# printing on dark t shirts



## manifestee (Jan 8, 2008)

Hi all fellas
Im new to screen printing and am love it. My first printings was good and satisfying and they were all on a light colour garments.
Now i heard that there is a tricky problematic thing when printing on a black or dark coloured garments and dont really know what it is.
I do believe in learning by trail and error but in this case i dont want to ruin new black t shirts.
Is anyone of you dudes who got more experience than me can just tell me what makes the process of printing on dark fabric different?
Thanks in advance.


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

You can either print using high-opacity inks made for dark fabrics, or underbase your colors with white. Underbasing with white requires an extra screen, and for most, slightly choked art so the white doesn't peek out from under the color if there is any shift in registration. You'll also need a flash dryer in either case, since you'll have to hit the high-opacity inks more than once, and flash the underbase before printing the top color. You'll find that the underbasing method produces the nicest shirt. I find that using the high-opacity inks tends toward that rubbery feel. You can use higher mesh counts by using an underbase, thereby getting a softer hand. I printed a heart-print logo the other night, underbasing with Union's Bright Cotton White through a 256 mesh, and overprinting with a lime green through a 305, and you pretty much couldn't feel the ink, and it was bright. One more thing, you'll ALWAYS get a brighter yellow by underbasing with white, because even the high opacity yellows are somewhat translucent.
While you don't indicate what kind of press you've got, if it's a one-color press, you won't be able to underbase.


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## manifestee (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanx tpitman for your detailed technical answer.
Your answer just whet my appetite.
Is your answer referring to both water base and to plastisol inks (is plastisol not 100% opaque)?
What do you consider as a dark garment? Are green and red t shirts getting the white underbase treatment too?
Thanks again


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

manifestee said:


> Thanx tpitman for your detailed technical answer.
> Your answer just whet my appetite.
> Is your answer referring to both water base and to plastisol inks (is plastisol not 100% opaque)?
> What do you consider as a dark garment? Are green and red t shirts getting the white underbase treatment too?
> Thanks again


Green and red would get the underbase if the ink color is lighter than the shirt color.
Standard plastisols are semi-opaque. I don't use waterbased inks, but I think almost all are semi-opaque to translucent, with the possible exception of Matsui inks.


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## KoalaTees (Jul 25, 2007)

Tom, I have a similar question and issue. I am trying to print a heart area logo of a skull on a black tee. The black tee has to be used for the eye sockets and the skull & teeth uses the white ink. Using a 125 mesh, I tend to lose some detail and not even getting a bright print with one flash layer. These smaller logos lose the detail. Is that expected with heavy white ink?


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

Anymore, the coarsest mesh I use is 156, and I don't use that as much now because I've gotten a bit anal about the "stairstepping" on edges of graphics that aren't square to the mesh. Facecoating the 156 helps, but I get almost as good a coverage with a 195, and the detail is held much better. I have one job I run all the time and my underbase is 195, with a 260 overprint. It's an opaque green overprint, so I don't have to hit the underbase twice.

A good ink to use is QCM's XOLB-158. They make a XOLB-159 that's supposed to be more opaque, but I like the 158 because you can print it through any mesh count easily. I just did shirts for myself with a 230 underbase, p/f/p, then a red overprint and black. The overprints were done with 305 mesh. For a solid square heart print, the hand is quite soft, and I had no fibrillation.

The attached photo shows a test print. The actual size is 3" across. I printed it on athletic gray polos and dark "smoke" gray tees.


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## KoalaTees (Jul 25, 2007)

Tom. Thank you for the response. I understand what you are saying. I am not that advance and my equipment is a Lawson Beta manual 4/2. Holding tight registration is a bit difficult. I have a coaster size heart logo and trapping the detail may be difficult because it has some text and pattern detail I can maybe chock 1/2 pt - on underlay and and 1/2 + on the top print. Or can I use a one screen 125 or 156 p/f/p without the underbase on a cotton tee black, with white ink. Thinned down, Union Ink bright white for cotton. The 125 is horrible with blur after a few passes.


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

KoalaTees said:


> Tom. Thank you for the response. I understand what you are saying. I am not that advance and my equipment is a Lawson Beta manual 4/2. Holding tight registration is a bit difficult. I have a coaster size heart logo and trapping the detail may be difficult because it has some text and pattern detail I can maybe chock 1/2 pt - on underlay and and 1/2 + on the top print. Or can I use a one screen 125 or 156 p/f/p without the underbase on a cotton tee black, with white ink. Thinned down, Union Ink bright white for cotton. The 125 is horrible with blur after a few passes.


You shouldn't have to thin down Bright Cotton White. I use that ink also, and out of the bucket it's about the thinnest white out there. I've printed that easily through 305s. If you're just printing white and want to use your 125, p/f/p, but you might want to try wiping the bottom of the screen off after each print. A pain in the butt, but if you're getting some buildup on the bottom because of registration problems, it might be a workaround.


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

*Blur on a Beta*



KoalaTees said:


> my equipment is a Lawson Beta manual 4/2.
> 
> Holding tight registration is a bit difficult.
> 
> The 125 is horrible with blur after a few passes.


There is no reason you should not be able to hold registration on any press unless it is badly damaged or your mesh has failed to resist the blade as it passes.

Screen tension is the single most important step to improved printing on darks

Take your index finger and move the skin on the back of your other hand. When the stencil moves, the ink strays out of the stencil and blurs.

Yes, you can raise the off-contact distance and use your squeegee as a mesh tensioning device.


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## KoalaTees (Jul 25, 2007)

I guess it is not the press, it was my thin stencil. If my stencil is a little thicker and a do a fill stroke than a flash and then final stroke the white is pretty good. I may not even need the flash. But for now I do. Jeff


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## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

*Re: Blur on a Beta*



RichardGreaves said:


> There is no reason you should not be able to hold registration on any press unless it is badly damaged or your mesh has failed to resist the blade as it passes.
> 
> good luck with that one


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## Adam Becker (Mar 22, 2009)

KoalaTees said:


> If my stencil is a little thicker and a do a fill stroke than a flash.... Jeff


Totally. I got some advice to coat a screen, let it dry, add a second layer of emulsion to the bottom side of the screen and then expose it. It deposits more ink in the screen when you do a flood stroke, and makes light colors on dark garments turn out awesome. Haven't had trouble reclaiming either.


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