# Best Shirts/Less Sticking Up Fibers



## Florimonte (Feb 25, 2007)

Yet another question from a Noob 
What shirts do you guys like to use in regards to those pesky little sticking up fibers. I'm guessing that some shirts are better than others concerning this problem. Some might be more prone to those little monsters.
Right now I'm liking the feel of the 6.1 Haynes 5250- and even with the methods described here in the forums (shake out shirt, heat press the shirt out for a sec or two, remove then- light mist of water, add the correct amount of pre-treat, back on the heat press, brush/roll down the shirt, place down the quilan parchment, heat press for 10 secs, remove the parchment, heat press again for 10 secs, good to print) and I'm still having problems (with black shirts using the white undercoat).
I fully believe I've got a good feel of spraying the correct amount of pre-treat. During printing and after curing (330 for 180 secs), the shirts look great except those dang little white fibers sticking up here and there.
Do the shirts matter much or am I still (guess this part is obvious ) missing something to flatten out them little buggers...
What shirts work best for you (brand and item numbers)?
Always- BIG THANKS!!!! 

Thomas @ Ka-Blam


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

For the basis tees, the gildan ultra cotton 6.1 oz work the best as far as fibrilation. I also like American Apparels 2001 for the higher end tees. Those are the 2 different shirts I use the most. One thing that may cause this issue is if you are using to much pressure on our press when curing the ink after printing. If there is to much pressure it can put the white up thru the color and cause this look. I cure my shirts with the lightest of pressure. Using light pressure also helps the shirt to cure better as it helps let the moisture escape.


----------



## pixelwhisperer (Jul 23, 2008)

The shirt does matter beefy tees for example are prone to have that issue. I try to steer customers away from those brands. If a customer insists on choosing a shirt with that issue. I will add a clear coat. The way it works is to burn an extra screen that encompasses the entire design print a clear coat as the last color. This does not always eliminate the problem completely but I have had pretty good results with this method in the past.


----------



## Florimonte (Feb 25, 2007)

BobbieLee- you're becoming my best friend  ! Great advice every time!
Come to think of it, I'm pressing slighty heavy. I'll back off the pressure- Same low pressure for both the pre-treat and curing?
But *pixelwhisperer*, those Haynes Beefy Tees are so soft . Thanks for passing on the sticky fiber issue with the Beefys.

Thomas @ Ka-Blam


----------



## Brian-R (Apr 21, 2008)

BobbieLee,

Does the pretreatment for light fabrics help stop fibrilation?

Brian


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Hi Brian,

I dont know if it is so much that it helps with fibrilation so much, as it seems to help bond the ink better to the fabric, therefore staying brighter and washing better. I know when I use the fast color, the colors are more vibrant and wash much better then without. I dont use it all the time as it is another process that most times is not necessary, but on higher end stuff I do use it. Also alot of times the result is going to depend on the inkset you are using. I myself am still using the old R & H inks, so dont know to much of what the results are from the other inks out there right now.


----------



## Brian-R (Apr 21, 2008)

One more question for you BobbieLee.
I know that you print on a lot of small/tiny garments.
Do you do anything special with the heat press?
I have trouble with the seams with smaller garments.
It is usually easy to keep the collar out of the heat press
but the seams are more difficult if not impossible and I end
up with a shiny seam when curing dark fabrics.
How do you deal with that issue? Or do you even have that issue?

Brian


----------



## mgarcia16 (Dec 31, 2007)

You can use either a thick mousepad or The Tee Pad It for this.
http://www.heatpressessentials.com/teepad.htm


----------



## Dan K (Nov 15, 2006)

Ringspun tees will fibrillate more than jersey cotton too since there are more and finer fibers in the cotton and weave. Most tees that are more expensive are ringspun - Hanes Beefy Tees, American Apparel, Continental, Alternative, etc... Jersey tees are less expensive and fibrillate less because there are fewer fibers - Gildan 5000 or 2000, Fruit of the Loom 3930, Anvil, etc...


