Here you can discuss any issues related to working with plastisol screen printing inks. This would include curing, mixing colors, additives, brands, usages and much more.
This is very interesting as I am making a video on testing to see if your ink is cured right now. I hope to upload it later today. But if you said you did a stretch test and it passed then this is indeed a strange issue.
Typically heavier coats of ink will need more time to cure. So a heavy print with a white under base would tend to need much more time under the heater than say black ink on white tees. So in this case I would think it’s just one of 2 things.
It may be that it passed the stretch test but wasn’t actually fully cured evenly. I would give something like this more time at 330 maybe up to a minute. So it could still be the cure.
OR it could be the ink. I have for some odd reason heard a lot about issues with that particular brand of white ink. Now I tried some and seemed to have no problem with it but batches do vary and I think they may have a consistency problem; meaning that from batch to batch quality and performance can vary as well as thickness. And in reality all ink manufacturers have issues with this at some time or another. It can happen but is more rare than common.
I would tend to think this is a curing issue as a pique knit can take some ink volume to fill and print on. I would run this garment hotter for longer times and use a low bleed, high opacity white for polyester. But cure it till it’s cooked. The entire ink layer has to reach at least 330 degrees Fahrenheit or more. And make sure it is not too humid in the room where you are printing. Humidity in a heavy garment like that can do strange things like this as well.
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!
Thanks for the great writeup. I'm also thinking of trying this too:
1) wash the shirts as the manufacture suggested
2) pass the shirt through the dryer once
3) so as you said in your 1st suggestion
I want to try this because I'm thinking the ink from the shirt is bleeding through a lot.
It's really weird because it's like dots all over. I can take a more high rez pic if you like.
Yeah a close op shot of the problem areas would be nice to see. If you wash the shirts don't use any detergent because they leave chemicals on the fabric that help prevent future staining.
The dots are weird, is your pallet totally smooth?
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!
That is odd. If the dye were coming through you would think it would bleed like dye migration and just tint the white but this is a pattern; spotting on a pique, very interesting. Even on the red. Perhaps it could be heavier deposits of dye in pitted areas of the knit.
If the pallet is totally smooth then I might try a different ink. Or perhaps a different garment as well.
What is the pallet made of?
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!
Pallet is made of wood and has a smooth top. Hey I watched your cure video and I think that was it because when I do the rub test and it came off. Also the stretch test totally ripped apart too. I'm gonna try again later. Will keep you posted
Okay that's interesting. Then it would lead me to believe that curing is the issue here. Let us know hwat you discover. Good luck, may the tee shirt gods be with you... LOL
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!
So found my issue here too (I believe). I had under-cured it. The 2nd batch of shirts I ran through the dryer twice. No pealing and excellent stretching.
There you go. That’s great. Curing is always the first thing we look at with problems in working with plastisol inks. But it was the spots that had me confused. Have they disappeared as well?
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!
