# Is anyone else having issues with the latest GILDAN Shirts?



## scotney86 (Mar 15, 2011)

I have used Gildan Ultra's extensively for the last year or so with great results However the recent stock i have ordered in (over the last 2 months) have printed terribly. Its almost like the shirts have been treated with a chemical that reacts with the pre-treat/ink.

I can pre-treat a different brand shirt and print the same logo and get perfect results, its just this latest shipment of Gildan Ultra's that are giving very poor results.

Has anyone else had the same problem with Gildan? 

I have attached a picture to show the poor printing on the ultra's. The ink has gone through to the inside of the shirt where the black dots are visible.

I carried out tests on the shirts which ranged from little pre-treat right through to soaking pre-treat and changing curing times and pressures but they all gave a similar result.

Needless to say i no longer have confidence in Gildan and am currently sourcing a new shirt to stock


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Gildan, IMHO, is one of the worst shirts to use for DTG printing. Been there, done that! Fibers are way to loose. Not consistent. To say the least. 
Try the PHA 451 from dtgprintingsolutions.com. The best for printing that I have seen, night and day difference. Next maybe the Keya brand. Tight ring spun is a must. 


Sent from my SCH-I605 using T-Shirt Forums


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Oh, forgot. Pretreatment is dried not cured, u can even hang dry. A half 30 hover followed by 30 sec press then left to finish dry hang overnight works very well. 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using T-Shirt Forums


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## scotney86 (Mar 15, 2011)

Randy,

Thanks for the input, im based in the UK so will be getting a stock shirt from a UK supplier.

I follow the manufacturers recommendations for curing/drying the pre-treat.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Well go for the tightest ring spun cotton you can get. 
Try experimenting with hang dry or half hang half press. You will find a lot better washability. A lot of people, mfg, misuse the term cure. I ink cures pretreatment dries.


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## Gia (Oct 23, 2009)

I also use Gildan for screen printing and the last group of shirts posed some problems. As stated above its like they were treated with something and the ink didn't want to adhere to them.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Steve, u might want to see if you can get in touch with StichUp here on tsf. 
U can find him on the NeoFlex threads. He is in your area and may have some good suppliers


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## scotney86 (Mar 15, 2011)

Randy,

I have plenty of suppliers but i have pretty much printed exclusively onto Gildan. It is now trial and error trying other shirts and making sure im happy with them. I know Stitch Up uses AA and Anvil and is very happy, they are alot pricier than Gildan so will have to see.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

True, but in general they use. Little less pretreatment and white ink. Print detail is higher. And wash is better. Although I tie 90 of wash results to pretreatment.


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## youngmi1969 (Jan 21, 2008)

OMG , yes, yes , yes! I have always used Gildans for my basic tshirts as they always printed very well for me. I thought they were the best quality with less short staple fibers sticking up. But recently (last 2 months or so) I've noticed I've had to used a ton of pretreatment and the white ink would look a like it was mixed with oil going down on the shirt. I think they are using a lot more sizing that repels the pretreatment. So glad I was not the only one to notice this.

I've switched to Fruit of the Loom Lofteez for my basics - don't have to use nearly as much pretreament and white prints beautifully. Not so much sizing you can tell because when I cure the pretreatment it does shrink a little bit where it was pressed. Would rather have it do this than ruin shirt after shirt because of sizing. I find the Anvils have too much sizing too - also don't like the larger gauge knit or the stiffness. FOL Lofteez are the same pricepoint as the Gildans too

I thought it was just a manufactured lot of tshirts, but Gildan much have changed up their whole process if you are experiencing this too since you are in the UK and I am in the US


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## GraphicGuy (Dec 8, 2008)

Gia said:


> I also use Gildan for screen printing and the last group of shirts posed some problems. As stated above its like they were treated with something and the ink didn't want to adhere to them.


I screen print hundreds of Gildan Ultra shirts every week and have had no problems at all with them. I don't understand this.
Now on the DTG side, that's something else. Yes they have changed in some way.


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## WillyWanka666 (Jan 13, 2010)

I had problems with Gildan and thought I narrowed it down to where they were produced. Haiti seemed to be consistent until about a year ago. If I pretreated a shirt I could look at and be able to say that it was from El Salvador without looking at the tag. We've sinced switched to the Jerzees 363 HiDense tee. Oh! And Anvil is the same as Gildan in regards to reliability.


