poly/performance shirts and dye migration... how long should you wait?

[jvanick]

we're doing R&D this weekend for our big poly shirt run that's coming up at the end of october.

I have the exact shirts we're going to be using... (red performance hoodies).

Today, cut up a 2xl one, put a large wilflex performance white print on it, and ran cure tests through the dryer.

290
310
325
350! (just because I was curious to see what happened)

Very shockingly to me, none of them have bled yet, even the 350 one which I expected the print to turn pink.

I know that dye migration sometimes won't happen right away, so I'm curious, how long should I let them sit before I start to do wash tests? a week?  2 weeks?  a few days?

Thanks!

[Frog]

My first, worst, and pretty much last experience with the "pinks" was a 50/50 red with a white print that reared its ugly head a full week later!
And, washing seems to only demonstrate full cure and wash-fastness. What I've never found out is if drying afterwards can ever get garments hot enough to sublimate or bleed, or have dye migration.

And, btw, XXL always cost more so are not my choice for "volunteers" for suicide missions. Ever notice how they're never on sale along with their regular-sized brothers?

[Orion]

Rutland has a technical bulletin on this subject...

http://www.rutlandinc.com/media/48229/techbulletin_239_test_procedures_screen_print_shops.pdf

[Binkspot]

We have had them turn a week later after washing. The biggest problem is a large order where the fabric comes from different batches. Your running along everything is fine then a size change or different batch and they start bleeding. We have had runs all but one size would be perfect, that one size would start to migrate. Some brands are worse then others, Agusta are stable, Baddger are unpredictable.

[jvanick]

blanks for this job are 'free'... normally wouldn't be my go-to either... but... I was able to get over 8 test 'swatches' out of one.

[dirkdiggler]

we run performance white at 360, but our belt speed is at 28, never a problem.

[Rob Coleman]

Dye sublimation and dye migration ... two different phenomena. 

Sublimation is immediate --- dyes elevated to temperature and literally gas through.  This temperature can vary depending on the use of low energy (cheap) dyes versus high energy.  For the most part -- temps above 350 will sublimate polyester dyes.  Can be MUCH lower withe cheap dyes.

Dye Migration -- the available plasticizer solvates the poly dye and pulls it through the ink film.   Can happen overnight or two week later -- depends upon the ink film thickness really among other things.  The ink manufactures accelerate the process by heat aging (110 F over the weekend may simulate a week for instance).

[Colin]

For those posting cure temps:

Please report type of dryer, length of tunnel, and mesh count/ink thickness for proper review

[dirkdiggler]

Red Poly Baseball Jerseys:

PFP white on a 110, performance white, Sprint 2000 12ft heat, 360 degrees, belt speed 28, Never a problem.

[Colin]

Dirk:  have you put a donut probe on the ink at any time?

[Wildcard]

Just trying to understand dye migration a little better.

Is there any way to tell if a particular print run is going to suffer from delayed dye migration? I'm thinking of this 1-2 week period after curing that wrecks my nerves when I hand a job over to customer a day after printing. I visualise the print either turning some awkward colour or falling off in the wash because I pushed the cure temp a little too low while trying to hit the sweet spot.

Also, if printing multiple locations, is it more likely that the first side printed will migrate more than the last if it goes through the dryer multiple times? Or is the damage done once the ink is cured, and no further trips through the tunnel will make it worse?

[jvieira]

Just trying to understand dye migration a little better.

Is there any way to tell if a particular print run is going to suffer from delayed dye migration? I'm thinking of this 1-2 week period after curing that wrecks my nerves when I hand a job over to customer a day after printing. I visualise the print either turning some awkward colour or falling off in the wash because I pushed the cure temp a little too low while trying to hit the sweet spot.

Also, if printing multiple locations, is it more likely that the first side printed will migrate more than the last if it goes through the dryer multiple times? Or is the damage done once the ink is cured, and no further trips through the tunnel will make it worse?

ahah same questions I have.
We usually print hoodies and poly stuff at least 24 hours in advance and let it sit here. Had no idea it had potential for migration for 2 weeks. That's crazy!

Being in Europe, we don't have the same brands you guys have but we have the least problems with Fruit of the Loom (only time of the year we use them).

We outsource some stuff this time of the year and last year we had a customer order 500 hoodies from us. We sent it out and our supplier had problems with 200 hoodies (had to be sent back twice!). It was nuts. Winter terrifies me

[jvanick]

we test, test, test here now...

changing to gas dryers helped a LOT, as did using Wilflex Performance series...  most of the time peformance white for the base, flash and then colors mixed with performance base and the PC pigments...    run them in the dryer at 290 making sure they don't get over 300, and we rarely have issues.

there are a few brands that migrate bad... we'll either use gray blocker (HATE that stuff), or these days, Matsui HSA.  -- blocker black first -> flash then white -> flash then whatever else we need to do... some colors pick up, some don't so you have to test, but we've found that we don't have to flash after every color.

[Frog]

Excerpt from Rutland's tech bulletin
Test Procedure
• Test for migration by printing the fabric with enough white to insure complete coverage. This
is normally printed through at least a 110 mc. in. or 43 mc. cm. Print—Flash—Print may be
necessary to insure enough ink for 100% coverage.
• Cure the white ink in a dryer that is calibrated to insure that a temperature of 320ºF or
160ºC is achieved on the garment. Note: This should not be confused with a dryer setting
of 320ºF or 160ºC, but a measured temperature on the garment.
• Cut the print in 1/2. Place 1/2 of the print in a convection oven or a warm place to achieve
125ºF or 52ºC for 15 hours. This accelerated heat aging test will simulate several weeks of
normal aging.
• Place the heat aged sample beside the non-heat aged sample to compare the differences in
bleed.
ANY APPLICATION NOT REFERENCED IN THIS TECHNICAL DATA SHOULD BE PRE-TESTED OR CONSULTATION SOUGHT WITH RUTLAND’S APPLICATIONS LABORATORY PRIOR TO PRINTING. CALL 704-553-0046 EXT.


Here's a link to the whole bulletin from Rutland http://www.rutlandinc.com/media/48208/techbulletin_99_printing_on_performance_fabrics.pdf

[Wildcard]

Thanks for the info. The forced heat aging sounds interesting and I might give that a try. Although it's thoroughly impractical to do for every job.

I wonder if that also answers my second question whether subsequent trips through the dryer will worsen the migration (or perhaps it would only accelerate the change that already was bound to happen.)