# How Do I Cure Plastisol Ink With A Heat Gun???????



## UrbanLlama (Oct 29, 2010)

I have recently bought some screen printing equipment with Plastisol Ink. I have successfully printed A T shirt but after curing with the heat gun for a short while and then washing it the ink mostly washed out. Am I not curing it for long enough?

Can you fully cure a T shirt with a heat gun?

How long should I heat gun it for?


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## rockersuk (Feb 2, 2009)

how long did you have the heat gun on the shirt!you might have to go over it for a few mins as it needs to reach a temp of 320 deg!you will be better off with a flash unit will save you a lot of time


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## ole Jobe (Jun 16, 2009)

You will have difficulty reaching the necessary 320 degrees over all the print for the full depth of the ink layer with a heat gun. If this is just a hobby, try a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes or so. Otherwise, at least a flash dryer will be necessary. God Bless.


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## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

Curing with a heat gun is possible but unpredictable at best. You need to stay in motion (so not to burn the shirt) AND get all the ink up to 320 degrees from surface to garment. If your plan is to do any tyoe of production you will need to at least get a flash dryer.


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## ggraphics (Nov 20, 2008)

UrbanLlama said:


> Can you fully cure a T shirt with a heat gun?


Let me throw another question at you: could you start a taxi service with a motor scooter? The answer is yes, but you would be under-equipped. For your issue, you will will almost never get a uniform cure over the whole design. Also, the bigger the design gets, the more difficult it gets to cure. I would invest in a dryer, or at minimum, a flash.


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## lifeworkusa (Oct 29, 2010)

Great way to put it ggraphics. =) And absolutely so true. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Invest even in a small flash dryer, and you'll do exponentially better than trying to dry with a heat gun.


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## ggraphics (Nov 20, 2008)

T-Shirt Forums Search Results

Seeing that I wasn't being productive in answering your question, I went back and did a search. Although I don't condone this curing method, some of these threads may help you out.
jem


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## UrbanLlama (Oct 29, 2010)

Thanks for the info. I will have to do some more tests using the heat gun seeing as a flash dryer is far too expensive for me at the moment. Does anyone know if an Iron would act in the same way as a heat press? Or is it not hot enough?


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## lifeworkusa (Oct 29, 2010)

Not hot enough. Between the iron and the heat gun, you'll probably have better luck with the heat gun. Good luck.


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## mrvixx (Jan 13, 2009)

UrbanLlama said:


> Thanks for the info. I will have to do some more tests using the heat gun seeing as a flash dryer is far too expensive for me at the moment. Does anyone know if an Iron would act in the same way as a heat press? Or is it not hot enough?


If you think a flash dryer is too expensive. then maybe you shouldnt be printing shirts.


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## UrbanLlama (Oct 29, 2010)

Is there a self curing addative that may help cure for full washability? Or is this just for water based inks?


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## ggraphics (Nov 20, 2008)

mrvixx said:


> If you think a flash dryer is too expensive. then maybe you shouldnt be printing shirts.





> ... far too expensive for me at the moment.


That's completely understandable that the OP may not be able to afford the equipment right now. What makes you say he shouldn't get into printing? Plenty of printers start out slowly aquiring equipment. With that being said, I wouldn't be curing too many customers' garments with a heat gun. It wouldn't be good for your business.


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## mrvixx (Jan 13, 2009)

ggraphics said:


> That's completely understandable that the OP may not be able to afford the equipment right now. What makes you say he shouldn't get into printing? Plenty of printers start out slowly aquiring equipment. With that being said, I wouldn't be curing too many customers' garments with a heat gun. It wouldn't be good for your business.


Because a flash dryer is the most essential part of screen printing. It should be the first piece of equipment you should purchase. I understand that maybe you cant afford one right now but if you are serious about making money then you need to have the right equipment. If you cant afford your own equipment yet then you can outsource the printing till you have enough money to purchase at least the stuff to get you printing and making sure you give your customers a good product.


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## chartle (Nov 1, 2009)

UrbanLlama said:


> Is there a self curing addative that may help cure for full washability? Or is this just for water based inks?


Plastisol has to get up to around 320, its the way the ink works.

Plastisol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## UrbanLlama (Oct 29, 2010)

Ok So I have tried a few tester T shirts to see how best to cure it with the heat gun. It turns out about four minutes across the whole design was enough to make it smoke and after a very very slight initial fade in the first wash; the second wash did not change the density of the colour. Although there was a slight fade it was nothing like my initial t shirt which noticably washed out. Thanks for the advice everyone


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