# DTG black shirts wash problems!



## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

Hi,
I'm having trouble with my washes with white ink on black shirts.What are the best cure time/process for black shirts?

The prints that have pure white ink in them are washing out the most.The solid color prints with no pure white in the print do way better on black/dark garments.

Im starting to feel like the white ink is for under base only,not to be used as a color!!!


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

Need some more info:

Printer brand?
Ink brand?
Pretreat brand?

What are you currently doing now?
Teflon? Silicone? Parchment ?
Pretreat cure time and temp?
Ink cure times and temperatures?


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

Printer is -dtg bullet epson 7800
We use max bright inks
Preteament -fast ink pretreat for dark garmrnts


My preteating is fine my prints come out bright white and clean.
I use parchment paper for curing @ 350 for 2mins .If I press any longer the white starts to crack,even after the press the print looks great, but after the first wash it starts to fall part.This happends mostly on prints with pure white.

Thank you
-Joe


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

Digital Roots said:


> My preteating is fine my prints come out bright white and clean.
> I use parchment paper for curing @ 350 for 2mins .If I press any longer the white starts to crack,even after the press the print looks great, but after the first wash it starts to fall part.This happends mostly on prints with pure white.


How many passes of white are doing? Underbase +1 layer of white?

Are you hovering or directly pressing? light pressure or heavy pressure?


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

C
You are so kind always.
Joe,
The answers you are looking for is in hand of your ink seller. Call them with the picture. Scott F will help you with his best. My hello to him please.


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

One layer of white/underbase @ 1440dpi,then the color layer.I don't hover. Just paper then press med. pressure.

I feel like my temp. and time is off for dark garments.

What's your method ?


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## dottavig (May 2, 2011)

Sounds like your heating it too much. I do 30 seconds of hover @330 and 90 seconds of pres @ 330. Never had a crack with these settings, you'll get cracking if its too hot for too long


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

Digital Roots said:


> One layer of white/underbase @ 1440dpi,then the color layer.I don't hover. Just paper then press med. pressure.
> 
> I feel like my temp. and time is off for dark garments.
> 
> What's your method ?


I agree with Peter you should contact the ink manufacturer.. 

Never had cracking @350

Hover for 30 seconds no paper @350

1 min @ 350 for each layer of ink (Dark Shirt considered 2 layers) but we let the press pop up (auto pop up) let out steam, remove the paper and then place it back on

1 min @350 for the color layer

if the color or white is washing out its your ink.. how old is it?

take a picture of your underbase.

how long are you curing the pretreat?


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Every ink is different. As same as every hamburger taste different. If it was DuPont ink I could be a help to you but you need answer from who uses same ink as you. Scott is not a Mfg. He buys from xxxx. But he is your best bet.


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for the advise you guys!

I use silicone for the pretreat @350 for 60secs.


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

Try a 30 secs @ hover for 30 seconds.

If you have a teflon sheet I suggest, you do it for both cure processes.

what kinds of shirts? Really it sounds good what you are doing but if your inks are'nt working together there really isn't much you can.

White ink> shelf like 6mths (not from when you get it but when it was first bottle

Cmyk 1 year


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

Sorry I meant teflon for pretreat and then I use quilon parchment paper for the print.

What does the hovering do to the print?


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

We hover to get the ink a bit drier and the press full pressure for the 1 min for each color layer. 

What are the directions for your ink and pretreat? 

We use DuPont ink and I am unsure if Max Bright Ink is DuPont or not. But, your pretreat and curing methods should be just fine but wash out/cracking occurs for a few reasons:

-Improper Pretreat (too heavy or too light) *
-Ink compability 
-Curing Process 

*You stated you get a good white underbase..can we get a picture?*

When you pretreat take your fingernail and scrap a part of the shirt and you should
not have lifted anything, if you do this means too much pretreat.

Also, have you checked your heat press temperature? some have had problems where the press reads one temperature and its actually higher/lower than the reading.


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

Thanks great advice Dazzabling!

Ok yeah i think i need to check the temp. on my swing man.But heres the a picture of the shirts.Im not @ my shop till Monday to send you the wash out pictures.

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Im on my wash tests im printing on 4 different tees. 3 ring spun hanes,tulex,anvil,and 1 hanes comfortsoft.


Btw the max bright ink are Dupont inks!

http://www.americanscreensupply.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=5

Try this link.


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## dazzabling (Sep 21, 2011)

Digital Roots said:


> Im on my wash tests im printing on 4 different tees. 3 ring spun hanes,tulex,anvil,and 1 hanes comfortsoft.


You shouldn't have any problems, ring spun shirts DTG print really well and hold up. 




Digital Roots said:


> max bright ink are Dupont inks


:tipthank: 

I just know the companies not their brands that use DuPont. Now, sometimes using another pretreat brand may not work well with another brand of ink. The good companies, formulated their pretreat 
with the DuPont ink. So that maybe something to look at too.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Digital Roots said:


> Btw the max bright ink are Dupont inks!
> FastINK3 / MaxBright DTG Ink (Ink for T-Jet)


I don't know they carry two lines. Resolute and DuPont. Your story does not sounds like DuPont. Maybe I am wrong but ~. Why we all as re-sellers says clearly DuPont, Resolute, Nano, ---- in Big letter. OEM Eastern, Afford ----. If we have solid relationship they will never sell to end users direct. Why disguise origin to make users confused? Shame!! There is nothing to hide we are lying to ourselves.
Not big secret at all. Let's get some solid trust from users.
Cheers & Beers!


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## Digital Roots (May 16, 2011)

So what brand of ink would you recommend for the problems im having?


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Digital Roots said:


> "......If I press any longer the white starts to crack,


Joe, this is the part that has me concerned the most. You may try a little less pretreat and make sure that you are not trying to emulate the thickness of a screenprint by laying down too much ink. A picture of what you discribe could be helpful. Also as Peter suggested, talking to the people you buy you ink from would be the best way to go.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Digital Roots said:


> So what brand of ink would you recommend for the problems im having?



Your problem sounds like you are spraying on too much pretreatment. Too much pretreatment will give you a bright white print but poor washability. Try some test prints with less pretreatment and do some wash tests.


Harry
Equipment Zone

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