White on Gildan 185's

[gtmfg]

Just wondering if anybody has any input on this.  Our shop runs a ton of 185 Black Gildan.  This year we started having problems with crappy opacity and screens not clearing (Which leaves a rough print)  We are running 110 mesh (Newmans) @ 35N. Rutland Snap White.  The only way I can get these to look passable is to mix  Softhand into the first white double stroke, flash and single stroke the 2nd white. Thanks for any input we're running 30k of these in april and I'm sick of the waste of time and money on the double stroke not alone mixing in soft hand all the time.

[ScreenPrinter123]

What kind've mesh and what kind've squeegees are you using. I see you put newman's but is that referring to the frames or the mesh (or both)?  I've found I can pretty much blitz my squeegee speed (25"/second and up if desired - but then I find the pallet tack wears off in fewer shirts) at low pressure with 135 smart mesh at 25-27 newtons with triple 65-95-65 squeegees.  However that's on shirts - don't know if I'd want to move that fast with hoodies since you may start moving the hoodie during the print for the second screen, creating a double print.  Anywho, those would be my first two inquiries - type of mesh and type of squeegees.

[ScreenPrinter123]

P.s. - I'm assuming your press is parallel/no warped pallets/ and you're pre-heating pallets before rolling right?

[gtmfg]

Squeegees are 65/95/65  Shur loc panels 110 mesh.  I only am having issues with the 185's starting this summer. T shirt and all other jobs haven't been an issue. We rarely ever use 110 mesh, but wasn't getting the opacity out of 137's or 150's that the customer required. Plus I just need to run these full out so I was hoping the 110's would clear easier at speed.

[ScreenPrinter123]

If press is parallel and off contact good, maybe just try a 135 Murakami smart mesh panel from shurloc? - have never tried the shurloc brand of mesh. I'd compare the open area to the 135 open area to what you're using now.  Haven't had issues clearing that low of mesh. Had an issue clearing a 180 smart mesh with some white ink a few weeks back doing test prints, but it was cold, pallets weren't warm and it was the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket so all of the lint front putting ink back in the bucket at the end of runs probably sank to the bottom and may have been the main culprit.  Other than that , never had an issue. 

[JBLUE]

Squeegees are 65/95/65  Shur loc panels 110 mesh.  I only am having issues with the 185's starting this summer. T shirt and all other jobs haven't been an issue. We rarely ever use 110 mesh, but wasn't getting the opacity out of 137's or 150's that the customer required. Plus I just need to run these full out so I was hoping the 110's would clear easier at speed.

Ink companies are famous for changing the mix on us without telling us. Like you we rarely if ever use a 110 for a regular print. The last sample of Snap I got was way too damn thick. I opened it up and on the shelf it went. With that said it should still clear a 110 in one pass. You could print road tar through a 110......lol

Assuming with the numbers you mentioned this is on an auto. I would look at the press itself and see if there are any issues with the head itself. You may have bad choppers and not even realize it.

As for that big run just set up a third white screen and run like hell. Switch to higher mesh and the hand will be amazing.

[ebscreen]

All else being equal, don't necessarily discount the garment itself. I've seen certain shirts/fabrics go through bad bad phases,
most notable in the weave/yarn ends making for a rough print. American Apparel was a nightmare for a while there, but they got
that in check.

[ebscreen]

As a test, maybe throw a different brand of fleece on press just to make sure.
That's how we verified AA's fabric issues being truly their issues. Similar 4 oz
30 singles fabric printed beautifully with the same setup.