When I print my shirt, my image seems to be a little blurry.

This can be caused by a number of things: Are the screens tight in their clamps and the micro registration tightened? As you print the force will alter your screen’s position on the print surface. So, if the clamps holding your screens are loose then your print will be out of registration. This would especially be true on 1 colour prints.

Are the platens secured to the press and have you applied a good amount of tak to hold the garment in place. If you are using a flash, and after your second pull or colour it is burring, then the flash could be shrinking the shirt, thus distorting your print. Also if you flash for two long between colours you will could cure the ink which can result in blurred / poor print quality.

Has your screen mesh lost it tightness? The screen needs to be tight so that your image is tight. Time to restretch.

Is your mesh count and squeegee right? It can be surprising how much of a difference this can make when printing.

Thinking Organic ..

Over the last 20 years or so we have heard much about Organic farming, when going to the supermarket we are now presented with many organic options for fruit & vegetables, dairy, meat and other products.

Our industry too has been starting to change with ink products, chemicals and textiles which are Organic. Organic textiles are based on materials grown on organic farms, and manufactured without harmful chemicals. This is better for local wildlife, animals and people. Clients are increasingly demanding quality products that meet these standards.

You may have noticed certifications such as Soil Association Certification and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) symbols appearing on certain ink products and chemicals. The symbols mean that products have been through a stringent certification process to ensure that the products are made using Organic methods and techniques.

Who are the Soil Association?

The Association was founded in 1946 by a group of farmers, scientists and nutritionists with the overall objective of campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. The Association is a UK charity it is not a government body but has gained a worldwide reputation for driving and campaigning for Organic standards. The Soil Association played a leading role in the development of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and since 2006 have been certifying businesses to the GOTS standard.   (source – Soil Association website)

Why choose products which are Soil Association approved?

So you are confident that the inks / chemicals have been manufactured and processed to a strict criteria. Organic products are not just more socially responsible, generally better for all us but provide unique commercial opportunities.

Can I put the Soil Association Organic logo on my products if I have used Soil Association approved inks?

T Shirts bought from a garment distributor and printed with Soil Association approved ink does not make the T Shirt approved. To gain and competitive edge and appeal to this growing client market you need to become certified in order to use the symbols. The certification covers not just the inks and chemicals used, but also the environmental management the way waste water is treated as well as other factors. Both the Soil Association and the GOTS symbols are registered trademarks which can only be used by certified companies with approved products.

 

The purpose of this article is to give a simple summary it’s a big area and we will be writing more articles on the topic. For more information we highly recommend that you check out the Soil Association website and consider the certification process for your products or business.

http://www.sacert.org/LinkClick.aspx

http://www.soilassociation.org/

We sell a number of products which are certified from manufacturers such as FujiFilm Sericol and Magna Colours.

Sericol Texiscreen Aqua AJ Waterbased Screen Printing Inks

Sericol TexCharge TC Discharge Waterbased Inks

Magna Colours MagnaPrint Discharge ULF Inks

Permaset Permatone Inks are certified by the Soil Association – The Supercover range is NOT certified.

There are two basic screens, they can both be used as silk screens with any mesh, the difference is the frame, one is wooden the other is made out of aluminium. Aluminium are more durable, If you are doing a lot of printing then you want a screen that will not warp and maintain tension (this is important). Wooden screens are often a lot cheaper but can lead poor quality printing. I suggest buying aluminium screens as they last longer. Wooden screens tend to warp due to wear and tear + reclaiming, seem to lose tension quicker so not great for multi colour work.

Aluminium screens are a bit more expensive though but always work the investment.

Wicked Printing Stuff sell many products to clean and extend the life of your screens, including a restretching service.

Looking for an alternative to direct emulsion?

Textile Capillary Film is a viable alternative to direct emulsion. It is intended for standard textiles, using conventional non-aqueous Plastisol inks. Ulano film produces superb stencils quickly, consistently and with no mess or waste, giving a controlled coating thickness. With the added advantage minimal training is required. It dries quickly giving you a fast stencil turnaround thus speeding production. So no pinholes and if you are a Plastisol transfer printer it is the perfect solution.

Prepackaged film sheets

Ez  film is available in 2 different sizes and is sold in packs of 5 sheets.

Simple step by step instructions can be found at http://www.ulano.com/TechData/EZ-FILM30tds2012.pdf

There is also an online tutorial on youtube which can be found at :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZQZSEdmEik

Printing Plastisol White onto 100% Polyester Garment

100% Polyester Garments are becoming more and more popular, recently I tested some AWD (All We Do) Pink 100% Polyester Hoodies and some Black technical garments to see which ink worked best.  If you use a conventional plastisol or even a low bleed ink you run the risk of dye migration. So when printing onto a red garment with white plastisol ink after curing (and sometimes a day or two longer) you notice that the white ink has gone a shade of pink.  So the Dye Migration Challenge!

Why does dye migration happen?

It is quite a technical discussion but it’s basically about the way polyester is made and the way the manufactures seal the dye (in particular the temperatures that are used).  The dye used turns into a gaseous substances (also known as sublimates) when the dye hits around 165 degrees Celsius, which inconveniently is around similar plastisol curing temperature.  The dye then bleeds through any ink printed on top.

So what are the options:-

Set the curing temperature to be lower and continue to monitor the temperature, note that the risk of under curing increases significantly. Check the documentation with the ink to confirm curing temperature, remember to allow for thick ink deposits.

