# DTG Washing durability



## ColorCut (Sep 8, 2011)

Hello all

I have no experience with DTG printing, but I have received
some t-shirts from the AnaJet M5 Power printer by the first
inspection they look really great, with bright colors, to give
a very good impression. But after I washed t-shirts 5 times, they are no longer very pretty, the colors are not disappeared but they are no longer very bright and clear, and the white color
has squiggle to cracking. Is this a normal life spand for black t-shirt?
T-shirtne is washed at 40 degrees, normal, delicates and no
dryer.


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## Dan K (Nov 15, 2006)

*Re: Washing durability*

Hey Peter, you've posted in the water base screen printing section. You may get more and better responses if you posted this in the DTG section, I know there is a specific DTG board on here...


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

:: edited thread TITLE to be more descriptive and moved to a more appropriate section of the forum  ::​


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

Peter,

Yes you should get more washes than 5 out of a DTG print using Dupont ink.

While I have no experience with the M5, I wouldn't think negatively on the machine because of the wash test. Dupont ink has proven to be good so this washing issue is more likely to be a pretreatment or curing issue not machine.

I would let them know about your results and get another sample. You could also get a sample from another company that uses dupont ink.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

abmcdan said:


> While I have no experience with the M5, I wouldn't think negatively on the machine because of the wash test. Dupont ink has proven to be good so this washing issue is more likely to be a pretreatment or curing issue not machine.
> 
> I would let them know about your results and get another sample. You could also get a sample from another company that uses dupont ink.


My understanding is that the mPower printers from Anajet do not use the same Dupont ink that has been used for the Epson-based dtg printers because the Ricoh print heads require a higher viscosity of ink. So if it is a different ink, then I am not sure if it is appropriate to make the same assumptions. I do know that Dupont has a higher viscosity - DuPont™ Artistri® Inks : 3500 Series High Viscosity Pigment Inks. I guess time will tell if it has the same performance characteristics as the lower viscosity inks Dupont makes - DuPont™ Artistri® Inks : 5000+ Series Pigment Inks.

However, there is nothing wrong with asking for a second sample. Better to be safe than sorry.

Mark


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/anajet/t170944-2.html

Here is my wash test (my shirts with DuPont inks) 
Anajet samples from Long Beach NBM (August)


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

DAGuide said:


> My understanding is that the mPower printers from Anajet do not use the same Dupont ink that has been used for the Epson-based dtg printers because the Ricoh print heads require a higher viscosity of ink. So if it is a different ink, then I am not sure if it is appropriate to make the same assumptions. I do know that Dupont has a higher viscosity - DuPont™ Artistri® Inks : 3500 Series High Viscosity Pigment Inks. I guess time will tell if it has the same performance characteristics as the lower viscosity inks Dupont makes - DuPont™ Artistri® Inks : 5000+ Series Pigment Inks.
> 
> However, there is nothing wrong with asking for a second sample. Better to be safe than sorry.
> 
> Mark


Excellent point about the new ink. I would also point out that samples at a show or by machine sales type people do not always perform the same as those printed by "pros". You'd think all vendors would get it after reading these type of posts.... but their defaults for curing don't always work in all environments. I think the new ink is probably OK and will perform as good as the thinner ink, but because of the faster print time, there will be a tendancy to not check for proper cure. For anyone that is going to printing 40+ dark shirts per hour...make sure that ALL the equipment is up to the task to properly CURE the ink and pretreat.


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

zoom_monster said:


> Excellent point about the new ink. I would also point out that samples at a show or by machine sales type people do not always perform the same as those printed by "pros".


This weren't done at the booth, they were piled up next to the printer.
The demo I was showed was the white shirt, but that's not the one I got I grabbed the one from the pile.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

FatKat Printz said:


> This weren't done at the booth, they were piled up next to the printer.
> The demo I was showed was the white shirt, but that's not the one I got I grabbed the one from the pile.


I understand. My point is that if you printed the shirts, You have a lot more experience than the worker who printed those and would probably get better results. There is no excuse, i know... but if I relied on samples that came from shows or sent by mail from sales people, I would have never purchase any machine.

I go to shows every year and the people I go with always grab samples. 9 out of 10 are no good after washing. This is on the same ink and platform that most of us use everyday. You and I know the difference is "caring".


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