# Prints coming out thick, too much ink coming out



## thefraze34 (May 25, 2009)

After 5-6 prints (t-shirts with plastisol ink, 110 mesh) my prints are coming out too thick. Also, ink on the t-shirt side of the screen has spread outward from the image - almost shadow like. This makes the image less crisp and slightly distorted. 

I am flooding the screen after the print and I am pressing down hard when printing. It's almost like there is too much ink going through the screen and the t-shirt side of the screen is collecting ink. Could it be because I sometimes flood once or twice because one flood doesn't cover the image? I don't know. How can I fix this?


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## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

You can use a higher mesh screen. You may also be pressing too hard, squeezing ink out under the emulsion causing the fuzzy edges. 
What do you have your offset set at?


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## n.signia (Nov 21, 2007)

try not flooding. or if you do, go easy and only use one flood stroke. 
if you use 2, even one time, you have pushed too much in through the screen and it will smear on the shirt side of the screen, once this happens you will get that shadow every print until you clean the shirt side of the screen.


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## thefraze34 (May 25, 2009)

Awesome, thanks for the quick responses. My off contact is probably like 1/4". But then again my platten is slightly concave so my screen pretty much touches the very edges of my platten. 

I will try flooding very lightly as well as not pressing down too hard when printing. Thanks again guys.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

thefraze34 said:


> It's almost like there is too much ink going through the screen and the t-shirt side of the screen is collecting ink. Could it be because I sometimes flood once or twice because one flood doesn't cover the image?


Yes, flooding more than once causes problems more often than not. If you're not getting enough ink into the image area from your first flood, you might not be putting enough ink on the screen. You can put excess ink back if you don't use it, so maybe try putting more ink in your screen.


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## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

what type of ink are you using. i know for my less opaque inks i dont touch anything less than a 190 screen. the only reason i would use a 110 is for a max opaque ink going on a dark shirt, even then now a days i would use a 160.


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## thefraze34 (May 25, 2009)

I'm just using Plastomeric opaque ink. I don't know too much about different mesh counts and what makes them different. I've only used 160 and 110 and I haven't printed enough to notice a difference. From what I've read 110 seems to be the norm for just printing t-shirts, but I guess it depends on what quality/texture you're looking for.


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## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

Mesh count is how many threads of monofilament there are per inch. 110=110 threads/inch.

The higher the ThreadsPerInch, the less ink gets through the screen, due to the smaller holes between the filaments of the screen. Less ink=less coverage; More ink=thicker, more opaque print, but a heavier hand.

You will find that printing very opaque inks, especially white through a higher mesh is more difficult and requires more pressure. I typically use 110's for whites.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

I'll bet your mesh is loose. Make sure you are using a screen with a very tight mesh. Also try a higher mesh.


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## JHanching (Mar 4, 2009)

You shouldn't be smashing the ink into the shirt. Ideally, the ink should just rest on the surface of the shirt. You'll get cleaner and brighter prints and avoid defibrillation.

The lowest mesh count we use is 230 and that is for the base. Our screens are at a minimum 25 newtons.

As far as warped platens goes, if you want quality prints, you'll need to level out your platens. Especially when you get into halftones.


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## smacs01 (Dec 18, 2006)

Is there anyway to clean the shirt side of the print without removing all the paint off the screen and starting all over?


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

smacs01 said:


> Is there anyway to clean the shirt side of the print without removing all the paint off the screen and starting all over?


make sure all the ink is at the bottom and use mineral spirit and paper towels.. after that clean with a non wet paper towel to get the ink off the screen make sure all the ink is gone.


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## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

If your platen is warped (slightly concave) that's your main problem. The edges are getting good contact with the shirt and the middle isn't, and that would cause exactly what you're describing. Go to Home Depot and buy a 15" laminated shelf (about $15) and saw a 15" piece off it to make a new platen. Smooth the edges and round the corners, then put a wide strip of masking tape all around the edge. This will keep your shirts from snagging.

110 mesh should work fine for spot color. As your technique improves you can move up to 158, but for now you should be able to get crisp prints with 110. If your platen is nice and flat I'm betting your problem will disappear. Also, don't push hard with your squeegee. Just a firm, slow, shearing stroke or two will result in crisp prints.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

too low a mesh count.


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## TeeRabbit (Nov 9, 2014)

smacs01 said:


> Is there anyway to clean the shirt side of the print without removing all the paint off the screen and starting all over?


On smaller prints there is a nice trick when you can take a nice piece of screen tape - 3 inch wide - and place the tape over the area where the fuzziness is happening, push over it a couple times, then peel off. Maybe do that a few times and you'll be good. Nice trick to save time on certain prints


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## smacs01 (Dec 18, 2006)

thanks for the info djque


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## hotrod937 (Nov 15, 2013)

My bet is it's that jacket platen. Screen printing isn't that hard but you have to have like 49 things exact or it will mess up. Get a new platen report back


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## sister1 (Jun 16, 2008)

smacs01 said:


> Is there anyway to clean the shirt side of the print without removing all the paint off the screen and starting all over?


If you see you haven't fully flooded the image, resist the impulse to flood again, pull the shirt off the platen if you haven't printed the first layer, toss a waste shirt on the platen and push (or pull, which ever method you use) the ink through. Then use a paper towel or rag to wipe the edges of your image on the shirt side, if necessary. Don't wipe across the large open areas of the mesh, because you'll just end up making a bigger mess to clean up.

If you've printed the first layer and run in to the problem with the flood, you should be able to load a waste shirt right over the one on the platen -- just don't push too hard. Getting the excess ink pushed out makes it much easier to clean the shirt side of the screen if necessary.

Generally, the reason that happens is that you are not pulling (pushing) a sufficient amount of ink to cover the image on your flood stroke. Keep a paint scraper on hand to shepherd your ink into a nice even mound all the way across the width of the image. If your image has a large open area on one side and not the other, you will need to keep a good eye on it and move it as necessary. With practice, you'll be able to accurately judge just how much ink you need to grab with your squeegee.

Also, we started out with 110's, but moved fairly quickly to 150's for white ink, and we use 200 or higher for underbasing (and for all dark inks on light shirts). 110's are good for puff ink and suede inks, but ours mostly sit idle at this point.


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