I'm not really sure where to begin, but I am having some trouble with the actual printing of the tee shirts. One of the big problems I'm having is with small particles of ink getting stuck in the stencil and clogging up that area. I am currently using Permaset Supercover white ink on 8XX screens. I was wondering if switching to a monofilament screen (maybe 110 mesh) would be a possible fix to this problem. I am also curious if anyone has any suggestions for squeegees? I've used anywhere from a durometer of 50 all the way up to 80. I've also tried both straight edge and round edge squeegees and actually seem to have more luck with a round edge squeegee. If anyone has any comments or suggestions I'd really appreciate it as I'll take any help I can get at this point.

Thanks,

DIO9

I'm not familiar with the screen type your using but I use a 110 or 156 for white on almost every job I do and a 70 durometer squeegee. I used to have the issue of the ink sticking in the screen. What helped me was to make sure I mixed the ink very well in the container, make sure the shirt is tacked down very well, flood the screen and do 2 passes at around a 45/60° angle to clear all the ink out. I also noticed if my pallet got to hot from flashing and not giving enough time to cool a bit, the ink would not clear as well. Hope that helps.

Yeah I ordered a 110 screen this weekend so I'm hoping that will help. Also I mix the ink well before each use, and I also add retarder to it to slow the drying time and to thin it out a little as the Permaset Supercover is a very thick ink. I'm still having some trouble with the ink getting stuck in the thinnest parts of my stencils. Most of the stencil clears out fine it's just the really thin areas I have problems with. Thanks for the response, if you or anyone else has any other suggestions I'm all ears.

Another thing I've come across is if my off contact is a little low, it will not clear as well. That and the pallet being to hot or if my pallet tack is wearing out. I also use a square squeegee with a lower angle on the first pass and a slightly higher angle with less pressure on the second pass.

Awesome suggestions drew, thanks for such great contributions.

Are you back flooding the stencil with ink between prints?

The monofilament mesh may also solve this though. It will have less fibers to catch ink I believe. You should get a better stencil.