# Ink sticking after coming off dryer



## drpgirl (Nov 26, 2011)

Things are starting to come together, but it seems like as soon as you relove an issue, a new obstacle arises. 
The prints are coming out nice, white is bright & lines are crisp. We were concerned about red ink not showing up on black shirts & it is nice & bright. 
The new issue is the shirts are coming through the dryer, dropping into the box, they bunch up and the ink is sticking to ink. It is really disappointing when red & white stick.
Any advice or tricks?
Here is a pic of our latest print. I hope the words don't offend anyone : )
We are printing shirts for a bighdrag race event.

By the way, I love this forum, so helpful!


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

The problem is that your ink isn't curing. White ink takes longer to cure. I don't have a conveyor dryer, just a flash dryer so I'm not sure how to fix your problem. I think it depends on whether your dryer has a temp gauge or a speed dial. So either turn up the heat or slow down the travel time. When the shirt comes out of the dryer it should not feel sticky at all. It should stretch just a little, not peel or crack, and feel dry not tacky.


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## replicantgraphic (Jul 1, 2010)

they might need to cool down a bit before dropping in the box.


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## drpgirl (Nov 26, 2011)

That is where we started. We adjusted the travel time. Boy, did we find out we set it way too slow...we had a black shirt burn. It turned like a dul orange color & smoked like crazy.
So, maybe lower temp & slow conveyor speed???
Looks like some more trial & error.
Cooling does help.. if I catch it off the dryer & lay it in the box it gives it time to cool. We'd just like to make it where someone doesn't have to be there to catch em. 
Appreciate the help!


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

@iben. When using a conveyor dryer this happens a lot and doesn't mean there not cured. If you use a flash dryer after curing take a shirt and stick together before letting cool off. I guarantee it will stick together. 

Drpgirl if getting that hot is most likely cured. I have a fan mounted on top blowing away from dryer to cool shirts as the come out. You just don't want that fan circulating air around you elements as to change the temp your running at.


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## DaytonDesign (Jan 4, 2011)

Im with RG I think you need to let them cool. I have had prints do the same thing. It's usually with prints that have large areas of a single color (big block letters and what not). If you can, slow the belt speed and raise your element. I would definitely stretch test and wash a couple several times to make sure your ink is fully cured. Early on in my printing days I had a very similar problem and it turned out that I was UNDER curing my white and with large areas the ink was breaking down in the wash! Thank God I washed a couple to make sure before I sent the to the client! 

I went through the same thing when I was getting started. Conquering one problem only to find another! It gets better! I think you will always encounter obstacles because of taking on more difficult jobs and new methods. I your anything like me the road will smooth out the farther you move along!

Best of luck!


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## replicantgraphic (Jul 1, 2010)

it wouldn't hurt to get a infrared temp gun or temp strips. that way you know for sure the shirt is reaching the appropriate temperature. 320°


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

If you get a fan on a stand you can blow it across your outfeed and cool down the print (hopefully) enough that it doesn't stick. It may cool down your dryer slightly too, be sure to test.

If you have a thermostat, (or height adjustment as mentioned) lowering the temp/raising the element slightly and lowering the belt speed as well would help with this--but slows down production as well...


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## inkpuller (Feb 25, 2012)

drpgirl - You need to let your shirts cool before letting them stick together/fall into the bin if this is happening. It's probably not an issue of your ink not curing. The ink is still too hot coming off the belt. Red ink is especially bad for this. This is also much more of a problem with smaller dryers as the outfeed of the belt is not long enough for appropriate time to cool the ink before falling into the bin. Sometimes adding a fan can work, but if you have a small chamber on your dryer and you get some wind in there it can really be bad news. The smaller the chamber the more you need to be sure that your shirt gets the right amount of heat, as it doesn't have a lot of time to cure properly.


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## ericsson2416 (Aug 29, 2007)

What kind of dryer is it? If you have a black buddy the chamber slides back and forth so you can have a longer cooking down area, it just cramps the loading space. Slide it down a bit and work out how to fold/lay the shirts on less space.


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## kirkmansigns (Jun 22, 2007)

drpgirl said:


> Things are starting to come together, but it seems like as soon as you relove an issue, a new obstacle arises.
> The prints are coming out nice, white is bright & lines are crisp. We were concerned about red ink not showing up on black shirts & it is nice & bright.
> The new issue is the shirts are coming through the dryer, dropping into the box, they bunch up and the ink is sticking to ink. It is really disappointing when red & white stick.
> Any advice or tricks?
> ...


You need to purchase some temperature strips. Lay one on top of the garment and one inside the garment. Adjust your heat/speed until the strip turns color in the proper temperature range. Then you should be able to set your dryer up each time at this speed temp. and have consistent results. On our dryer it's 347 degrees speed on 4 for white shirts and 355 degrees with speed on 4 for darks. When printing your red over a flashed white, I'd increase the temp. slightly because of the "thickness" of your total ink deposit..... just to the point of not burning the shirt. Also as another poster said, you may need a longer outfeed (cool down) area on the dryer. I had my mother in law helping us on a huge print run one evening. Two color on a white shirt. The ink started smearing when she started "helping". I was printing so I didn't see what she was doing. So I ran a few more through and watched her. She was grabbing the shirts as soon as the collar came out from under the dryers heat chamber and laying the shirts across her shoulder. That few seconds of less time in the dryer and without a cool down caused the inks to transfer between shirts. She started letting the shirts fall into the basket and we never had any more problems.


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## catdog28379 (May 21, 2015)

drpgirl said:


> Things are starting to come together, but it seems like as soon as you relove an issue, a new obstacle arises.
> The prints are coming out nice, white is bright & lines are crisp. We were concerned about red ink not showing up on black shirts & it is nice & bright.
> The new issue is the shirts are coming through the dryer, dropping into the box, they bunch up and the ink is sticking to ink. It is really disappointing when red & white stick.
> Any advice or tricks?
> ...


My shirts were doing the same thing. I have a Vastex DB-30 dryer. I slid heater toward to where u put shirts in dryer giving it a little more time to cool on belt before it goes in basket. It work.


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## RockRoadGraphics (Jun 10, 2011)

I had this problem also when I first started.

I put a fan on top of my dryer pointing down on to the belt and haven't had a problem since.

With only 2 feet of out feed it just wasn't enough time for them to cool down.


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