# Hoodies - print/flash/out of registration/anger



## bigtimenobody (May 28, 2010)

I have printed many hoodies over the years and only messed up a small handful in the process. Recently, I have been having some trouble. I am running a 6 station press with a flash unit. After I hit each hoodie with the desired colour, they make their way under the flash unit for a partial cure. When I apply the second hit to create an opaque print, the garment is out of registration. The degree to which it's out varies from one to the next. Some are quite drastic. 

My platens are clean. My off contact is set nicely. I've varied my squeegee pressure, yet I'm still having issues. 

I am wondering if the hoodies are shrinking as they go under the flash. I haven't had this happen in the past which is very strange to me. 

I'm using a Gildan 18500 hoodie in Cardinal Red. 

If anyone has any life lessons to teach me, I'd be thrilled to learn 

Thanks,

Greg


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Put the hoodie under the flash dryer for a few seconds before you do the base layer.


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## bigtimenobody (May 28, 2010)

Thanks. I will give that a try. Do you reduce your heat or adjust the height of your flash unit?


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

bigtimenobody said:


> Thanks. I will give that a try. Do you reduce your heat or adjust the height of your flash unit?


You may want to take it easy on the amount of heat as well. Polyester fabrics do shrink when exposed to heat, but the "preheating trick" should take care of it.


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## easyrider1340 (Jan 16, 2007)

I’ve been printing Jerzees NuBlend 996 lately and they don’t seem to shrink as bad. I did a test on my last run by not preflashing the hoodie and didn’t have any registration issues. 

As previously mentioned, do the preflash and keep your web spray tacky. 

Good luck!


Terry
http://www.AllegiantGraphics.com
https://www.Facebook.com/AllegiantGraphics
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## rpaul (Dec 8, 2013)

OK. Here is the best tip for printing sweats that I have. If you are doing small quantities, You want to iron them flat with an iron and teflon sheet before you print. This also works well for triblend and ringspun shirts.


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## tshirttony1972 (Feb 7, 2020)

I've experienced the same thing, so what I did was flash the hoodie before laying down any ink. So it gets any shrinkage out of the way. Hope this helps.


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## pracownia kreska (Feb 15, 2017)

Too high pre-drying temperature, too hot pallets,
too weak glue on the tables. Are you printing with glue ...?


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## Geo61 (Jan 2, 2019)

I use a lot of spray adhesive and rub over them good when I load them. then raise my spot to about 8" and only spot at a minimum. I do this with all sweats and never have an issue with multi colors.


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