Don’t screen print onto 100% polyester, probably not really an option for any of us as we live in a competitive world

Print a grey or black under base – a proven solution but can be expensive and not that practical especially for the smaller printer

Use a low bleed ink e.g. Rutland SF02 low bleed or Union Diamond White, in reality a great solution for Poly / Cotton blends but risks of ink bleed are still very high on 100% polyester garments.

Use a specialist Polyester Plastisol ink – we sell the Best of Brands Polyester White, which works an absolute treat.  Make sure you don’t over cure the ink, but in my experience using this ink reduces risk, gives a smooth opaque finish and works a treat.

 

 

 

 

We have been building the WPS Panther Range of tunnel dryers, also known as conveyor dryers or conveyor ovens, since 2011. We manufacture the WPS Panther Tunnel Dryers range in Kent, using high quality components , uniquely designed to be maintained and serviced locally without the need for expensive maintenance contracts.

The design of WPS Panther Tunnel Dryers has been in production since the 1980’s, with thousands of the tunnel dryers still in use everyday across UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. These WPS Panther Tunnel Dryers have an unparalleled reputation for quality, reliability and performance. Very popular with the DTG (Direct To Garment) industry and now the DTF industry.  Our dryers are used  by  screen printers with large production volumes

The WPS Panther Tunnel Dryers are primarily designed for curing screen or digital printed textile inks but often used to dry solvent inks and for other industrial purposes, our tunnel dryers are being used for many different applications including the automotive, engineering and medical industries.

Other popular uses of the WPS Panther Tunnel Dryer include:-

• curing plastisol inks
• curing waterbased inks
• curing DTG (Direct To Garment) inks
• curing DTF transfers

Our tunnel dryer range caters for both small and large screen printers as it includes the ever popular 700 range of small / medium dryers and the larger 8000 series ideal for larger screen printers using automatic screen printing equipment or high throughput DTG(Direct To Garment) printers.

WPS have a great range of Panther tunnel dryers online so check here for specifications and prices or if you need a bespoke tunnel dryer solution please contact us or phone 01614426555.

When to use Plastisol screen printing inks?

•     Textiles especially cotton and poly blends
•     Easy to print with
•     Eco Versions available
•     Great colours on dark garments
•     Specialist Inks like glitter, glow in the dark

An official distributor for Sericol inks the premier global brand and stocklist of the Union and Rutland Ink range, we also offer the cost effect WPS Range which includes a variety of specialist glow in the dark inks.

Widely used in garment printing because they are easy to print, do not dry on the screen, can be opaque on dark garments, and adhere to most textiles. They are composed primarily of PVC resin and plasticiser.  We also sell the Sericol range of PVC free inks.

All Plastisol inks need to be cured otherwise the print will come off in the wash.

Are you confused which screen printing ink to use?

You do need to spend a bit of time assessing which is suitable for your product and we would be glad to help and advise you. This is a little starter so you can do some more research on our website.

Water based Screen Printing Inks

• An ultra safe product suitable for use on children’s clothing including babies
• Suitable for use in school and colleges
• Available for Paper and Board
• Available for Textiles
• For paper screen printing
• Can be air dried.

Plastisol Screen Printing Inks

• Only for Textiles e.g Cotton / Polyester Blends / Polyester etc
• Easy to print with but needed to be cured  (otherwise print cracks and comes off in the wash)
• Eco Versions available
• Great colours on dark garments
• Specialist Inks like glitter

Solvent Screen Printing Inks

• Will print on non porous surfaces like metals and glass
• Suitable for unusual substrates
• For professional use

That gives you a start so you can start choosing the right ink for the right job. But remember we are only a phone call away should you want advice

Oh no Pinholes in my screen?

There are a few things to do, most of them are about keeping the environment clean.  This can be a little tricky in some screen printing studios.

Make sure that your coating trough is clean. I have got into the habit of washing the coating trough prior to use.

When sensitising your emulsion make sure the powder is truly ‘well stirred in’.

Make sure you have degreased your screen before you coat with emulsion, if you leave screens around without sealing them it’s surprising how much dust there is.  If you are going to use the screens immediately then seal them in a black bag.

Make sure the glass on your exposure unit is clean – dust gets every where! If you do find pinholes then you can either cover them up with tape or you use a screen filler which you can apply with a brush to cover the hole.

Make sure you use solvent resistant fillers with plastisol and solvent inks, use water resistant screen filler when using waterbased inks.

Plastisol Ink – Weights and Measures

Ok so not the most exciting topic in screen printing but we are often asked by customers to give prices for Plastisol Ink by kg, so we thought this is a good opportunity to explain why screen printers should always buy plastisol by the Litre.

With some help from the Colour Matching team we ran a quick experiment, we compared one litre of WPS Cotton White Premium Plastisol and one kilogram of the same ink.  Our Colour Matching experts mix inks to Pantone shades, Ral and BS numbers which all require accurate measurement.

1 Kg of WPS Cotton White Premium Plastisol

1 Litre of WPS Cotton White Premium Plastisol which weighs 1.585 kg

It is very clear that 1 Litre of Plastisol weighs significantly more than a kilogram. This is because plastisol ink has a specific gravity typically 1.1 to 1.4. There are some highly opaque inks like WPS Cotton White being higher.

Specific gravity (SG) is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance; equivalently, it is the ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of a reference substance (normally water) for the same given volume. (Wikipedia).

So Plastisol inks like the WPS Premium Mixing Range and the Sericol Seritone range are lighter than the high opacity inks but because of their Specific Gravity you will still have more ink in a litre than a kg measure.

More inks equals more prints

All of our standard Plastisol inks are sold in Litres (or smaller) unless otherwise stated.