# Printing on Sweatshirts?



## TheJunkyard (Jan 26, 2006)

I am trying to fill my first order with my new screen printing machine! UGH! I am using white ink on navy blue shirts. The t-shirts turned out fine, but the sweatshirts don't look good at all. They appear to have to much ink on them. Is there a trick to doing sweatshirts? Some tip I should know? Thanks.


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## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

you need to raise your off contact. The sweatshirt is thicker than a regular t-shirt. Other than that you should print just like a T.


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## HeathenPeddler (Nov 30, 2006)

I was wondering about sweatshirt printing too. Is there a big difference to it compared to tshirt printing?


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## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

Not really. Stay away from real tiny dots. We have great success using higher mesh. 196-230


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## shirt-maker (Nov 20, 2006)

HeathenPeddler said:


> I was wondering about sweatshirt printing too. Is there a big difference to it compared to tshirt printing?


I'd say about $6-10 bucks... when you screw one up! Ha 

Be sure to figure in any mistakes you will usually have when quoting your clients! Sometimes I get lucky, but not very often.

Jim


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## TheJunkyard (Jan 26, 2006)

Thanks for the advice! I should get my replacement sweatshirts today, so I will try to raise the screen a bit more. Thanks again!


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## derrickcurry (Nov 6, 2006)

How much off contact should you generally have when printing on sweatshirts?


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## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

same as a normal t-shirt. About a 1/16 inch or so.

essentailly for any printing the screen should pop off the shirt/platen about 1 inch behind the squeegee. modify the off contact until you get as close to this result as you can.


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## shirt-maker (Nov 20, 2006)

Using your ruined blanks keep adjusting the platten until you see the results you want. I've found sweatshirts are little more difficult due to the spongyness of the material.

Jim


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## TheJunkyard (Jan 26, 2006)

Thanks again! Second batch came out much, much better!


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## NEprinter (Jul 17, 2007)

I am also having problems with sweatshirts. I am printing white ink on a red sweatshirt. The ink keeps "pulling" resulting in a rough finish. I am at 1/8" off contact. The fuzz also appears to be a problem. Is there a pre-prep process?


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## TheJunkyard (Jan 26, 2006)

NEprinter said:


> I am also having problems with sweatshirts. I am printing white ink on a red sweatshirt. The ink keeps "pulling" resulting in a rough finish. I am at 1/8" off contact. The fuzz also appears to be a problem. Is there a pre-prep process?


I would say to raise your off contact, don't press to hard, and make sure you have good spray adhesive. I think the fuzz is just an issue with the sweatshirts. Try to keep it as clean as possible. Good luck!


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## SilkscreenQueen (Apr 7, 2007)

when sweatshirts give me problems, with white ink, I thin the ink a little, it will have to flashed. Fuzzies, or lint is a problem, I use the sticky side of tape and gently wipe the print area with it, and it pulls them off leaving a smoother print area. Use some off contact, like an 1/8 inch. A harder squeege helps me also.


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## NEprinter (Jul 17, 2007)

Thank you. I did adjust the off contact (what I thought was 1/8 was a little more). I also got some advise from another thread that was useful. I ran two dry passes after my first pass, flash cured (10 sec.), flooded the screen and then did the final pass. It was smooth and crisp - beautiful!


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## CRsilkDOTcom (Jul 18, 2007)

i use pine oil tarder if the shirt starts to pull. works great. screen stays off the shirt. just coat the print side of the screen to stop the screen from sticking.


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## SilkscreenQueen (Apr 7, 2007)

Woo-Hoo! I learned something new today! Thanx


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## UGROUND (Jan 17, 2008)

When You Say Dry Passes, Do You Mean That You Just Did Not Flood The Screen And Just Ran The Squeegee Across While It Was Warm From The Flash?


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## youtees (May 19, 2008)

Yes!!! doing sweat material is quite different. Your problems could be among many but the most common are: Pushing too hard(the fabric is cushier and you are better off using what might be some counter intuition here, in that you should put down a light ink coat on the first pass. That seals the shirt and makes the second coat co down smoother and nicer. You may as well be suffering shrinkage during your flash cure. Raise up your flash cure to about 3 to five inches above platen; fleece will shrink much faster due to it being harder to hold down(use a good web spray adhesive like sprayway 83). I often preshrink my fleece(by a preflash with no ink; not to exceed actual flash times to be later used). If you do these things you will soon find printing fleece is a breeze. You just have not learned to alter your equipment settings and techniques for, yet. You are doing light ink on Navy which also raises the question: do you have a dependable micro-tuning system to begin with??? Most do not. In which case you will often be screwed(no ther way to put it) even if you do everything else right. And 'there it is' what most sellers of rotary "YOU can be a screen printer too!' equipment sellers do not tell you. Accurate micro-tuning is the ONLY real thing SP equipment has to offer(should)that makes it better than slapping a tee on a plain old board. They paint it...make it spin and trust YOU will believe that doing so will give you the mechanics and operational specifics you need. and then the day comes when you need to do some navy sweats and....uh oh! I print sweats all the time(darks are no problem) and I can tell you that you cannot leave out even ONE of the things I have addressed here, and get a quality result. Your tees were coming out fine(do you print flash print them or one bang and hope they stay white?)and not the sweats. Maybe just the adhesion issue or also shrinkage...I would guess it is all the above. try it again using these things.


