# Trouble printing on sweatshirts...



## dwntwn49 (Jan 27, 2010)

I am in the middle of printing on some sweats and am having some issues. I have an off-cntact of about a quarter. I am using a 156 mesh with a 1-1 coat. I am laying a Ryonet white base...flashing....and then a golden yellow top coat. First issue is that the screen is NOT popping off the shirt. It sticks to the shirt every time. Second issue (thanks to the first) is the the image is VERY spotty. Pulling ink of the shirt cause its sticking. Third Problem (and I ALWAYS have this with sweatshirts) is that it has a VERY rough finish. I know I can heat press it when i'm done as a "band-aid", but how the heck do I just get a nice print on sweatshirts. Any "tips and tricks" would be appreciated. Thanks


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## rbforrest (Mar 20, 2010)

Try increasing you off-contact to a 1/4" rather than the thickness of a quarter. That seemed to clear up the issues I was having with sweatshirts. Also, I found that if you rub the entire shirt with your hand just prior to printing it seems to lay it down more and print easier. Good luck!


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## sweetts (Apr 4, 2010)

I had this issue and thinned out the white with the ryonet curable reducer I added like 10-15%. their white is sooo sticky and tacky it seems to keep the screen from poping up. I first increased the off contact but the screen just eased off the shirt it didn't pop up until I thinned it out and I was using a new screen


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## cv.graphink (Nov 25, 2010)

in addition to raising the off-contact because the garment is thicker than a shirt and yes some reducer will help with the printing, but i have a couple other suggestions. #1 use a shimmy. take a piece of cardboard that's thickness is equal to your off-contact and tape it to the bottom side of your screen about 1 1/2"-2" above and possible below your image. when you print this will help the screen pop off the sweatshirt. #2 you could be boiling your underbase. if you print a white underbase, flash it, print a top color on top, and then notice white spots then it's possible that your flashing the shirt for too long. it should only take 6-9 to 12 seconds at the most to gel/flash your underbase. #3 too much pressure or angle. i know it's a pain in the *** to get good coverage when trying to clear the white ink through the mesh, but unfortunately too much pressure and you'll end with a rough print instead of the smooth print you'll need for your top print to look nice. #4 spray adhesive. i can't stress this enough. i spray more on the palette's and more often due to the fact that the inside of the sweatshirts leaves it's fibers on the palette like a mofo.


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## cv.graphink (Nov 25, 2010)

i just thought about this... when i put white ink in the screen i always move it around with the squeegee before i start printing. this warms/loosens up the plastisol ink and helps to give a nice smooth print.


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## sweetts (Apr 4, 2010)

Cv yes I also tape tung depressors under the screen it does help on thick shirts just stack them up.


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## dwntwn49 (Jan 27, 2010)

Thanks for responses. I am going to try to use a thicker stencil and obviously it sounds like I have an off-contact issue. Thanks again.


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## TheShirtBox (Jun 3, 2010)

The big thing that got my white to be smooth and opaque was that I'd push really hard on the squeegee on the first coat of white, flash, and then for the second I would flood the screen and do a very light push stroke. Just push hard enough to get the screen to touch the sweatshirt for the second coat. Seemed to help me out a lot. Good luck!


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## TheShirtBox (Jun 3, 2010)

OH and I also put a little reducer in my white ink. I am using the QCM Glacier white, so I can't speak for you. But it also helped a LOT in getting a smooth, even print.


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## stiers (May 16, 2008)

Make sure you have enough pallet adhesive. Curable reducer will help with thicker white inks. Using enough pallet adhesive to make the fleece stick to the pallet will really help!!! And with fleece, you need to apply it more often that with t-shirts.


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## nikicampbell (Nov 6, 2009)

TheShirtBox said:


> The big thing that got my white to be smooth and opaque was that I'd push really hard on the squeegee on the first coat of white, flash, and then for the second I would flood the screen and do a very light push stroke. Just push hard enough to get the screen to touch the sweatshirt for the second coat. Seemed to help me out a lot. Good luck!



Do you think that the 1/1 emulsion is an issue in printing sweatshirts? Too thin for the base layer? I just tried a couple of sweatshirts and the fuzz coming of of it was incredible - it fluffed right up. Tomorrow I'm going to really look at my off contact - and aybe thicker stencil? But I've heard not to push so hard on the first stroke - maybe I'll try that as well...any tips?


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## kirkmansigns (Jun 22, 2007)

cv.graphink said:


> i just thought about this... when i put white ink in the screen i always move it around with the squeegee before i start printing. this warms/loosens up the plastisol ink and helps to give a nice smooth print.


What we did to keep our white creamy is to buy a simple cheap paint mixer from Lowes. It's very heavy duty plastic mixer that can be put in a cordless drill. I leave this mixer right in the gallon of white ink. Before printing, just hook the drill up to the mixer and stir the crap out of it. Creams it right up and have been having much better results. Also thinned it down slightly. Using Union bright cotton white ink.


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