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## villaman (Mar 31, 2012)

HI

The gildan Softstyle is a decent enough shirt and ok for DTG. I have used thousands of them. The ones made in Bangladesh are fine. The problem is with the Honduras or Nicaragua made tees. They are ones with the problem and the UK is flooded with them. There is a softener in the cotton that does not like the pre-treat we use. I talked the the UK Gildan guys at the printwear show about this last month and they didn't know anything about this issue but they told me about the stock issues etc and that the UK has loads of the Honduras/Nicaragua made tees. They gave me a few samples to print on and asked me to send them pics of the results. I did and emailed them the pics of the 2 different prints and they have passed it on the some tech people in manufacturing (so they say


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## villaman (Mar 31, 2012)

HI

The gildan Softstyle is a decent enough shirt and ok for DTG. I have used thousands of them. The ones made in Bangladesh are fine. The problem is with the Honduras or Nicaragua made tees. They are ones with the problem and the UK is flooded with them. There is a softener in the cotton that does not like the pre-treat we use. I talked the the UK Gildan guys at the printwear show about this last month and they didn't know anything about this issue but they told me about the stock issues etc and that the UK has loads of the Honduras/Nicaragua made tees. They gave me a few samples to print on and asked me to send them pics of the results. I did and emailed them the pics of the 2 different prints and they have passed it on the some tech people in manufacturing  (so they say 



scotney86 said:


> I have used Gildan Ultra's extensively for the last year or so with great results However the recent stock i have ordered in (over the last 2 months) have printed terribly. Its almost like the shirts have been treated with a chemical that reacts with the pre-treat/ink.
> 
> I can pre-treat a different brand shirt and print the same logo and get perfect results, its just this latest shipment of Gildan Ultra's that are giving very poor results.
> 
> ...


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## cavedave (Dec 5, 2006)

I use Gildan as examples to show how much the shirt quality can effect the output and I use them to show how bad a shirt can be.

Really don't recommend using these.

Best regards

-David


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

cavedave said:


> I use Gildan as examples to show how much the shirt quality can effect the output and I use them to show how bad a shirt can be.
> 
> Really don't recommend using these.
> 
> ...



There does appear to be some problem with the Gildan shirts in using them for direct to garment printing. We have heard this from a few customers of ours who experienced issues printing with the Gildan's. They switched over to other brands and the issues immediately went away. 

You should be careful in choosing shirt brands and types as they have a major effect on how your print will look. I had the same experience when I screen printed. We used automatic textile screen printers, so there was no variable as to squeegee pressures and speed, and you could sometimes see a big difference in print quality when changing shirt brands on the same run.
_


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## sodrisc (Apr 6, 2006)

I have been using Gildan 4100 ringspun for the last year or so but only cmyk no pretreat, they print great. i will be upgrading my dtg to do white very soon, is anyone seeing the same problems with the 4100 pretreated or is it just the ultra's ?


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## cavedave (Dec 5, 2006)

I only tested the Ultra and it was black shirts I use for my bad shirts.

Best regards

-David


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

Unfortunately for me my vendor here in town carries nothing but gildan. I find the soft style to be the best to print on as long as you pretreat them properly. Until last year I was using canvas brand in ringspun which printed nicely. Then they stopped stocking them. I just found out today that they will be stocking an Anvil ringspun but for men only. Oh well. I've been at this a long time so I can make due with what I can get.


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## Ghoster32111 (Jan 21, 2013)

I have found that when we use Gildan shirts for DTG the ones from Nigeria were giving us problems. It didn't seem to matter which shirt from the Gildan line it was or even color they all just gave us issues. I don't know what's different but when they come from Nigeria we have an issue.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Gildan success pics.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Another one. My iphone cannot upload multi pics


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## 4u2bSeen (Feb 21, 2012)

allamerican said:


> Another one. My iphone cannot upload multi pics


Peter, which Gildan is this?


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

In this pic I used Gildan Softstyle. You can at least consider Gildan to be a decent enough quality of shirt. Many people are having success with this brand as I am. As I mentioned this is pretty much all that my wholesaler in town carries. I would rather use a quality ringspun (American Apparel, Alternative, Canvas) when available. As long as you get a nice layer of pretreatment and a nice coverage of white ink, which most dtg printers are capable of doing, then your quality of prints should be on the acceptable side.


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## cavedave (Dec 5, 2006)

Great graphics as usual Billy.

I have only tested the Ultra (in the UK) and black shirts only (I did test White shirts and they are fine).

With the black shirts I can double the amount of white ink I use in comparison to other shirts and it still doesn't look as good. It maybe related to where they are manufactured, but the ones I have are really bad for DTG. I have some fantastic shirts from Germany, and even though they work out 30-40p more expensive per shirt, they work out cheaper for the final product as they use that much less white ink.
They also are a much higher quality shirt, so just looks like a superior product.

