# Ink transferred on Teflon Sheet



## soundbox3 (Jun 29, 2016)

Does anybody else have any experience of this occurring..

When I cure a t-shirt, if I use teflon or maybe even parchment paper, if I try to use it again afterwards it can transfer remnants of the ink from the last cure to the one you're currently doing.

What would you recommend to use for cleaning these then if so?


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

soundbox3 said:


> Does anybody else have any experience of this occurring..
> 
> When I cure a t-shirt, if I use teflon or maybe even parchment paper, if I try to use it again afterwards it can transfer remnants of the ink from the last cure to the one you're currently doing.
> 
> What would you recommend to use for cleaning these then if so?


Teflon can be cleaned with water, or even lacquer thinner.
Parchment paper should be single use, but you can often reuse it a few times. Make sure you are hovering long enough before pressing, as this will reduce the chance of ink sticking to the sheet.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

use this --->>> https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ba...bun-sheet-pan-liner-sheet-case/433SLINER.html


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## RedClothing (Nov 14, 2016)

I feel like you have some other issues going on here. You're not pressing hard enough, or hot enough, or long enough. Or some combination. I go days at a time between cleaning the teflon on the bottoms of my heat presses. There's never supposed to be any ink coming off the shirt onto the teflon. Walk me through what you're doing?


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## Emilio2000 (Jun 12, 2019)

I have occasionally experienced some trace of plastisol ink left on the teflon sheet. As soon as it cools off a bit, you can simply rub it off. I use a paper towel to thoroughly scrub the teflon. 

But I use a teflon sheet like this only rarely, mainly to correct a mistake. I wouldn't use it for regular curing. It's best to cure all your shirts in a dryer.


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## RedClothing (Nov 14, 2016)

I believe he's talking about DTG ink, not plastisol, as he's posted this is the DTG forum section... Most of us strictly DTG printers don't have conveyor dryers. DTG inks get their wash fastness by fusing under a heat press with parchment, silicone, or teflon sheets.


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## soundbox3 (Jun 29, 2016)

RedClothing said:


> I feel like you have some other issues going on here. You're not pressing hard enough, or hot enough, or long enough. Or some combination. I go days at a time between cleaning the teflon on the bottoms of my heat presses. There's never supposed to be any ink coming off the shirt onto the teflon. Walk me through what you're doing?


From what I believe the only things worth noting is.. I don't have a hover press, so maybe you may argue the ink may still be wet when curing. I press on a low pressure. The teflon I use isn't integrated into my press, I use teflon sheets. When this has happened in the past with parchment paper, if I leave the paper over night I never get the accidental transfer on the next occasion.

Does this point towards there still being moisture in the ink on the sheet, for it to be able to transfer, or could it still be transferred anyway if heated up to the right point?

The reason I'm troubled over this is, I'm having to swap between 3 sheets of teflon currently, and I find cleaning them a slightly difficult task as I cannot see where exactly the ink is (small incidents) until it's too late.

Any input/advice much appreciated people, nice one!


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

When you need cover paper to come in direct contact with ink, be it plastisol or DTG, use disposable one-and-done paper. Too much labor wasted cleaning teflon sheets after ever pressing or every 3rd pressing.


We use parchment paper.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

soundbox3 said:


> From what I believe the only things worth noting is.. I don't have a hover press, so maybe you may argue the ink may still be wet when curing.


 That's exactly what it is! If you don't have a hover press, then your only safe option is single use parchment paper.


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## RedClothing (Nov 14, 2016)

TABOB said:


> That's exactly what it is! If you don't have a hover press, then your only safe option is single use parchment paper.


This is not correct. We don't hover at our shop. Hovering decreases long term washability. We have regular teflon covers on each press. No issues with ink sticking to the teflon. He still has an issue somewhere.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

RedClothing said:


> This is not correct. We don't hover at our shop. Hovering decreases long term washability. We have regular teflon covers on each press. No issues with ink sticking to the teflon. He still has an issue somewhere.


 So everybody in the industry advising to hover and avoid using Teflon sheets is wrong?
Hovering does not decrease washability if the pre-treat and white ink settings are correct. 

Pressing without hovering (as you do) can improve the washability of a bad print, but will also result in muted colors.


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## RedClothing (Nov 14, 2016)

TABOB said:


> So everybody in the industry advising to hover and avoid using Teflon sheets is wrong?
> Hovering does not decrease washability if the pre-treat and white ink settings are correct.
> 
> Pressing without hovering (as you do) can improve the washability of a bad print, but will also result in muted colors.


Hey, you caught on quick! I am saying that everybody in the industry is generally wrong. Hovering definitely does decrease washability. You've evaporated water off the top of the ink instead of using that water evaporating to fuse the ink together. It's a trade off in that you'll get a slightly shinier print, which goes away after the first wash, but increased long term wash fastness. I'll wait while you go run some wash tests.

It also does not result in muted colors. It would only results in muted colors if you're pressing wayyyyyy too hard. I'll wait while you try that too.

The point, going back to the original post, is that I believe he has some issues with temp/time/pressure or something else completely. Maybe his heat press isn't flat on the bottom. Is the ink in the same spot on the teflon every time? Maybe his heat press has coils that are bad and low temp areas. Does he have a heat gun to check the temp on the bottom of his press? Maybe he doesn't have actual teflon. Maybe it's a bad cover or bad batch of teflon sheets.

Regardless of how we do it at our company, or you do it at yours, a hundred thousands shirts printed here without any hovering tell me he shouldn't have any ink left on a teflon sheet.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

RedClothing said:


> You've evaporated water off the top of the ink instead of using that water evaporating to fuse the ink together.


DTG ink is not concrete and does not need water to cure. On the contrary, DTG inks only cure after the water has evaporated.

If the print is good, they can be can be cured in a tunnel dryer without a problem (no pressure at all).


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## K1dto (Sep 4, 2021)

I have exactly the same problem so much ink on both the Teflon inside tote bags and the Teflon on top some ink seems to transfer to image as I remove it however carefully I do! Heat press settings set by brother engineer.


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