White Ink

John Keigley

I'm relatively new to printing with an automatic press and need some advice.We are printing dark garments with International Coatings 711LF and a 110 screen and I'm not happy with the finished print. It just doesn't seem to cover well. Is there a better white ink that I'm unaware of? We are printing on a Javelin and must go around a minimum of 3 times. What am I doing wrong.

Thanks

shirtprints

Are you flashing after each print? Print/flash/print should give you good results.

Ghostwork Ink

I'd try Pheonix White by Triangle Ink, it's my favorite.
Always PRINT/FLASH/PRINT when printing on darks with white ink.
make sure your pulls are forcefull, slower, and at a good angle to allow maximum ink flow via the screen.
Hope that helps!

falaah

Dear John keigly: What determines britness of the printed ink is its thickness. No ink is made 100% opaqe. How ever inks suck as platisols can achive bright print even with one coating also. If you ink is water based try these tips. 1> Try multiple passes 2>use a rounded squeegee.3> when you are making the screen when your first coat of screen chemical dries apply another coating. dhen dry it . this time use more time to harden the chemical. wash with hig pressure. test the print. If not successful apply more coatings and try again.

select1

When printing plastisol many printers will increase pressure thinking they are going to get better coverage. Sometimes this is the case, for instance when the ink isn't fully clearing the screen. I've seen many times over printers cranking up the pressure on their auto presses so much that the ink is driving so far into the tee the opacity is less than optimal. Remember you can adjust angle, try different durometers. Also make sure the ink is flowing well. A good stirring prior to printing will always help. Try depositing enough ink to grab the threads of the shirt to allow for proper curing/bonding but don't go any further than that. One nice layer of underlay on a 110 or 125 mesh and second layer with not a lot of pressure should ensure a quality bright print. Layering multiple layers(more than 2 layers) of ink on a tee shirt will definitely help it look good off the right off the press but who wants a print that is so thick it could stop a bullet. Also, these thick prints look good off the press but are difficult to properly cure. Do wash tests and make sure the garments you send out not only look great at the time but will stand the test of washing and wearing. Have a great day and good luck printing!

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fwtexscreener

Hi John,

All of the above information is good, one more thing to check is the offset of your screen to garment, we usually have ours set around 1/8 /1/4 inch.

Keep trying.

jr_sanford

Hey John, we use QCM Creamy Glacier White XLOB 158.
Go here QCM Inks for more information. If you want optimum coverage, you'll need to have 6 stations allowed for print, flash, cool, print, flash, cool to get your brightest white possible.

J.R. Sanford
Production Manager
N.W. Awards
185 N.W. Chehalis, AV
Chehalis, WA 98532
360-748-7346
360-880-6384

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