I still have an old Gildan shirt from a few years ago which didn't have any issues, so this could be something that is regional or pot luck.....

Best regards

-David


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

Ghoster32111 said:


> I have found that when we use Gildan shirts for DTG the ones from Nigeria were giving us problems. It didn't seem to matter which shirt from the Gildan line it was or even color they all just gave us issues. I don't know what's different but when they come from Nigeria we have an issue.


James,are you sure about the Nigerian Gildans?
Maybe Nicaraguan?
I am asking because i print on the softstyle ringspun and on the last order there was a problem with the black small size.
I couldn't get a decent print unless i used tons of PT,and even then the print looked ''vintage''.
Funny thing is, that i did a lot of wash tests on those,and the results 
were very good,also on the wash tests that friends did for me.
I noticed that the small ones are from Nicaragua,and all the other sizes
from Bangladesh,on which the prints were fine.
I print on almost all the colour range of the 6400 soft style and 
i never had any problem.Yes ,it's a basic tee but as far as value for money is concerned,it's one of the best.


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

cavedave said:


> Great graphics as usual Billy.
> 
> I have only tested the Ultra (in the UK) and black shirts only (I did test White shirts and they are fine).
> 
> ...


Thanks Dave. It was printed using your software my friend with DuPont PT and DuPont ink.


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## 4u2bSeen (Feb 21, 2012)

lazographics said:


> To get back on post and to prove even further that you can get great quality prints using Gildan here is the post from the DTG Battle Royal 2011 contest with my entry #5. You will see that I scored a 9 out of 10 on wash test printed on a Gildan Ultra Cotton using Dupont ink and PT using a Kiosk 2 and FastRip software.
> 
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/dtg-battle-royale/t152078.html


Have you used any of the current Ultras lately? Most of the negative comments seem to be in the last 6 months or so.


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

4u2bSeen said:


> Have you used any of the current Ultras lately? Most of the negative comments seem to be in the last 6 months or so.


Yes I actually printed on some a couple of weeks ago. My customer specifically wanted a thick shirt. I didn't see any issues as far as white ink coverage or washability. I could also have a different stock then someone else in another part of the country. I do agree that gildan isn't the best but it's just easy for me to get them locally and I'm still capable of providing a great quality product. This is a very interesting topic. I'm wondering if maybe other variables can be the cause of the issues. Old ink or pt maybe?


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## Ghoster32111 (Jan 21, 2013)

ernti said:


> James,are you sure about the Nigerian Gildans?
> Maybe Nicaraguan?
> I am asking because i print on the softstyle ringspun and on the last order there was a problem with the black small size.
> I couldn't get a decent print unless i used tons of PT,and even then the print looked ''vintage''.
> ...


Yep they were Nigerian, they were black G500's. But I learned something recently from a friend which may explain these bad prints on shirts. I'm not saying this is the case but it could be a possibility. I heard that if the company has a shirt color that is not selling well and if it's on the lighter end of the color spectrum they will take those shirts and re-dye them a darker color. There is nothing darker then black. So maybe the pretreat or the ink or both react with the dyes/ chemicals that are in these twice dyed shirts. Just a possible explanation I have heard. I don't know about you guys but I sell a lot more dark shirts then I do lighter. Especially in black. I usually don't have a problem with Gildan and usually get good results there our go to shirt. There not my personal favorite to print on but they are a good basic shirt.


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

Ghoster32111 said:


> Yep they were Nigerian, they were black G500's. But I learned something recently from a friend which may explain these bad prints on shirts. I'm not saying this is the case but it could be a possibility. I heard that if the company has a shirt color that is not selling well and if it's on the lighter end of the color spectrum they will take those shirts and re-dye them a darker color. There is nothing darker then black. So maybe the pretreat or the ink or both react with the dyes/ chemicals that are in these twice dyed shirts. Just a possible explanation I have heard. I don't know about you guys but I sell a lot more dark shirts then I do lighter. Especially in black. I usually don't have a problem with Gildan and usually get good results there our go to shirt. There not my personal favorite to print on but they are a good basic shirt.



Oh, i thought these were 6400 soft style.
I was printing for a year on the heavy cotton,and although
they are not ring spun,i could get very good prints.
Now i print on the 6400 soft style ring spun,and still use some colours of the g5000,which i think are the same tees like always, but for the 6400
every time i go to print,i feel like i play lottery!
Yesterday,i did the same print 3 times.
First was a Kariban Vintage,second a Starworld ring spun,and
third the Gildan 6400.
Gildan and Kariban was the same print more or less,but on the 
Starworld sooo much better!
I was very surprised,that the Kariban and Gildan printed the same,
because the Kariban is super tight,super smooth and soft.
I want to start using these for some designs,and i'm doing wash tests for the moment.
Happy printing to all.


