Virus Inks. Anyone use it?

[DannyGruninger]

We had a local distributer that brought in a ton of product.... He ended up not becoming a dealer so I bought out his entire lot of virus inks. I might be able to part with some of it if guys want some stuff to try as I have probably 30 gallons of various bases along with 2 full sets of pigments. I need to get through my move that is coming up so once I do that I will come back to this thread and see if I can send out some ink for you guys to try.

[KevWilso]

Then again, some of the trendier shirt brands won't sell to me without a note from my son, LOL! Perhaps VIRUS enjoys a similar exclusivity. 

They must, because I really want to try them out and have yet to find a supplier with any info (beyond a logo) on their website about them.  Can any of the cool kids on the forum please direct me to where you're tracking them down?

Kevin at river city i think still has a sample kit or two

You got my last kit.  I brought in samples of it to play around with and get feedback, but I never ended up adding the line.  I didn't get much feedback on the inks, and the stocking order they were asking me to place seemed pretty tall for a product I currently have 0 customers using.   I am sure it is great ink, but at the time none of my customers had much interest to change from their current water based system they already knew how to use.

[TCT]

There is a place in AZ selling it as well I believe, I forget the name of the place though.

From my understanding, there were 2 main issues getting it going.
1) Magna has a killer patent on the non formaldehyde discharge agent here in the states. Many of the ink companies over seas use that agent with no issue.
2) It comes from Italy. Ain't like you just buy a skid and see how it goes. Shipping prices added to the product, prices it out of competition. Probably makes more sense to bring in a container of it, but then you have a container of your $$$ tied up while trying to introduce something new to Americans that for the most part are stuck in their ways.

I could be totally off, but when I talked to them 2 years ago, those were the hurdles facing them.

[Screened Gear]

I am in Arizona and they came into my shop and told me about it real quick. I stopped them when they told me the cost was going to be more than double what I am paying now for my discharge inks. I don't care how long the agent lasts. I have very little money in waist to justify the cost.

[Moshie]

I've used Virus almost exclusively for the last 4 years. I love their products. So many special effects available, wonderful printability and a great company. There is some technical training required.

The thread is correct, SPR does carry it and they are trained to assist beginners. It can be challenging to educate your customer on the new products available on the market... but if you do, the results are amazing. The end result is a better product in the market.

As they gain momentum, I am sure Virus will end up with a permanent home in the US. The 4CP on darks is really something to check out.

[jamiem]

We, like Moshie, have also used Virus products almost exclusively for the last four years.  Almost 16 million imprints worth.  Their product range allows us to do almost anything that we can come up with as far as special effects go.  Their standard ink solutions are very user friendly, once you get the hang of them.  It seems that there is quite a bit of momentum out there for PVC free products.  Virus has a jump on most of their completion out there.  They are currently adding more distributors around the country, so access should be much easier in the future.  I'm always willing to chat with people if anyone is interested.

[mgrey]

Virus inks are available at screen printers Resource in Fullerton, CA You can contact Mike Grey at: mikeg@spresource.com to get info and pricing. They stock the full line of products and have technical support as well. The product line has greatly improved since the initial launching a few years ago. Many new products are available and the technology is the best on the market.

[Homer]

bumping this back up.


I am in the market for a water base ink for non dischargable garments, mainly the gildan 18500 we sell a ton of. Any updated feedback on this ink? It's available from atlas I noticed... I have some matsui 301 and 301 stretch here to mess with, I tried CCI pure white and it dried up way too fast for us. I was also looking at the green galaxy stuff. any suggestions?

[ericheartsu]

we like the matsui ink. But you have to get the matsui softner, and apply it to your screen. It helps with the drying.

[ZooCity]

Also Matsui here for hsa.  Best drop in to replace the Rutland for us.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Homer]

thanks guys, we will give it a go with the 301. Are you needing to flash between all colors with an underbase? from my notes a few years back it looks like we struggled with ink build up. Are you guys mixing anything into it? Seems I had to add some "Fixer N" to this stuff.

[jvanick]

we like the matsui ink. But you have to get the matsui softner, and apply it to your screen. It helps with the drying.

What do you mean by this?  Actually spread it on the screen with an ink card???

do you still add it in 3% to the ink as well?

never heard of this before.

[ZooCity]

Jvanick, you rub some on with a rag.

Homer 301 stretch is the hsa. 301 is st wb.  We use maximum retarder.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[RICK STEFANICK]

Bumping back up


After decent success with 4c process discharge over the years using Sericol their has never been a need to change, but recently after some research, reading this thread I  realize there may be other options. I have had some great conversations with Dave at ATLAS screen supply. They are a distributor for the virus inks. He is sending samples ( 2 quarts each) of the process colors and a gallon of white for testing. The interesting part of all this is Virus prefers to do the process seps as they claim they perform better with their inks. That makes sense they developed the inks and know exactly how there separations will perform with the inks. They do the first set N/C and then its 45.00 per design after. They are doing their best to ensure success using the process colors. They request a template to use the same exact registration marks , mesh and any other info we use in house so nothing changes in pre press. We have 15 designs to sample next week and I will post my feedback after the first 2 (that's all we submitted for separations  until I see the result) if anyone is interested.

[blue moon]

Bumping back up


After decent success with 4c process discharge over the years using Sericol their has never been a need to change, but recently after some research, reading this thread I  realize there may be other options. I have had some great conversations with Dave at ATLAS screen supply. They are a distributor for the virus inks. He is sending samples ( 2 quarts each) of the process colors and a gallon of white for testing. The interesting part of all this is Virus prefers to do the process seps as they claim they perform better with their inks. That makes sense they developed the inks and know exactly how there separations will perform with the inks. They do the first set N/C and then its 45.00 per design after. They are doing their best to ensure success using the process colors. They request a template to use the same exact registration marks , mesh and any other info we use in house so nothing changes in pre press. We have 15 designs to sample next week and I will post my feedback after the first 2 (that's all we submitted for separations  until I see the result) if anyone is interested.

are you allowed to share the seps?  I'd like to see what they do differently. . .

pierre