# Pallet Stickiness Issues



## legacyathletic (Oct 2, 2014)

We print on both 100% cotton and Triblend shirts( 50poly,38cotton,12 rayon). When printing the triblends, for the life of me, I can not keep the pallet sticky throughout a run. We were originally using Ryonet Mist Spray but after doing some research on here,i found that pallet tact might be a better route. I saw that mixing it 50/50 with water should give you a good result. For the 100 percent cotton,it works like a charm and I can complete a small run(36 shirts) wih a flash without touching the pallet. but as soon as I throw a triblend on press, neither the spray or tact seems to work. they do shed a lot of fibers, so much that it actually comes off onto my hand from rubbing the shirts smooth. I read that you after the first couple of shirts with the tact, you can spray the pallet with water to get the stickiness back, but with printing WB its kinda hard to stop mid run and do that. I have even tried that, and by the next shirt it is like their is virtually nothing on the pallet. The only thing left to try would be straight tact,no water mix. but I feel as though the same thing will happen. is it just our shirts, is it the triblend giving me the issue? Thanks in advance


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

I use the liquid glue from CCI that you spread on with a wide putty knife. Cleans up with water. Do yourself a favor and shelf the messy spray glue cans.

The neat trick that a lot of folks do not know about spread on pallet glue is that when the glue becomes non-sticky after printing a number of shirts you can simply use Windex to wipe the boards down removing the lint build up while the wetness of the glass cleaner will keep the glue from being sticky again until it dries. Been doing it this way for many years.

I only use spray glue cans for sweat shirts and pocket printers now.

Just this morning I printed 495 dark color t's, three color front with a flash on my automatic printer and I did the whole job without re-wiping the boards once.

I wipe the boards down regularly and only re-glue about once a week or so. When the glue does expire, letting the boards soak for 5 minutes with mineral spirits softens up the glue so you can swipe it off with a putty knife, wipe with glass cleaner, dry and regalia again.


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## legacyathletic (Oct 2, 2014)

gatorGRAFIX said:


> I use the liquid glue from CCI that you spread on with a wide putty knife. Cleans up with water. Do yourself a favor and shelf the messy spray glue cans.
> 
> The neat trick that a lot of folks do not know about spread on pallet glue is that when the glue becomes non-sticky after printing a number of shirts you can simply use Windex to wipe the boards down removing the lint build up while the wetness of the glass cleaner will keep the glue from being sticky again until it dries. Been doing it this way for many years.
> 
> ...


do you go directly on the pallet with this stuff?or do you use pallet tape?


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## legacyathletic (Oct 2, 2014)

@GATOR also, what materials are the shirts that youre printing on your auto press? is it a common problem to have this issue with Triblends?


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## KIRKWELL (Feb 6, 2014)

We use Textac adhesive in a spray gun or by applying the liquid directly to the pallet (w/ pallet tape) & preheat the pallets for a few cycles before starting the run. Works great for all garments.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

legacyathletic said:


> do you go directly on the pallet with this stuff?or do you use pallet tape?


I apply directly to the pallet. I gave up on pallet tape years ago. When the glue and lint built up on the tape over time it was a nightmare in most cases to get off of the pallets so you are actually wasting time. Half the time the tape glue itself gives up in spots and will actually lift up off of the pallet. In the middle of a run (especially on an automatic) this can be a nightmare.

When it comes time to remove old glue and buildup from the pallets you put some mineral spirits (paint thinner) in a spray bottle. Spray a couple of heavy coats on the pallet and let it sit for a few minutes. This will soften up the glue on the pallet which will allow you to "scoop" it off (sometimes in sheets) with a wide putty knife or a scraper. Sometimes there are a few stubborn spots but all in all this is the best way that I have found to handle it all.

After you get the pallet cleaned off you must use glass cleaner to clean off the paint thinner residue and let it dry (takes minutes) and then you can reapply a uniform layer of pallet glue.

I like to do all of this at the end of the day to let the glue dry all night. It mostly dries within about 30 minutes or so but this ensures that you don't get any "lift off" of the glue if some spots are still a little bit damp. Different brands of glue act differently after you apply them too. Some last longer than others in stickiness also. I have tried many different brands and I like the CCI pallet glue the best. It all cleans up easily with water too until it dries.

No more spray adhesive on your arms, in your hair, up your nose (literally). I use to go home at the end of the day after a long print run and the inside of my nose would be what ever color the t-shirts were that I was printing that day. Also no more sticky dusty junk on your printer or your dryer. No more drak flat spots on the floor under each print station either. 

The cool thing also about the pallet glue is that after you've slung the putty knife around and you might have dried a little on the floor, a wet paper towel will wipe it right up easily. If you miss a spot or two some paint thinner will get it up after it soaks for a few minutes.I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN A CLEAN SHOP AND WORK ENVIORNMENT.

