# Ink Bleeding Thru To Teflon Sheet



## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Hey All:

We are doing our first big order today (180 shirts). We started pressing and got about 15 done when I noticed I was getting a line of yellow ink at the top of my design.

Upon further look, I realized that it was the bottom part the design I was printing upside down and in reverse. 

Searching for a cause, I soon realized that the Sub ink / vapors were coming thru the back of the transfer I made and going on to the teflon sheet I was placing on top. As long as I kept the teflon sheet oriented the same, I wasn't really noticing anything but apparently I must have flipped it on a few shirts.

So, my problem is of course, this is unacceptable. How do I avoid it?

Is the only way to place a fresh piece of craft paper or even regular printer paper on top of the transfer to "absorb" the vapor on every press? Seems like a TON of waste but I don't have any idea how to stop this otherwise.

Went to wipe of the teflon sheet BTW, and it's made a faint but permanent imprint.

I've got to get these shirts done by Wednesday and could really use some guidance on how to make this process work with the least amount of waste.

BTW, this is QC Pro Print Paper

Thanks for your help-
JOHN


----------



## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

You can use rubbing alcahol (sp) to clean the teflon sheet ,, if you are having this problem you may want to use a sheet of parchment paper and throw it away after each use, I have not had this problem but thats not to say someone else here has. You might recheck all your setting and maybe apply more pressure this should not happen as the gas should only transfer from the paper to the shirt, then again your platen may be dirty.


----------



## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Yes, we have this problem. The way we solve it is to use a parchent paper between the xfer and teflon. We also clean the teflon with 409 periodically. 

Another thing you can do is to place the transfer in the same place each time. This will avoid that problem.


----------



## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

binki said:


> Yes, we have this problem. The way we solve it is to use a parchent paper between the xfer and teflon. We also clean the teflon with 409 periodically.
> 
> Another thing you can do is to place the transfer in the same place each time. This will avoid that problem.


Ugh. So, I'll blow thru 180 sheets of paper on top of the paper for the transfers.

Seems like such a waste!

Why isn't the transfer paper made to avoid this. Just doesn't make sense.

If there are folks this doesn't happen to, I'd be curious the kind of dye sub paper you are using.


----------



## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

What we've done is use cheap copy paper to put between the transfer and teflon sheet. Then, throw it away after each press.

Depending on the the size of the transfer, you can cut the paper in half to make it go further. For us, this was simpler, cheaper and easier than having to pull 180 or so sheets of parchment paper.


----------



## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Like I said, you could place the teflon in the same location each time to avoid the problem.


----------



## uncletee (Feb 25, 2007)

make sure there isn't ink on your original paper some times there will be ink on the edges, use cheap copy paper over the design, you won't need to use the teflon, make sure your pressure is right if not you will get ink seeping out the edges. good luck


----------



## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

I had the same problem and started using butcher paper in place of the teflon sheet. Make sure you press the butcher paper once with nothing on the heat press just to "clean" the paper (so you won't have an imprint from the paper. From there, you'll have smooth sailing. You can use the butcher paper over and over. When it starts getting britle, tear a new sheet and keep going.

With regards to the copy paper, I found that you end up getting an imprint from the edge of the paper, that's why I switched over to butcher.


----------



## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

binki said:


> Like I said, you could place the teflon in the same location each time to avoid the problem.


Right - and that was sort of what we were doing, but if you are a little off, then ghosting.

Just seems like the paper should be made to avoid this.

I am curious - why would butcher paper be able to be used over and over? I'd think you'd get the imprint on that and then it would transfer to the next garment when things get activated again?


----------



## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

levelbest said:


> I am curious - why would butcher paper be able to be used over and over? I'd think you'd get the imprint on that and then it would transfer to the next garment when things get activated again?


Sorry for the late response, but, I've not had any problems with the butcher paper that I've had with the Teflon sheet. I can't explain it, but, it's been smooth sailing. Just make sure you hit the butcher paper on the heat press first, all by itself, before using it in order to "neutralize" the fibres in the paper. I found that there was some transfer of the fibres at the start. After I hit it one time, we were smooth sailing from there.


----------



## CarlT (May 23, 2007)

Yes, you will get ink on your teflon sheet, that is the only problem with using a teflon sheet, you have to clean it every time.
That's why I use a standard piece of paper. Either 8 1/2 X 11 or 14 depending on the sitch. Sometimes multiple pieces depending on the size. You can by paper in bulk, it's cheap and a lot faster than cleaning the sheet everytime.
Parchment paper may work, but it seems like a waste of money, when you can use a simple copy paper to do the same thing.


----------



## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

I recommend avoiding Teflon as it is a moisture barrier and will hold sublimation ink from a previous
transfer. I buy white uncoated butcher paper from Sam's Club.


----------



## palmetto (Feb 22, 2008)

I also use butcher paper or craft/packing paper by the roll not the teflon. You can cut it as large as needed and I reuse it multiple times before cutting off a new piece.


----------



## Lorcan (Jun 11, 2007)

I use Teflon but flip the sheet over after each pressing so that the residual ink is on the "up" side and can't get onto the next shirt. It seems to burn off that way. I cut a notch out of one corner of the sheet so I know which way up it is.

