# White Ink Question (Problem?)



## Arithian (Dec 27, 2007)

Question about the white ink and the results I have been having. I have been using the bright white from US Screens and I am not sure if these results are normal or not. 

The results are after numerous washings the top color and white ink starts to fade and curl a little. It doesnt flake off it just looks kinda like fuzzies but except its not fabric its the ink. 

Like I said, its not the white ink breaking apart (90% of the white in problems I have read about) its about the color fading/curling. If we stretch the white ink it doesnt budge, its nice, firm, and solid. Also we print the white ink resolution at 1440x1440 and the color by 1440x720.

The process we have been using is:

*Press for 10 seconds to flatten fibers.
*Light spray with pretreat
*Press for 7 seconds
*Take off paper and press for 5 seconds to flatten fibers
*Spray shirt again with pretreat
*Press 7 seconds
*Take off paper and press for 5 seconds to flatten fibers

Before we did the above we were having problems with the white ink not coating properly. Now it coats perfect and prints perfect. After we print we...

*Press for 150 seconds (2:30 mins) at 330F with light/medium pressure (90PSI).

I am guessing IF there is a problem its probably with the pressure, temp, or time... 

Any ideas?


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## zhenjie (Aug 27, 2006)

Perhaps take a photo of the problem for us to better understand. I recently had an issue with magenta color fading from the white after a few washes. I think you need to expect some sort of fading from white ink prints after a few washes, but if its really bad it could be that theres to much pre-treatment, incorrect heat pressing OR TOO MUCH WHITE INK!

If your layer of white ink is too thick, I found that it might wash out more. This is especially in the case of the new white ink, where it tends to spool much better. Some cotton fabrics will hold the ink really well and make it thick. My theory is that if it is too thick the pretreatment doesn't hold the top layer, which means it can wash out after a few washes.


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## the funk (Aug 8, 2007)

My heat press does not have a psi gauge on it, but 90 sounds like a lot of pressure. Again, I don't know how many psi I am pressing at but have developed a method of pressure that works great for us.


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## lindyts (Feb 26, 2008)

Curing is 330 degrees for 180 seconds minimum. I would only pretreat once. Make sure the pretreat is dry before you print. Heavy pressure is OK, but could back off to 60 psi


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## zhenjie (Aug 27, 2006)

I cure for 180 seconds minimum also. Sometimes upto 4-5 minutes depending on how much steam is released and wethere the print feels moist or not.

90psi does sound a bit much. The DuPont fixation notice I remember said 10psi?


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

I haven't run across anybody yet who pretreats..cures..then pretreats again so not sure how well that works or not.

For what it's worth, here is what I've developed over the past 9 months compliments of PinkFreud (member) and some of my own expermentation:

First off, I use primarily a 50/50 mixture of pretreatment and water for everything..including black. I know..sounds weird but I've not had any fading or washability issues..even on darks!! (knock on wood)!!

The first thing I do is spray the shirt until it is wet (not soaked) with distilled water.

My next step varies depending on whether I am doing light colors, colors or darks.

For colors, I start at the top of my print area and spray from right to left about 2 seconds and then a 2 sec return pass. I repeat this for the bottom half of my print area. I typically hold my spray gun about 10 inches from the garment. I then use 3" paint roller to roll the solution into the fibers of the shirt. If I have a front or pocket design, I spray them being careful to apply about the same amount of solution.

Now, if I have a light colored shirt (light yellow, light blue, light pink, ash, etc.), I follow the same method except I speed it up to 1 second passes across the shirt. This lays about half the amount of solution on the shirt.

If I am doing dark shirts, I follow the same 2 second procedure as colors but add a 3rd pass across the top and bottom of the print area. This lays down more pretreatment on the shirt.

