# Hey everyone! Total newbie! I know someone knows how to fix this problem!



## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

Hey guys. I'll try and be as brief and descriptive as possible. I know I'm new here. Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum. 

I'm new to screen printing and I'm attempting to print some simple white text to black garments but I'm getting this problem in the photo. Is this fibrillation? If so, how do I fix this? I've also included a picture of my print setup. It's very simple. 

Any help would be great.

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah309/dmac724/IMG_0074_zps2epu4y7o.jpg

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah309/dmac724/IMG_0076_zpsvktmydrr.jpg

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah309/dmac724/IMG_0077_zpsbnyq1p8k.jpg


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## tvinje (Jun 20, 2018)

Are you referring to the little strands of ink that extend away from the print or the lack of opacity of the print?


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

1. Use platen adhesive, to keep the shirt in place.
2. Set the off contact (gap between mesh and shirt) to 2-3mm.
3. Flood with the screen lifted. 

4. Don't use too much pressure on the print stroke.


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

tvinje said:


> Are you referring to the little strands of ink that extend away from the print or the lack of opacity of the print?


The lack of opacity of the ink. :-(


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

TABOB said:


> 1. Use platen adhesive, to keep the shirt in place.
> 2. Set the off contact (gap between mesh and shirt) to 2-3mm.
> 3. Flood with the screen lifted.
> 
> 4. Don't use too much pressure on the print stroke.


Gotcha. 

1. Definitely wasn't doing that.
2. Think 2 quarters is about that?
3. Had been doing.
4. On a scale of 1-10? I know that's hard to determine.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

2-3mm is one tenth of an inch.
For the pressure part... The mesh has to firmly touch the shirt when the squeegee passes over it. So I guess that will be 1.5 to 2 out of 10.


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## tvinje (Jun 20, 2018)

So think of printing white on black the same way you might think of painting a wall in your home.
If you had a big black wall, that you want painted white, you'd have to paint a coat, let it dry, paint a coat let it dry and so on. Printing is the same. If you want your white print to be more opaque, you need to print coat, spot dry it (dry in place) and print another coat.


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

TABOB said:


> 2-3mm is one tenth of an inch.
> For the pressure part... The mesh has to firmly touch the shirt when the squeegee passes over it. So I guess that will be 1.5 to 2 out of 10.


Last night I tried using 2 quarters for the off contact yet my shirt still stuck to my screen and yielded the same result. I'm beyond frustrated. 

As for print flash print, I only have a one color setup and a flash dryer on wheels. Is it safe to flash my shirt while it's on the platen? I'm concerned about residual heat messing with ink that's on the raised screen.


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## tvinje (Jun 20, 2018)

If you're using standard plastisol, you should be ok spot drying in place. If you're using a water based ink, Im not sure how that would work since I don't have any real experience with that. A paint stripping heat gun will also work for sport drying. It takes longer and you can run the risk of burning your garment if you hold it too close or don't keep the gun moving around but it works. I have another question but please don't be offend. I can't really tell from your press set up picture, but it almost looks like a table top. Are you just laying the shirt on there and trying to print it, or are you able to separate the front from the back so only the side bring printed is on top of the platten?


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

You can try print-flash-print, using a heat gun to gel the ink. However, plastisol is not like wall paint, and you should be betting a better coverage on the first layer.

1. Too much off contact is not good. You need to use 1/10.
2. You should be using110 mesh for white, especially as a beginner.
3. Do at least 2 print strokes. On the first shirt you may even have to do 3.

4. Flood and print, flood and print, and then look at the result. If not good, do one more at a lower speed, and maybe less pressure. You need to find the right balance. Remember to always flood with the screen lifted.
5. Repeat until you get a good coverage. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be better than what you are getting now. 

6. Then you can try doing a flash cure and print a second layer.


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

tvinje said:


> If you're using standard plastisol, you should be ok spot drying in place. If you're using a water based ink, Im not sure how that would work since I don't have any real experience with that. A paint stripping heat gun will also work for sport drying. It takes longer and you can run the risk of burning your garment if you hold it too close or don't keep the gun moving around but it works. I have another question but please don't be offend. I can't really tell from your press set up picture, but it almost looks like a table top. Are you just laying the shirt on there and trying to print it, or are you able to separate the front from the back so only the side bring printed is on top of the platten?



Yes I'm using standard plastisol right now. I went to my local screen supply store and also tried to get some advice. Also very frustrating. The lady recommended some cureable thinner I think it's called. She gave me a little to take home and try. Haven't attempted to use it yet though.