When you start using pallet glue it is best to experiment with how much you use and when you wipe it down or scrape and regalia. All environments are different and all shops are different too.

One more thing, since I am in the south one of my major suppliers is Tubelight out of Memphis. They carry CCI products if you have trouble finding it and will UPS just about anywhere.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

Wow. My fast hunt and peck typing above leaves a little to be desired. Can't find the edit button. Hopefully it will pop up soon.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

legacyathletic said:


> @GATOR also, what materials are the shirts that youre printing on your auto press? is it a common problem to have this issue with Triblends?


I print almost exclusively Gildan 6.0 .oz 100% cotton heavyweight t's. In may area that brand seems to rule. My customers love them.

I also print 50/50 t's once in a while too and it all works just fine with pallet glue.

However, when it comes to printing sweats I have to go to the spray glue cans. The insides of the sweats lay down a lot of lint and fibers on the glue so after a couple of sweats are loaded and printed the glue gives up because it is covered in sweat shirt lint.

One more thing, if you start using spray can glue over top of the pallet glue form previous print runs it will work just fine but you'll have to clean off all of theat glue off of the pallets when you are finished because the "glass cleaner wipe down" trick that I use doesn't work with spray can glue for what ever reason. Applying pallet glue over the spray can glue doesn't seem to work too well either.

I can usually get around 1,000 prints (sometimes more) on my 8 color 16 pallet automatic (which would be a 62.5 shirt average per board). When they get to where they aren't so sticky anymore I get out the Windex (cheap glass cleaner in my case from Fred's Dollar Store down the street) and the paper towels and wipe them all down. Takes just minutes to dry and my boards are almost as sticky as when I started the run and I get back to printing. No mess and no fuss.

I can do this process over and over and over until eventually the glue retains enough t-shirt lint (usually a couple of weeks or months depending on your print load) before I have to clean the boards off and re-glue.

Last year I only "reclaimed" my pallets on my automatic I think 4 times over the course of a whole year and from about mid March until up through November I ran the automatic almost every week day.

If you use a flash somewhere in your print run the pallet glue says sticky even longer too when it gets some heat into it. Not too much heat or your t's may slide around a little. I mean real hot boards, too hot to touch for a second or two.

If any of you folks try this out please let me know how it works for you. I'd love to hear about it. I have never really had anyone around here to teach me how to do this stuff, it's just trial and error that I have worked on over the years.

Like most of you (I am sure) when you are a screen printer you are also a plumber and an electrician and a book keeper and a delivery boy and an artist and so on, ha ha.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

KIRKWELL said:


> We use Textac adhesive in a spray gun or by applying the liquid directly to the pallet (w/ pallet tape) & preheat the pallets for a few cycles before starting the run. Works great for all garments.


That sound pretty good to me. I haven't tried that brand yet.

I stay away from glue spraying of any sort because it seems to get all over everything in my shop. The printer, the dryer, the floor,my arms, my feet. I am sure that brand works well for you though. Each person is different and that's beauty of it.

Hanging a spot heart or a heat gun over the freshly applied CCI glue doesn't work for me too well, it just stays all kinda gooey. A fan does wonders however and speeds up the glue drying process very well.


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## Screen Medics (Feb 23, 2015)

After reading the suggestions about removing glue from pallets and renewing the sticky surface on the pallet it seems you are all working way too hard.

We solved the problem of removing worn out adhesive from pallets by putting on pallet paper (like wide masking tape) on clean pallets beforehand. It lasts a week or two and then easily tears off along with the pallet adhesive. Problem solved.

Once the pallet adhesive becomes non-sticky we just use a stiff hand brush and plain water to scrub down the pallet paper avoiding the cost of Windex and it accomplishes the same thing quickly. I believe we get the brushes from The Dollar Store for more savings.
Hope this helps out.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

I used to use pallet tape. I hated it. Didn't work for me. Kept lifting up and was a pain to peel off if you went too long. Tried a few different brands and gave up. 

The cost of dollar store glass cleaner is very minimal compared to pallet tape also. Dries very quickly too. Pallet can be expensive also.

Each to their own I say.


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## PhantomPrints (Jan 5, 2015)

I personally just use masking tape over my pallet and some adhesive spray. I haven't had any issues so far and the shirts stay pretty well.


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## gatorGRAFIX (Mar 11, 2015)

legacyathletic said:


> @GATOR also, what materials are the shirts that youre printing on your auto press? is it a common problem to have this issue with Triblends?


I print almost exclusively 100% cotton Gildan Ultra Cotton t's, The trip blends give up less fibers so you can go even further with them before wiping the boards down which only takes a few minutes to do and dry. I use cheap dollar store glass cleaner because it evaporates so quickly and I get back to printing.



PhantomPrints said:


> I personally just use masking tape over my pallet and some adhesive spray. I haven't had any issues so far and the shirts stay pretty well.


I tried that too but I just couldn't get good results out of it.


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