# [DTG] trouble getting solid whites with Epson F2100. Pretreat or pressing issue?



## pbosakov (May 9, 2020)

Hello all,


We need some advice/tips on getting solid colors right when printing on dark cotton. See photo: https://ibb.co/bQv0rs4


Even at high quality printer settings, we get poor results, with some of the garment black peeking under the white, and some of the white peeking under the color layer.


We use ring-spun cotton T-shirts (FotL Iconic) and we spray Epson dark garment pre-treatment with a Wagner paint gun.


Pre-treatment looks okay at a first glance. Evenly applied, no soaking/dripping. We tried spraying more of it, just for the experiment's sake, but it does not seem to improve quality.


For drying and curing we use the same heat press settings of 45 seconds @ 175C / 347F.


I accidentally noticed something when doing a test print on the back of a t-shirt. See the band where the colors are more intense? This is where the neckline is on the front. There is a clear band that contrasts with the rest of the garment, also visible before printing, where the surface is more even, as if the pre-treatment stuck better to it.


I'm a bit confused as to why this band of "better coloring" appears. Ideally we want this kind of vibrancy on the entire shirt.


Could it be related to the pressure setting on the heat press, or the quality of the parchment paper that we're using?


Thanks in advance for any input!


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

This is pretreatment related and Imagearmor has a nice article about it.
What Happens When You Heat Press Pretreatment and Ink or Hover Cure - Image Armor DTG Pretreatment Solutions

There are more than 3 methods of course, but it will give you an idea.


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