Having trouble with left chest prints

SPPAT123 · July 22nd, 2015, 07:55 AM

Hi - HELP!!!! - we are
having issues with left chest prints coming out angled instead
of striaght - I know everone has their own method but my
printer is not getting something right - it gets worse as
the shirts get bigger. He has everything squared - he is experienced -
something is not right -
I do not print so I have to reach out to some of you experienced printers
for inout - I can't afford to keep loosing shirts.

Ghostwork Ink · July 23rd, 2015, 11:59 AM

It's going to be nearly impossible for anyone to give you an answer on WHY left chest prints are coming out crooked without actually being there during the set up and production process..

I find some of my printers here have trouble with fashion fit t-shirts like Canvas or Next Level Apparel. Sometimes even when setting up everything perfectly straight, they come out crooked; At times we actually offset the design while setting it up to balance the design out when we know it's going to come out slightly crooked.

Here's some things to look into :

-Is it all styles of shirts that the left chest comes out crooked on? Or just 1 particular style?

-Are your pallets warped and straight? Use a level and tape measure and measure from the bottom of your pallet from the press base or print head

-Do all of the left chest prints appear crooked in the same direction (high on the left / high on the right).

SPPAT123 · July 30th, 2015, 08:13 AM

Hi - thanks for the reply - we narrowed it down hopefully to our older t square being off
just enough to have the design appearing to go down hill -
this week we have been doing pocket shirts so we haven't found out for sure if this is the problem.
My printer was complaining about it being the Gildan tees - we did several orders of safety green shirts
and I had to pull several shirts - had to replace 72 of 150 shirt order.
I don't know of anyone else complaining about Gildan tees - does any of this make sence.

At what point do you make the printer accountable. We are starting to have a lot of losses and it's time for me to make adjustments.
Thanks

Ghostwork Ink · August 3rd, 2015, 08:37 PM

Hmm. . That'll do it!

Once you establish that all of the pallets are balanced and straight, go out and buy a new metal tsquare or a screen printers tsquare (you can find them for $30 on eBay).

-Instead of using the tsquare to line up the screens stencil with the pallet, get a sharpie and draw a series of straight lines across your pallet.
-Before you do anything with the screen, tape your film positive to the pallet STRAIGHT with the lines that were drawn, then register the screen to the film positive on the pallet.

Pocket shirts are nearly impossible to mess up if you're using a Pocket Master attachment or sleeve pallet to print the pockets with. If you don't have a Pocket Master, check your supplier or eBay. . They're a life savor.

Personally, I wouldn't make any of our printers accountable for the goods. Even though he/she messed up. As a business owner, I understand. . 72 out of 150 shirts is A LOT replace.
Ask yourself this. . You've mentioned you have an experienced printer working for you. . How did 72 out of 150 shirts get past him/her misprinted?

If you find you're still having this issue after checking all of the variables, the only thing left to look at is the experience of the printer. I know good help is hard to find, especially in a high volume operation. Depending where you're located, perhaps you can send this worker out for training before replacing?