# Printing issues with Kornit Breeze



## spy50036 (Nov 7, 2016)

Hi guys!

A week ago I bought a new Kornit Breeze and I test printed some tees. Unfortunately the ink is falling off after washing.

What do you think is the issue?

My settings were:
60 % Pretreat
White: 80/55/50
Heat: 6:30 mins @ 170°C / 340° F

Thanks very much!
Stefan


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## spy50036 (Nov 7, 2016)

Update:

I did some white limit tests and the results look much better. Already two washes and no wash-out. Juppie!

The new settings are:
- 85 % spray
- White 100 / 100 / 100
- Heat 7:00 mins @ 145°C / 290°F

Maybe this is helpful for others who experience the same issues after buying a new DTG printer.


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## spy50036 (Nov 7, 2016)

Update 2:

Unfortunately my last post was no final solution. After only one wash the print falls of the garment. I experience this mail issue with black shirts only. On white shirts the CMYK colors last but fades out very quickly.

The printout looks really great after printing and after drying. But that's worth nothing if it doesn't hold on the shirts. 

I have some black demo shirts and when I scratch them with a coin the print holds. When I scratch heavy the print goes off but I can see white color in the fabric. When I do the same with my prints the color goes off and I see the blank fabric as if it was never printed.

Any ideas?
- Too much spray? (Currently 85 %)
- Too less drying? (Currently 145°C @ 9 mins)

Thanks very much,
Stefan


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## spy50036 (Nov 7, 2016)

Update 3:

I update this post for everybody who might be interested. I had an application training by Kornit and I feel much more informed now.

We adjusted all settings during the training. The settings for my black shirt now are:

60 % Pretreat
White: 80/55/55
Heat: 8:00 mins @ 145°C / 293° F

We changed the resolution from 600x600 dpi to 1200x600 dpi. So we doubled the amount of ink which hits the shirt. With these new values the print lasts some test washes already.

I think my mistakes was that I put too much spray on the shirt so that the ink had no chance to get in contact with the fabric. The result was that the spray evaporated during drying and the ink was just lying on top of the fabric. After one wash it fell off.

Best,
Stefan


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## bumperk (Oct 8, 2010)

Hi Stefan, we have had a Kornit Breeze for years and the best thing to ensure adhesion is to bake the ink onto the shirt for the longest possible. We run 10 minutes (max of our dryer) on every shirt. Too much pre-treat is an issue - but even now our sprayer is broken and dumping too much - but the baking time takes care of it. That said, we just had our main board die and we are selling off parts (including print-heads). We are going another direction with the shop and the Kornit has been part that takes much time.


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## spy50036 (Nov 7, 2016)

I just found this old thread and I want to update it with to problem solutions. This might be helpful for other s who have the same issue in the future.

First I learned that I need to spit the issue in two aspects: a) Printer and heater settings and b) laundry detergent.

a)
After the Kornit training and a lot of experience I can tell you that my issue was a user error. I used the wrong settings.

Here is what I do when I prepare to print on a new dark garment today:

- Spray 50 %
- White 100/100/100 (6x8 double white)
- Print the test file White_Limit.tif, which is provided by Kornit (You can download it on the support website)
- Dryer at 160 °C and 9:30 min
- I check the test file results and choose the box which shows the best white covering (Usually this an area where I can still see the 100 % white crosshairs in the center of the area)
- For example 55 % white here in this test: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9mltf12hk9bxac/white_limit_on_black.jpeg?dl=0
- I also check if the white ink in the box of interest looks cloudy or sunken into the garment. If so, I increase or decrease spray and print more tests until I get the results I need.
- I transfer the amount of white of the winner box and create a new setup for the tee.


b)
During all the test we did when I started this thread we used the wrong laundry detergent. It was too aggressive and we switched to a eco friendly liquid laundry detergent. This fixed the color ink wash out issue. I think it was related to anionic tenside.


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