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## NEprinter (Jul 17, 2007)

I appreciate the information. Will try that next time. I feel I have a very good press. Since posting before I have become more familiar with the workings of the equipment and made appropriate adjustments. I do agree the sellers of the equipment make it all sound so easy. The training is done on white shirts . . . the easiest of all items to print. I have not printed a single white shirt for any customers!!!! They all want darks. The closest to white are the greys I have printed. Thanks again!


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## youtees (May 19, 2008)

NEprinter said:


> I appreciate the information. Will try that next time. I feel I have a very good press. Since posting before I have become more familiar with the workings of the equipment and made appropriate adjustments. I do agree the sellers of the equipment make it all sound so easy. The training is done on white shirts . . . the easiest of all items to print. I have not printed a single white shirt for any customers!!!! They all want darks. The closest to white are the greys I have printed. Thanks again!


Good that you are cofident in your presses ability te realign on second print. I read one answer here that says they use "195 to 230 mesh with great success". Huh? I would not take that advice first. 195 and especially 230 are very fine and doo not allow much ink through. It may give you a very thin top coat print that looks okay for a while, but I assure you after having printed at least 20,000 sweats by hand for shops and myself that on a dark shirt that is not the wise choice. todays emulsions(the good ones)will let you carry details you would not believe on a wider mesh than was possible no long ago. So there is no need to choke the ink flow to the extent of 195/230. Sweatshirts have a more pronounced ribbing as well and a 195 to 230, is just not going to bury that visual on a completed print. I know of NOBODY who uses a tighter mesh than 160 on a sweat and normally lower(125)if coverage and yet a very good degree of resolution is also to be honored. Two weeks ago I was printing black sweatshirts with text so small I coul;d not believe it carried quite clearly on the screen(125 mesh coated with Chromaline Udc-2 emulsion ; 3 mins exposed with black light)...I was even more amzed that you could read every word on the finished sweat! So why anybody would use a 195 or 230 on a dark sweatshirt seems almost from the 'pulling our leg' chapter of how to print. No reason to do so and it is highly counter intuitive to all considerations that go into correct screen choice as per fabric being printed. I worked in a shop as the sample printer of 4 color process images and we used 195 to 230 for THAT...on WHITE. Which makes sense. But when you are talking dark fabrics; manual printing and screens...you are goint to be in the 83 to 110(for athletic prints)to 125 to 160 mesh range for higher resolution prints and I KNOW what I am talking about on this. You can get excellent resolution(also depending on your level of squeegee control) in that range and NOT be sacrificing ink bond(print longevity)for a nice looking(if)but short term longevity surface print. One poster says the only difference is that you need to raise your off contact. I disagree. I set the OC and leave it the same and have no problems. As I stated in my earlier post...there ARE differences in tee material; adhesion to platen while printing and the squeegee technique to print them. If you set a black sweat I printed next to somebody's who thinks there is "little difference" between the two" you would see the difference. Plastisol is alos not sublimation stable over time. What it takes to make a print that is white TODAY AND TOMORROW...can look very different after a week or a few washings. White ink must be on and 'in' the shirt fabric well enough to stand THAT test and yet keep the resolution that your image calls for. You have already noticed that your best image resolution of a sweat will be a bit lower than on a finer surfaced tee. Because of the fabric weave/courseness. You need to honor that by balancing all I have spoken of. Best to you!


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## NEprinter (Jul 17, 2007)

You definately know your stuff. I have only used higher than a 160 when I had a job that was more like "process printing". Typically, I use a 110 or 160 depending on the job. I am a small printing shop with only two years experience. Obviously, the more I print the easier it will be and the more experienced I will become. In the meantime I depend on experienced printers such as yourself for guidance.


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## SpotMatrix (Nov 10, 2007)

I have a print job coming up next week of 70 heavweight black hoodies that I'm having embroidered first on the front chest and sleeve. If I screw up on just one, I'm out roughly $25 (my cost). The back is a large 15 x 18 white print. I was going to use a 196 mesh because it is mostly text (list of students in a class). The font is 36 point Arial at the largest and the smallest is 24 point. Should I be concerned or should a 110 mesh be fine? This is my first time printing on sweats. Also I'm using Permaset Supercover ink. I've already used this ink and it covers quite nicely although my first attempt caused the squeegee to stick to the screen because the ink was too dry. I managed to thin it with water so now the consistancy is perfect. I've used the regular Permaset Aqua on white shirts without screen clogging issues. It's just the mesh I'm concerned about. The ink label states I should use 110 or higher mesh. 

Since this is a job for the military I stand to get lots of business if all goes well. Alternatively if I screw this up I stand to go out of business just as I'm starting to gain momentum. My rig is a high quality 4 colour Benmar press with micro so I'm not really concerned about my equipment. If I take your advice I would probably be fine staying with 110. I've printed small text and lines before but this job has me really nervous. It's a make or break deal for me. Any advice?


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