# Ink washing out on customer supplied shirts



## gargar (Oct 27, 2015)

Hi, I am having trouble with water based ink washing out of cheap t shirts that the customer supplies. They are black t shirts and I never have trouble with my own or any other t shirts. Is it possible that they have some kind of chemical treatment that my ink doesn't like. The wash out is mottled and irregular.


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## shivymc1 (Sep 20, 2012)

you would have to test those tees first, normally we wouldn't accept supplied tees for ink jobs. ONly embroidery and vinyl


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## Screen Medics (Feb 23, 2015)

We learned of one instance where a customer washed their shirts before bringing them to us to screen print. We experienced somewhat the same issues printing that you described.
We learned the customer used a generous amount of fabric softener (unknown brand) during the washing process. That appeared to cause the adhesion failure of the water base ink.
It is a good idea to question customers who supply their own apparel if they washed, ironed or otherwise treated the fabric with fabric softener or anything else before bringing them in to be printed.
We don't knows this caused or contributed to the ink adhesion failure you described but it is prudent to know before printing if the fabric may have been contaminated.


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

shivymc1 said:


> you would have to test those tees first, normally we wouldn't accept supplied tees for ink jobs. ONly embroidery and vinyl


Agreed. I wont even put transfer paper on them. I had one a long time ago that just would not accept an image, it just wouldn't stick. I thought at the time that it might have been treated with some kind of fabric conditioner too.


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## bertiewooster (Jul 7, 2007)

My usual response to customer asking to supply garments, is yes we will print but entirely at your risk!
I always explain that we buy from suppliers who sell a product that is meant to be decorated and that if they supply a product then we have no control over the quality.


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## gargar (Oct 27, 2015)

Thank you all for your replies, you have all confirmed what I suspected. To avoid printing shirts supplied by customers, and use only shirts from my trusted suppliers. And avoid this headache. Lucky it wasn't a huge order and my customer is not busting my chops over it. But I feel better knowing I am not the only one that has had this problem. Thanks.


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## gargar (Oct 27, 2015)

Thank you all for your replies, you have all confirmed what I suspected. To avoid printing shirts supplied by customers, and use only shirts from my trusted suppliers. And avoid this headache. Lucky it wasn't a huge order and my customer is not busting my chops over it. But I feel better knowing I am not the only one that has had this problem. Thanks.


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