wet on wet", meaning they shouldn't need to be cured in between colors. Different inks will perform differently though.

If white is giving you a problem, instead of printing it first, can you print it last? Then the tack doesn't matter.

For the curing, don't use a hair dryer, get a heat gun.

Good luck!

 

[scdesign]

Yes, at least get a heat gun since waterbased needs forced air to fully dry. A halogen light will produce heat to help evaporate the moisture but will probably be a longer process than using a heat gun or forced air flash dryer