----------



## Brian-R (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks Mario,
Great suggestions!

Brian


----------



## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

I usually go with Anvil 967 I think or Gildan 2000, Hate Hanes.. to undershirt looking in my opinion 

I think I will now go with Anvil, even though I was always a Gildan guy because I think fibers seem a little tighter and its 30 cents cheaper a shirt : )

High end stuff I use Hype shirts, love them.. high quality cotton and print results seem a little better because of way inks seem to obsorb into fabric 

Kid stuff can be a pain with those button and seams, ain't a pro there but Bobbie can give you a good insight on that problem


----------



## igalanomati (Aug 21, 2010)

mrbigjack50 said:


> I usually go with Anvil 967 I think or Gildan 2000, Hate Hanes.. to undershirt looking in my opinion
> 
> I think I will now go with Anvil, even though I was always a Gildan guy because I think fibers seem a little tighter and its 30 cents cheaper a shirt : )
> 
> ...


do you have a link for those Hype shirts, can't seem to find them on the web, i googled all possible combinations, "hype apparel", "hype clothing" "hype t-shirts" etc


----------



## whimsywhit (May 25, 2009)

The "Hype" brand is actually spelled "Hyp". Give that a shot on Google. If i find the site i will post a link.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk


----------



## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

totally screwed up when I wrote that thing a million years ago,

anvil 980 is becoming one of my fav tee now, same fit and quality as American apparel but half the price


----------



## igalanomati (Aug 21, 2010)

thanx guys, it seems that Hyp only gets distributed in the US, not Europe so not for me. 
Does anyone know if it's better to use a 95%cotton/5%spandex composition t-shirt in order to avoid fibrilation? It seems to me that the Hanes tees that have this mixed composition have a smoother surface thus would be less prone to fibres sticking up after printing.


----------



## chobay (Aug 4, 2009)

IMO, you should consider dealing with fibrillation regardless of the brand. Do you plan on telling your customers that you don't print on certain brand shirts? If so, you are eliminating pretty much every high end ringspun shirt out there..

There are many tricks that DTG'ers use to combat this issue. Check out this thread for more info: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/dtg-pretreatment/t52278.html


----------



## igalanomati (Aug 21, 2010)

you're definitely right, it is limiting. The thing is we're talking about water-based screenprinting, not DTG. The screenprinter made this sample prints for me, and didn't pass the shirts in an oven or a heatpress or anything, saying that they dry out almost instantly. I am a designer, not a screenprinter but i have gathered that you almost always need to heat-set your print, whatever the tecnique.
I am kind of buffled here...


----------



## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

igalanomati said:


> you're definitely right, it is limiting. The thing is we're talking about water-based screenprinting, not DTG. The screenprinter made this sample prints for me, and didn't pass the shirts in an oven or a heatpress or anything, saying that they dry out almost instantly. I am a designer, not a screenprinter but i have gathered that you almost always need to heat-set your print, whatever the tecnique.
> I am kind of buffled here...





Water based inks, be it for screen printing or for direct to garment, need to be heat set for washability. Being water based, they can air dry and feel dry to the touch. But unless you heat set them the inks will more or less wash out.


Harry
Equipment Zone


----------



## chobay (Aug 4, 2009)

igalanomati said:


> you're definitely right, it is limiting. The thing is we're talking about water-based screenprinting, not DTG. The screenprinter made this sample prints for me, and didn't pass the shirts in an oven or a heatpress or anything, saying that they dry out almost instantly. I am a designer, not a screenprinter but i have gathered that you almost always need to heat-set your print, whatever the tecnique.
> I am kind of buffled here...


Ok, FYI you posted in DTG subforum. You might want to post a new thread to see how screenprinters deal with fibrillation..


----------



## igalanomati (Aug 21, 2010)

sure i'll do that.
thank you guys


----------

