[Earl Smith]

Hi,
There is a lot of discussion about white Ink in these printers. I have spoken with a supplier recently asking about wash problems. He has told me that the maximum temperature to wash the garment is 30°c. Then the colours stay good. Is this true? Normal wash temps is 40°c or more. How can I tell my customers to wash so cool?

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Manufacturer recommended wahs instructions for white ink prints is as follows:

Wash inside out
Cold Water (gentle cycle preferred)
Tumble dry low (air drying is ideal)

These settings will maximize print life.

 

[equipmentzone]

Hi,
There is a lot of discussion about white Ink in these printers. I have spoken with a supplier recently asking about wash problems. He has told me that the maximum temperature to wash the garment is 30°c. Then the colours stay good. Is this true? Normal wash temps is 40°c or more. How can I tell my customers to wash so cool?

What Don writes is correct. That is the standard washing instructions for this ink type. What I say to my customers is that this is what they should be telling their customers is the recommended wash method. Reality, of course, is that these are t-shirts - and most people will wash t-shirts any way they want. So when we do wash tests here we always wash the shirts in warm water with the print on the outside and dry them in medium heat in a dryer. That more accurately approximates how the average printed shirt is really getting washed. The good news is that we find the inks we are using hold up very well in this wash cycle.

Harry

 

[Mistewoods]

It is a good idea to give the buyer wash recommendations that are conservative.

The wash tests I have done have been in hot or warm water, thrown in with whatever is handy, and dried in a hot dryer. The results have been consistently good with the two diferent inks I have used. Since this is the way my children do their wash, I see that over time the shirts still look good. True they would probably look better washed as Don stated, but for my own purposes- I test at worst case scenario. I have even used bleach and dried shirts in the direct sun with good results. However there is one customer we sell work shirts to , and one of the employees has fading in every shirt we print no matter what we do- the others have almost none. He uses an unusual combination of laundry products and it apparently produces this effect.