[rynoranger]

I picked up Union's plasticharge startup kit a few weeks ago (white, additive & agent), but have not had a chance to test until last night.

I have been a little worried to use it on a job due to curing issues on my Vastex D-100. This dryer is awesome, but very small and short chamber. There is a youtube video showing this unit fully curing discharge ink (union's plasticharge) in around 60 seconds. So I was hopeful but still cautious.


I used the white plasticharge with 8% additive on Next Level tri-blend, poly/cotton blend & premium cotton.

The results were..... AMAZING.

I set my heater panel up a little higher than usual (5.5 inches) and slowed the belt way down to a crawl (14). The temps got really high and I was worried it was going to have a negative effect on the print and shirt.

When the shirt came thru the other end of the dryer, I could already tell it looked good. Really good. But the white print was stiff and thick. I thought I had done something wrong.

Then I remembered some of you saying on here that washing the shirt is a good idea. I popped the few shirts in the wash and dryer and they came out absolutely perfect. Almost no hand and extremely WHITE!

This is the absolute best white I have ever used. No contest. If I can do this with a 4 ft dryer, there is no reason for anyone to not give this a shot.

Can't wait to start using other colors in the plasticharge

 

[krokker]

I have done the same with similar equipment. I am happy with the results.

 

[tpitman]

Obviously, the biggest drawback to using plasticharge or any water based stuff is efficiency with a small dryer. I've got a 5 foot dryer and the best I can do of any quantity in a timely manner are smaller front left chest prints so I can fold the shirts over and overlap them a bit. Otherwise, it just takes more time to do a job.

 

[Wheeler]

Smells awful...

 

[rynoranger]

tpitman - i agree - i will have to budget my time for close to 50 shirts/hour instead of my normal 80-100/hr

there is such a demand for the hand of wb or discharge that I can't afford to not offer it. hoping to make enough from a few jobs to buy a better dryer that can handle it better.

at this point, i am just really happy that on my first try, the process worked flawlessly.

Wheeler - The smell is definitely not something I am fond of, but it also wasn't terrible to me. With as much time I have wasted trying different white inks and usually not being happy with printing white ink (wilflex bright tiger has been my favorite so far) , I am just thrilled to have finally found a 90% of the time solution for soft & bright white prints.

 

[tpitman]

One other thing to think about is water based white ink. It does have more hand than discharge, but not nearly as much as plastisol.

A print/flash/print of Matsui's 301W gives a very soft print, matte white, smooth to the touch (no sandpaper feel) and great stretchability. You do have to run the dryer about as slowly as with discharge, but you don't have the smell.

 

[20vK]

Wheeler - The smell is definitely not something I am fond of, but it also wasn't terrible to me. With as much time I have wasted trying different white inks and usually not being happy with printing white ink (wilflex bright tiger has been my favorite so far) , I am just thrilled to have finally found a 90% of the time solution for soft & bright white prints.

You are aware of how poisonous this stuff is, right? Discharge typically is based off Zinc Formaldahyde Sulfoxylate.

That's why I WON'T do it in my shop without the correct equipment & ventilation and instead chose to focus on producing better plastisol prints. My last batch of 450 white prints on Friday, the customer indicated that they would never even feel the print whist wearing the shirt.

Don't get me wrong, I really want to do discharge, but formaldehyde is nasty stuff. Please be careful

 

[sben763]

You really should have ventilation while doing discharge. Since the D-100 doesn't have a vent it would be wise to have all the doors/windows open and wear a respirator. I do so even with a positive vent and make up air on my dryer.

I have seen post where guys are doing this in a garage with no ventilation or a flash dryer. Look at the MSDS sheets there is some nasty stuff in discharge.