The other problem I have had is a fine line or specks of ink on the edge of the paper itself on occasions. Just have to watch for that and cut it off when it happens.


----------



## milabix (Apr 18, 2008)

levelbest said:


> Ugh. So, I'll blow thru 180 sheets of paper on top of the paper for the transfers.
> 
> Seems like such a waste!
> 
> ...


John,

If I understand your problem correctly, the ink is coming trhough the back of the paper, not through the edges. If this is the case, you are correct in assuming it shouldn't happen.

The fact that it is always the same part of the transfer/image to gas through the paper leads me to believe that there is way too much ink on the paper in that particular area, could you check this?

I am not familiar with the paper you are using, I am prone to think that it is a bond paper (bright white on the print side and yellowish on the other). If this is the case, keep in mind that this type of papers (just like your printer) where not actually designed for dye sublimation, they just happen to work for the dye sublimation process. These papers are desinged to quickly absorb ink in to its inner layers in order to dry quicly however if you are overloading the paper with ink the paper will get saturated and the ink will be absorbed all the way to the layers on the reverse side (just imagine printing a photograph on regular copy paper using the Hi Quality photo setting on your printer... the paper comes out fo the printer soaken wet!). The ICC profiles for those papers tend to lay down a lot of ink in order to compensate withthe fact that a lot of it will be too deep in to the paper to be able to trasnfer back out. In your case the paper might be a little thinner that the one used to build the profile so the ink is so deep in to it that it actually reached the other side and is therefore trasnfering out of there.

Consider that most profiles made by Sawgrass are built using their papers so you might be able to eliminate the issue using the paper they used for your profile (Trupix?)

My suggestion would be to try a heavier transfer paper (Paper grades are usually expressed in lb, the higher weight indicates a thicker paper). My personal suggestion would be to switch to a high release paper such as Beaver Texprint or JetCol 5000. 

The high release paper is perfect for the T-Shirts, but don't use it on hard substrates (tiles, metal) as it tends to give a "cloudy/grainy" finish on those. You will benefit intwo ways from the HR papers:
1) your ink consumption will decrease dramatically (if used witht he proper profiles)

2) The HR papers have a barrier coating that prevent water (and vapors, and gasses) from penetrating trhough the surface layers of the paper and in to it's core... so basically it can't blead through!

With the high release paper you whon't need teflon sheets or any other protective paper.

Your will have to use a different color profile made for HR papers, check in your Sawgrass software to see if you have the profiles preloaded there and if you do just select it before printing onthe HR paper, otherwise ask your Sawgrass ink dealer for for one. Sawgras has these profiles I am sure so, if all else fails, you can call them direct.


By the way, the Teflon sheets are mainly intended to prevent the transfer paper from sticking to the press (this could lead to ghosting as the paper stick to the press for a few seconds before it "floats" back down in a slightly different position to constinue transfering and .... ghosting).

Now all of this will be usefull if the problem you are having is ink coming through the paper and gassing out the back side (my initial assumption). If on the other hand the issue is ink gassing out of the sides (something that would happen if you print saturated images "borderless" (all the way to the edge of the paper) or if you trim your prints cutting the non printed border off, you would reduce this problem by controlling the pressure (reduce it) and ink saturation (reduce this as well), however this doesnt always solve the issue especially if your ink saturation is very high so protection paper would then be your best solution... If your job permits you could also try to avoid printing borderless or trimming the edges beacuase when you do this the ink printed on the edge of the paper will travel to the "outside edge" without any unprinted paper to absorb it. This will cause the ink to come in to contact with the upper surface of the press (or the teflon sheet if used). The tipical sign of this is a straight thin line of color on the "frame" or outside edge of your transfer. 

I hope this helps,

Milabix


----------



## FrankJersey (Jul 7, 2016)

This sounds like a good and easy approach and I will definitely give it a try! Thanks for sharing.
We've been using Teflon sheet and after each press we normally will check if any ink has imprinted the sheet; if it does, we will press the Teflon sheet on top of a spare white t-shirt (100% cotton) and the imprint will go away. We've reused the same t-shirt for many times and it seems to help get rid of the imprint from the Teflon sheet every time. If the flip method that Lorcan mentioned works then it will be a great help.



Lorcan said:


> I use Teflon but flip the sheet over after each pressing so that the residual ink is on the "up" side and can't get onto the next shirt. It seems to burn off that way. I cut a notch out of one corner of the sheet so I know which way up it is.
> 
> The other problem I have had is a fine line or specks of ink on the edge of the paper itself on occasions. Just have to watch for that and cut it off when it happens.


----------



## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

I'm using Trupix with Sawgrass ink and powerdriver in a Ricoh. I have never seen ink bleed through the paper, that would probably be up to three times the amount of ink required for the job.
My Ricoh doesn't print borderless anyway. the only way that I have stained my platen is from Hi-Viz safety vests so my base always has a sheet of cooking parchment paper on it first and a sheet over the lot before pressing. Unless I'm pressing Hi-Viz the sheets will be good for around 15 presses before they go all wrinkly and get binned, It's far cheaper than copy paper and covers the whole heat area. I reckon there's too much ink and or not good paper going on.


----------