I also have a brand new heat gun still in box that I was going to use to cure the shirts in the beginning. But I came up on a flash dryer so I never used it. I'll attempt using it to spot dry. I also bought a laser heat reader device to check the temperatures. 

And as for am I just printing on a table top well, yes and no. I have a standard one color press setup. But what happened was I had a piece of artwork that wound up being to large to fit on the platen. The upper part wound up off the edge of the shoulders of the platen. So in my frustration I got some butterfly hinges and installed them onto the table to try and supplement the space for the artwork. I was putting a piece of cardboard inside the garment to act a a "platen". But I do have a regular one color station available. I believe the platen is crooked though. I can take a picture if you'd want to see.


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

TABOB said:


> You can try print-flash-print, using a heat gun to gel the ink. However, plastisol is not like wall paint, and you should be betting a better coverage on the first layer.
> 
> 1. Too much off contact is not good. You need to use 1/10.
> 2. You should be using110 mesh for white, especially as a beginner.
> ...


1. OK. So just a quarter should suffice basically?

2. Yes all my screens are 110 mesh right now. But I also have a couple of 156 ones too. 

3 & 4. So just for clarity. I should lift screen and flood, lower and print, lift screen and flood again, lower and print yes? I see how that definitely should work but I'm still confused on how to remedy the part of my shirt getting stuck to the screen. I feel like once it has to peel off in any little way, when I lower the screen again to do the 2nd print stroke, it'll wind up being ghosted. Then I'll lose at least 20 minutes to having to clean the screen and start again. Any suggestions?


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

dmac724 said:


> I'm still confused on how to remedy the part of my shirt getting stuck to the screen. I feel like once it has to peel off in any little way, when I lower the screen again to do the 2nd print stroke, it'll wind up being ghosted. Then I'll lose at least 20 minutes to having to clean the screen and start again. Any suggestions?



1. As I told you before, the t-shirt must be firmly stuck to the platen/table, so the mesh cannot pull the fabric up. The force keeping the fabric down has to be higher than the pulling force of the mesh with the ink. This way the fabric will pull the ink out of the mesh. 

2. The 1/4 is way too much. you need 1/10. That's just a bit more than a Nickel in thickness.


Don't use the thinner unless you absolutely have to. You souldn't need it for 110 mesh and fresh ink.
Trying to learn with a bad setup is the problem here. You have too many things that can, and probably do go wrong here.
I'd try and practice on some cheap fabric if I was you. Just until you get the idea. Lint free cleaning tissue should work well but it's not black. It is also what you should be using to clean you screen when it smudges your print. It takes seconds, not 20 minutes.
Also don't put too much ink on the screen. It looks as if you are about to print 100 shirts.


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## dmac724 (Jun 21, 2018)

TABOB said:


> 1. As I told you before, the t-shirt must be firmly stuck to the platen/table, so the mesh cannot pull the fabric up. The force keeping the fabric down has to be higher than the pulling force of the mesh with the ink. This way the fabric will pull the ink out of the mesh.
> 
> 2. The 1/4 is way too much. you need 1/10. That's just a bit more than a Nickel in thickness.
> 
> ...


Well, I am about to print 100+ shirts ;-). I already have a brand that does extremely well to say I'm only starting out. I'm only recently trying to produce the apparel myself vs. having a third party printer charge me for labor, etc. But that's beside the point.

1. For some reason, the way you said that made a few things click. 
2. I wasn't using a 1/4 inch high off contact. That's ridiculous even for a beginner like me. I meant a literal quarter (coin).

In my haste, I was skipping the spray adhesive step, and the print flash print. I re-arranged my station to where I could move my flash dryer over my platen to print flash print. Once I did that, my shirts now look 100 times better! Whites looking nice and opaque now. I learned a huge lesson about not skipping steps. But thanks everyone for answering my noob questions. It really made the difference. Cheers!


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## orbisbrand (Jun 24, 2018)

I have been in the industry for a couple decades now, first time to open an account here, I love how helpful this is! great for new and old prople in the industry. 

I remember doing my first prints in 1998... having these issues.

Good luck and keep it up.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

dmac724 said:


> 1. For some reason, the way you said that made a few things click.
> ........
> I re-arranged my station to where I could move my flash dryer over my platen to print flash print. Once I did that, my shirts now look 100 times better! Whites looking nice and opaque now. I learned a huge lesson about not skipping steps. But thanks everyone for answering my noob questions. It really made the difference. Cheers!



Easy once you know ... no? 
You can skip steps, when it makes sense to do so. The shirt sticking to the screen obviously doesn't


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