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## Ghoster32111 (Jan 21, 2013)

ernti said:


> Oh, i thought these were 6400 soft style.
> I was printing for a year on the heavy cotton,and although
> they are not ring spun,i could get very good prints.
> Now i print on the 6400 soft style ring spun,and still use some colours of the g5000,which i think are the same tees like always, but for the 6400
> ...


I have only had one issue with the Gildan 6400 and it was awhile back. I had a run of 50 shirts all with an all white design. Nothing complicated nice and easy. Ran the whole order everything was fine there was only 1 small in the order and it was the last one I did. As soon as I dried it the white print became a wonderful peach color. It was the only shirt that did that. Reordered the shirt, same thing happened. ended up using a small Next Level shirt I had laying around just to complete the order. I want to say the shirts were from Honduras. It was a while ago I can't remember but on average and mind you it doesn't happen often it's hit or miss there from Nigeria that I get issues from. I started to write down where it's from when I have an issue so I can try to avoid ordering stuff from there if I can help it. But as I type this out I'm printing on a black 6400 so time to spin that wheel.


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

Ghoster32111 said:


> I have only had one issue with the Gildan 6400 and it was awhile back. I had a run of 50 shirts all with an all white design. Nothing complicated nice and easy. Ran the whole order everything was fine there was only 1 small in the order and it was the last one I did. As soon as I dried it the white print became a wonderful peach color. It was the only shirt that did that. Reordered the shirt, same thing happened. ended up using a small Next Level shirt I had laying around just to complete the order. I want to say the shirts were from Honduras. It was a while ago I can't remember but on average and mind you it doesn't happen often it's hit or miss there from Nigeria that I get issues from. I started to write down where it's from when I have an issue so I can try to avoid ordering stuff from there if I can help it. But as I type this out I'm printing on a black 6400 so time to spin that wheel.


Is it from Bangladesh,or Nicaragua?


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

ernti said:


> Is it from Bangladesh,or Nicaragua?



Your problem will be that even if you have an idea of what specific countries problem shirts originate from - the t-shirt wholesalers that most printers buy their shirts from have no way of separating out and pulling orders for shirts based on the country the shirts came from.
_


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

equipmentzone said:


> Your problem will be that even if you have an idea of what specific countries problem shirts originate from - the t-shirt wholesalers that most printers buy their shirts from have no way of separating out and pulling orders for shirts based on the country the shirts came from.
> _


You are absolutely right!
Thing is i don't wanna gamble and ruin shirts,that's why i am going to change brand.
Of course i have no way of knowing what i am going to get and from which Gildan factory.
I am buying my tees from here.
L-SHOP-TEAM GmbH - Home
Any suggestions for a brand or type of t shirt would be welcomed.
Thank you.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

ernti said:


> You are absolutely right!
> Thing is i don't wanna gamble and ruin shirts,that's why i am going to change brand.
> Of course i have no way of knowing what i am going to get and from which Gildan factory.
> I am buying my tees from here.
> ...



You are in Germany?
_


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## Ghoster32111 (Jan 21, 2013)

ernti said:


> Is it from Bangladesh,or Nicaragua?


Honduras. I'm good! Came out the way it should always a plus


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

equipmentzone said:


> You are in Germany?
> _


Greece.They have prices and stock that i can't get in Greece.


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

Ghoster32111 said:


> Honduras. I'm good! Came out the way it should always a plus



Lucky James ! ! !
I am going to use the rest of my Gildans for vinyl.
If you see me in a couple of weeks, opening threads about 
''vinyl peeling off t shirts'' you'll laugh!


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

ernti said:


> Oh, i thought these were 6400 soft style.
> I was printing for a year on the heavy cotton,and although
> they are not ring spun,i could get very good prints.
> Now i print on the 6400 soft style ring spun,and still use some colours of the g5000,which i think are the same tees like always, but for the 6400
> ...


Are the softstyle still labeled rinspun where your from? They are no longer ringspun here in the states. They were labeled ringspun right on the tag up until 2 years ago I want to say. Don't know why Gildan changed it? Ringspun works best for DTG.


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## ernti (Nov 14, 2012)

lazographics said:


> Are the softstyle still labeled rinspun where your from? They are no longer ringspun here in the states. They were labeled ringspun right on the tag up until 2 years ago I want to say. Don't know why Gildan changed it? Ringspun works best for DTG.


