# How to avoid cake print and fuzzy lines? What am I doing wrong?



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

Hi Everyone,

I've made two new shirts this morning and faced an issue I've never seen. Can anyone explain why I have cakey print and fuzzy lines? Also, I noticed there was ink on the WRONG side of screen. I stopped printing after that since I had to wash the whole screen. Any quick fixes for that?


----------



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

Here is a link to my prints: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet


----------



## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

Possibles:
- Not enough off contact
- Mesh count is too low for that ink
- Not clearing the image area of ink with your print stroke
- Not flashing between strokes


----------



## chuckh (Mar 22, 2008)

In addition to NoXid, I would ask the following:
Did you change ink colors and have mineral spirits/cleaning solvent still in your screen...
Have you used any ink additives...
Are you printing in one direction only...
Is your tension not high enough...


----------



## AAPrintingWizard (Mar 6, 2017)

In addition to chuckh and NoXid the only time that I personally have run into this is when doing a run of a lot of shirts and my platen itself got super warm. I never understood why this happened but the results were similar.


----------



## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

There is way too much ink being laid down. As NoXid said above, what mesh count are you using? Should be 110-175 or so. I use a 158 mesh. Is the mesh nice and tight? If you use a tightly stretched screen with the proper mesh you should get a rather weak looking print on your first stroke, then with a flash and another stroke it should be an opaque, smooth and thin layer. I like to flash again and do a third stroke. It takes a few more seconds but I really like the way it gives the print a little extra "pop."

If the ink is thick and hard to print, work it with the squeegee and give your test prints a good hot flash between strokes to get everything warmed up. It will rapidly become easier to print and produce much smoother results.

Also, just checking, when you coated that screen did you make sure to do the last coating stroke on the inside of the mesh? That's really important for producing a crisp stencil.


----------



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

Ripcord said:


> There is way too much ink being laid down. As NoXid said above, what mesh count are you using? Should be 110-175 or so. I use a 158 mesh. Is the mesh nice and tight? If you use a tightly stretched screen with the proper mesh you should get a rather weak looking print on your first stroke, then with a flash and another stroke it should be an opaque, smooth and thin layer. I like to flash again and do a third stroke. It takes a few more seconds but I really like the way it gives the print a little extra "pop."
> 
> If the ink is thick and hard to print, work it with the squeegee and give your test prints a good hot flash between strokes to get everything warmed up. It will rapidly become easier to print and produce much smoother results.
> 
> Also, just checking, when you coated that screen did you make sure to do the last coating stroke on the inside of the mesh? That's really important for producing a crisp stencil.



First, thanks for your reply! I'm using a 110 Mesh. It's a brand new mesh. The crazy thing about this is I'm flashing using a heat gun and it doesn't do this until like the 3rd hit. The first 2 are fine and the third comes out like this. Maybe the palen is too hot?

I flood the screen after every single hit.


----------



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

AAPrintingWizard said:


> In addition to chuckh and NoXid the only time that I personally have run into this is when doing a run of a lot of shirts and my platen itself got super warm. I never understood why this happened but the results were similar.


I think you might have solved the mystery. I don't have a flash setup and use a heat gun. Maybe it's just too hot!


----------



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

chuckh said:


> In addition to NoXid, I would ask the following:
> Did you change ink colors and have mineral spirits/cleaning solvent still in your screen...
> Have you used any ink additives...
> Are you printing in one direction only...
> Is your tension not high enough...


I didn't change inks or added anything to the screen. I'm printing only in one direction. Perhaps, I'll add more tension. How hard should I be pushing on the screen?


----------



## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

I've experienced the opposite when overheating a pallet. It can gel the ink and clog the screen. As long as it doesn't get hot enough to do that I like warm pallets. Adhesive sticks better and prints come out smoother.


----------



## TshirtMafia (Dec 13, 2009)

NoXid said:


> Possibles:
> - Not enough off contact
> - Mesh count is too low for that ink
> - Not clearing the image area of ink with your print stroke
> - Not flashing between strokes


Thanks! "Not clearing the image area of ink with your print stroke" What does this mean?


----------



## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

TshirtMafia said:


> Thanks! "Not clearing the image area of ink with your print stroke" What does this mean?


If your squeegee pass leaves behind blobs or patches of ink, some of that extra glop can get sucked through the mesh and transferred to the shirt as the mesh lifts from the garment.


*Are you printing with Plastisol or waterbase?*
Answers would be mostly the same, but there are some differences, and people typically assume Plastisol when answering.


----------



## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

Yeah, when printing opaque ink you really want to achieve a steady firm stroke that keeps your mesh firmly in contact with the surface of the shirt throughout, resulting in the classic "shear" that leaves the stencil entirely free of ink.

Printing thick opaque ink takes some practice and the best way to learn it is to do it again and again until you can feel when the stroke is just right. You can read about it until the cows come home but you won't fully understand until you experience what it feels like to direct the power of your forearms through your hands, then through the squeegee at the ideal angle to deposit a smooth and thin layer of ink.

It doesn't take brute force. On the contrary, it takes focused leverage applied firmly through your squeegee exactly to where it needs to be, and this might sound a little bit like kung fu but once you experience the perfect stroke it will be like riding the proverbial bicycle. You will never forget how to do it.


----------