After pretreating, I use a 16" x 20" heat press and press with light pressure at 330 deg for 10 sec intervals. I typically do two hits of 10 seconds each on one side then turn it over for two more hits of 10 seconds on the other side. Then I typically have to hit both sides again for another 10 seconds each. Sometimes it takes more hits. I make sure the shirt is dry before printing but I don't "over cook" the shirt. I've also gotten to the point where, even on dark shirts, there is minimal stiff feel to the garment and little to none with color and light shirts. I use parchment paper during this process for the first 2 hits and then remove for the remaining hits...until dry.

Sounds like alot of time but typically I can get at least one shirt pretreated and ready to print during the time another shirt is printing so there is very little wasted time.

Now..after printing the shirt, I've always used 180 seconds when printing with white ink and 90 seconds when not using white ink. If I use multiple passes without white ink for some reason (want a brighter image) then I will heat it again for another 60 seconds or so....just to make sure the ink is completely cured.

I've not had any fading or peeling of ink on any shirts...light or dark. 

Hope that helps....


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## Arithian (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks a lot for the advice. Sounds like it might be a combination of too little time heating and too much pressure. I will try increasing the time and lowering the pressure.

As far as the pretreatment method. I have heard many methods and tried several, the one I am using is the only one that has worked perfectly to date. By perfectly, I mean the ink has laid down 100% and not broken apart. I will definatly give yours a shot though!

Question:

Could a pretreatment affect color fading? I thought pretreatment only affected whether the white ink prints fully and evenly and doesnt break apart?


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

curing incorrectly will cause fading of color. if this is not done properly you will get fading. I cure with 330 for 180 seconds. also the pressure should be light, it it is too heavy than the steam cannot escape as the inks are water based the steam from the water needs to be able to escape from the garment. With too much pressure on the press it looks the steam into the garment and doesnt completly dissipate.


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## PinkFreud (Mar 8, 2007)

Thanks Treadhead for the glory...I have been exremely busy and there is currently no internet on my houseboat in LA....but I like it when I am mentioned here...lol...so I will take a minute to respond..I got a lucrative contact to print Obama shirts that I designed for the campaign....I shipped large quantities of shirts to NY and California for the Jan primaries....and then to Ohio and Texas for the March primaries....Most were white but many were black....The method for applying the pretreatment as mentioned by Treadhead is still the way to go...It sounds like Arithian is applying too much pretreatment.....just apply it once and then spray water....also I feel wiping with a sponge works best.....I cure at 340 degrees for 200 seconds....I just opened a little store right on the boardwalk in Venice Beach California....The black shirts are a huge hit here and I make them all day everyday...I will be sure to check back in here when I get my internet and some more time....It seems like 3 things are recession-proof...
Pizza....Beer.....and T-Shirts!!!!!.....Good luck all


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

> Pizza....Beer.....and T-Shirts!!!!!.....


Sounds like a winning combination to me!!! LOL

Sounds like things are going well for you....great!!

We are struggling a bit here...economy SU$KS but we're riding it out!


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## DirectSupply (Mar 19, 2008)

Hang in there!

Holiday season is right around the corner...


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## TahoeTomahawk (Apr 12, 2006)

I also was doing the double pre-treat method for very soft shirts for 2 reasons. Eliminate over-preatreating and leaving a stain, and to get the fibers to lay down.

For the past few days, we've found this method works just as good if not better.

* Spray unpressed shirt with pre-treat 50/50
* Let sit out for a few mins (while pre-treating others)
* Take pre-treated shirt to the heat press, press with very light pressure so it's barely touching the shirt for about 35 seconds.
* If the shirt is not completely dry, close press and do another 20-30 seconds.
* Once shirt is completely dry, Press for 12 seconds with heavy pressure.

With a single pass of white at 1440, the ink will begin to almost pool up, but settle to by the time the first pass is done giving it a proper and even coverage.

I'm not sure why, but pressing the fibers down AFTER the pre-treat is dry seems to be much better than trying to dry the pre-treat and press the fibers down at the same time by doing light / medium pressure.

It seems to work great, we'll hit about 1k color / black shirts we printed by the end of the month.


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