Glitter/Shimmer Flakes

[alan802]

Since we don't do much of this type of printing, the occasional silver shimmer job comes along, maybe a gold shimmer here and there but now we have a design that calls for glitter white.  I was thinking that ink makers would sell just the flakes with no base that you could simply add to any ink on the shelf.  I searched yesterday and was surprised that I couldn't find anything other than inks already finished in various colors and then a clear base with flakes suspended.  I don't want a clear additive because it's going to reduce opacity too much to get the desired flake load I want and I don't have the option to add another screen and flash unit because we're maxed out already and I'm not running this size job around two revolutions.  Does anyone have any idea if this product exists and I'm sure if it does someone will have better luck finding it than me.  I am not the best at searching for products because I give up in 15 minutes or less or I don't use the right search words because I assume too much or not the right things.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[tonypep]

Meadowbrook inventions. High minimums

[blue moon]

union ink sells glitter flake. I have their clear and the crystalina.

pierre

[3Deep]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

[inkman996]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

Not sure what you mean by the clear cystalina reducing opacity? The nice thing about the cyrsalina is the base it is suspended in complete;y disappears after cure. So you can print this stuff on a white base after its been flashed o any other color for that matter. Tho crysalina might not qualify as a metallic.

[tonypep]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

Commonly reffered to as sugar glitter technique. It has maximum bling. Also there are glitter bases desgined specifically for this.

[inkman996]

What happened to unions caviar beads?

[alan802]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

Not sure what you mean by the clear cystalina reducing opacity? The nice thing about the cyrsalina is the base it is suspended in complete;y disappears after cure. So you can print this stuff on a white base after its been flashed o any other color for that matter. Tho crysalina might not qualify as a metallic.

I need something that would be my top white screen with flakes and I don't have room to add an additional screen other than the top white.  I was just planning on adding the flakes into my top white screen and if I added a clear base with flakes to my top white ink then my opacity would go way down.  If I'm understanding this correctly I'd have to print the base and the top white along with a crystallina screen?

union ink sells glitter flake. I have their clear and the crystalina.

pierre

That's not the flakes by themselves is it?  Is what you have already mixed into as base of some kind?

[blue moon]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

Not sure what you mean by the clear cystalina reducing opacity? The nice thing about the cyrsalina is the base it is suspended in complete;y disappears after cure. So you can print this stuff on a white base after its been flashed o any other color for that matter. Tho crysalina might not qualify as a metallic.

I need something that would be my top white screen with flakes and I don't have room to add an additional screen other than the top white.  I was just planning on adding the flakes into my top white screen and if I added a clear base with flakes to my top white ink then my opacity would go way down.  If I'm understanding this correctly I'd have to print the base and the top white along with a crystallina screen?

union ink sells glitter flake. I have their clear and the crystalina.

pierre

That's not the flakes by themselves is it?  Is what you have already mixed into as base of some kind?

yes, that is the flake on it's own. I could have sworn I had some silver flake too, but can't find it right now.

I think the problem you are going to run into is that the white ink is highly opaque and any flake that you add to it will get lost in the ink. That's why it is usually suspended in the clear or tinted gel.

pierre

[Frog]

I think the problem you are going to run into is that the white ink is highly opaque and any flake that you add to it will get lost in the ink. That's why it is usually suspended in the clear or tinted gel.

pierre

Yep, could give a similar effect to painting over chrome.

[inkman996]

Alan, a few years back I did some cheer shirts and the customer wanted heavy glitter on the print, what I did was use a 86 mesh, left the ink wet and sprinkled the glitter over top. and run thru the dryer.  The order was not very big so I also heat press them also, I,m thinking I also did one more step but can't recall right now.  I bought glitter from a hobby store and tried to get stuff that looked crushed up pretty much..Oh union has crystalina if that works for ya.

Darryl

Not sure what you mean by the clear cystalina reducing opacity? The nice thing about the cyrsalina is the base it is suspended in complete;y disappears after cure. So you can print this stuff on a white base after its been flashed o any other color for that matter. Tho crysalina might not qualify as a metallic.

I need something that would be my top white screen with flakes and I don't have room to add an additional screen other than the top white.  I was just planning on adding the flakes into my top white screen and if I added a clear base with flakes to my top white ink then my opacity would go way down.  If I'm understanding this correctly I'd have to print the base and the top white along with a crystallina screen?

union ink sells glitter flake. I have their clear and the crystalina.

pierre

That's not the flakes by themselves is it?  Is what you have already mixed into as base of some kind?

yes, that is the flake on it's own. I could have sworn I had some silver flake too, but can't find it right now.

I think the problem you are going to run into is that the white ink is highly opaque and any flake that you add to it will get lost in the ink. That's why it is usually suspended in the clear or tinted gel.

pierre

Yep and any flake exposed will probably be coated in the white ink again rendering it useless. I think the only way to do what you desire is either using crystilina or adding the flake by hand the a un flashed top white then heat pressing.

[tonypep]

Correct. Flakes only work in clear bases or slightly tinted ones. The sugar technique might, might work with white ink but doubtful

[Colin]

Alan,

I got my sugar crystal flake from Union.  The part number is ADDI-2666-Q  Sugar Glitter. 

You CAN get away with sprinkling it on top of wet plastisol..... Just remember, it will stick to all tacky ink.  Be very very careful.

Ideally you want to press the flake into the ink so it will adhere better.  There are several ways of doing this.... But in your unique situation, you may be better off gently heat pressing the design after it has gone through the dryer.  The flake will still stay on top of the ink, have great sparkle, and adhere better since it has been pressed, gently, into the plastisol.

You will always have some wash off during laundering.

Gotta go run production now....

Best of luck!

[Binkspot]

Tech Support has some nice glitters and shimmers.

We do what Megan sells a super glitter, both flakes in a clear base, similar color inks and dry. The dry works well but is messy and we all look like we just came from a strip joint with glitter on us no mater how careful we are.

This was done with a purple under base through a 110, flashed then purple, black and silver glitter from a craft store mixed in a phosphorescent (glow in the dark) ink through a 25.

[alan802]

I was hoping I could put it on thick in the white ink and if that didn't work do the sugar method since one of the other colors is silver shimmer and the rest of it would be fine if some flakes got sprinkled in. 

So the flakes won't adhere well without adding some pressure with the heat press afterwards with sugaring?  It's a fairly large quantity to be doing a bunch of other crap to the print that I'm fairly certain was not put into the pricing so I'm trying to go on the cheap.