[Nonnie035]

Hey Everyone!
My name is Nonnie and I'm new to this forum. I have been helping my brother-in-law with his new T-shirt business. We're not doing it online, just local.
I have a question that we desperately need an answer to.
The white ink we are using isn't working. In order to get it to cover well enough, it then clumps on the shirt. After washing the shirt it peels off. We have ruined so many shirts trying to make it work. We've tried flashing and some other things but nothing seems to be working.
Is anyone else having trouble with white ink?? If so, what are you doing about it.
If you're not having trouble with it, what brand do you use?? Maybe its the brand but all the other inks we use from the same company are doing fine.
Thanks for any help.
Nonnie

 

[Rodney]

Re: Hey!

Hi Nonnie, welcome to the T-Shirt Forums!

I'll move this post over to the screen printing sections so one of our screen printing experts can see if they have any tips.

 

[Sac printer]

I will try to help. Your white ink should be applying to your shirt nice and smooth. First make sure you are stirring the ink before putting into the screen. I usually stir my inks until I feel my arm is going to break off. Then make sure your off contact is no more than 1/8 for shirts (slight increase for sweatshirts). If your printing on darks and want to give it an extra layer of white make sure to flash in between each layer. Make sure the shirt platen has cooled before each layer. Many times the 'clumps" start to form when the platen is still hot after flashings, your screen will also start to clog so watch your temperatures closely. Also I would decrease the angle on your squeegie with less pressure so that you are laying down less ink. Sometimes less ink is better. Hope that helps.. If you post a pic of your shirt with the problem we could probably help you further.

 

[chasprint]

Hey Everyone!
My name is Nonnie and I'm new to this forum. I have been helping my brother-in-law with his new T-shirt business. We're not doing it online, just local.
I have a question that we desperately need an answer to.
The white ink we are using isn't working. In order to get it to cover well enough, it then clumps on the shirt. After washing the shirt it peels off. We have ruined so many shirts trying to make it work. We've tried flashing and some other things but nothing seems to be working.
Is anyone else having trouble with white ink?? If so, what are you doing about it.
If you're not having trouble with it, what brand do you use?? Maybe its the brand but all the other inks we use from the same company are doing fine.
Thanks for any help.
Nonnie

Hi Nonnie, Try a good fast flashing ink that gives a matte finish when flashed. Union Ink has a nice pdf guide on this subject.Use a finer mesh on the flash printer(157). Try to get a thinner deposit on the flash so you won't have to over heat this to get to gel temp. 220F is all you need and it should only take about 5-8 seconds. Let the flashed shirt cool a bit before you overprint this. Use a seperate screen for the overprint and with a more open mesh like 80-110 and get a solid white print with little pressure and a good peel or release of the ink from the screen. Use just enough pressure and angle to get a good print. You are trying to get ink on top of the shirt not in it. With practice you may be able to use the same screen for both flash and final white and just change the technique for each pass. Little angle low pressure for the flash base then more angle and pressure for the final white pass or perhaps double stroke. The correct ink for the type of shirt and technique is important and the guides from most ink makers will help you choose. Good luck and keep at it.I know you will solve this one because everyone has this type of trouble when they start. Vale, Chas