Yes they are labeled ringspun.
I checked my last order,and they are.
Also some leftovers from 1 and 2 years ago.


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

ernti said:


> Yes they are labeled ringspun.
> I checked my last order,and they are.
> Also some leftovers from 1 and 2 years ago.


Thats interesting. I don't know why they changed it here in the States.


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## cavedave (Dec 5, 2006)

I tested the Gildan shirts by doing a double pre treatment process and doing this the shirt worked very well.
Don't know if it would still hold up in the wash, but just thought I would pass it on.

As we don't sell the shirts and just use them for testing, it means we can use the shirts we have. 

But if anyone else has a bunch of these shirts they could try doing the same and doing a wash test to see if they are OK still....

Best regards

-David


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## CanExplorer (Apr 8, 2007)

We don't have problem with DuPont Pretreatment. But we do have lot problem when we use Image Armor on Gildan tees.....always leave ugly mark on it.


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## g.lupo (Aug 20, 2007)

Interesting you having problems with image armor gildan. Image armor has allowed us to print in any color with zero issues. While dupont pretreat did have a very slight brighter color on top when using cheaper garments, it wash was worse because of that,because of the ink sitting more in top instead of bond to garment. So yes DuPont could show a slight initial better result on gildan, but not nearly as good after wash.IMO


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## madfenix (May 28, 2012)

g.lupo said:


> Interesting you having problems with image armor gildan. Image armor has allowed us to print in any color with zero issues. While dupont pretreat did have a very slight brighter color on top when using cheaper garments, it wash was worse because of that,because of the ink sitting more in top instead of bond to garment. So yes DuPont could show a slight initial better result on gildan, but not nearly as good after wash.IMO


what do u mean sitting on top?

did u mean too much pretreatment causing this?

i was curing my ink *without *pressure does this effect (no bond / only sitting on top?)


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## CanExplorer (Apr 8, 2007)

g.lupo said:


> Interesting you having problems with image armor gildan. Image armor has allowed us to print in any color with zero issues. While dupont pretreat did have a very slight brighter color on top when using cheaper garments, it wash was worse because of that,because of the ink sitting more in top instead of bond to garment. So yes DuPont could show a slight initial better result on gildan, but not nearly as good after wash.IMO


I did not mean the prints which are good. But IA Pretreatment leaves *Ugly mark* on Gildan t-shirts. The marks will stay on t-shirts after 6 washes ( I did not do more)


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## g.lupo (Aug 20, 2007)

Need pressure when pretreat,

IA should not leave any mark you are either 
1.using 3x amount that you actually need
2. To much pressure
3. To high temp


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## madfenix (May 28, 2012)

what i mean curing ink, not curing pretreat

i use heavy pressure on curing pretreat

but no pressure when curing ink >>> is this oke?


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## g.lupo (Aug 20, 2007)

I usually have some pressure when curing ink also. 

Not sure we why you are getting marks after curing ink?


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## CanExplorer (Apr 8, 2007)

g.lupo said:


> Need pressure when pretreat,
> 
> IA should not leave any mark you are either
> 1.using 3x amount that you actually need
> ...



".....It should not". But it does. None of your 3 reasons is applied. 

For Gildan, almost all the time. For other brand, it is not that bad.


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## Qminati (Jun 3, 2014)

I just bought a batch of Gildan 2000 that gave me a day of headaches till i realized it was the shirt after printing other brands I had laying around. Whats the closest clone to gildan 2000's? i really had high hopes and like them


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

If u have a pretreatment excess outside the print area and do not brush it in, sometimes even then if it is heavy, the steam escaping from the side may cause a dark stain, brown, try to keep your pretreatment area confined to the heat press area. Also two short presses of 20/30 seconds allowing steam to escape between will improve results. If temp is to high abo e 340, this can cause problems. If you have not used a full contact heat probe you dont know you are just fooling yourself


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## 4u2bSeen (Feb 21, 2012)

Qminati said:


> I just bought a batch of Gildan 2000 that gave me a day of headaches till i realized it was the shirt after printing other brands I had laying around. Whats the closest clone to gildan 2000's? i really had high hopes and like them


Alstyle 1301
Hanes Beefy-t

Also try using Firebird Pretreat. Huge difference on the lower end shirts. I print Ultra Cotton every day.


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## sirslickenstein (Jun 19, 2007)

I use G200 ultras on everything I do and the printing is fine but I have had a wash problem...check pics








This is after one wash and it has happened twice now.


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