Issues I need to know about printing Next Level Tri Blends?

[XG Print]

We almost never print fashion type ts but are now getting some requests from a Cross Fit gym to print on the Next Level Tri Blends.  Prints seem easy...Most are black ink front and back.  Anything special to printing on these shirts?

[Prince Art]

Starting last year, we have seen unbelievable problems with discoloration & scorching with NL shirts, both triblends & poly/cotton blends. It seems they can't completely tolerate the temps that plastisol cures at, and certainly not much higher. If I temped shirts (with a gun) at 340+, we were pretty much assured to have problems... but lower temps didn't guarantee we were safe. I now never suggest NL, and try to steer customers to other brands. If I have to print them, I'll use low cure inks - preferably One Stroke's ELT series, since it can cure in the 270-280 range. That way, even if we peak around 300, we're much more likely to avoid problems. (FWIW, I like the ELT-S inks, especially on triblend - the "S" is for stretch additive, and they do indeed stretch & flex pretty well.) We also cure the shirts full length, as flat as possible - they like to discolor on the peaks of wrinkles, and if you fold them over, you may end up with the top half a different shade than the bottom half. (I don't think we've seen those problems with ELT ink, but the shirts cost us a lot of money in replacements last year, so we haven't quit the precautions yet.)

[XG Print]

Starting last year, we have seen unbelievable problems with discoloration & scorching with NL shirts, both triblends & poly/cotton blends. It seems they can't completely tolerate the temps that plastisol cures at, and certainly not much higher. If I temped shirts (with a gun) at 340+, we were pretty much assured to have problems... but lower temps didn't guarantee we were safe. I now never suggest NL, and try to steer customers to other brands. If I have to print them, I'll use low cure inks - preferably One Stroke's ELT series, since it can cure in the 270-280 range. That way, even if we peak around 300, we're much more likely to avoid problems. (FWIW, I like the ELT-S inks, especially on triblend - the "S" is for stretch additive, and they do indeed stretch & flex pretty well.) We also cure the shirts full length, as flat as possible - they like to discolor on the peaks of wrinkles, and if you fold them over, you may end up with the top half a different shade than the bottom half. (I don't think we've seen those problems with ELT ink, but the shirts cost us a lot of money in replacements last year, so we haven't quit the precautions yet.)

Any shirts comparable that may perform a little better.  i will try and steer them that way. Thanks

[Frog]

I've had very good luck with San Mar's District Threads and District Made tri-blends.
Just ran some Turquoise Frost ladies tanks with white plastisol with no problems.
Got a re-order, so I'm pretty sure all is good.

[Prince Art]

We've been using more Bella Canvas triblend this year. It's a little more expensive (and a little nicer), but many of our customers who want triblend are less concerned about price than other customers. I may look into Frog's suggestion of District Threads; haven't used those, as we don't normally go through SanMar.

Whatever you use, I'd still say watch your temps more carefully than you might with standard tees. Try to keep flash times/temps as low as you can, too. Triblend in general can be a little finicky. It heats up faster than high % cotton tees, especially with darker colors.

[mimosatexas]

No issues with discoloration etc when using low cure inks.  I print tons of these lately, and my only issue at the moment is fiber mat down.  I know shops are starting to move toward HSA and that apparently mats down better than plastisol, but not currently setup to run HSA "well".  If anyone has a low cure white than avoids pitting and puffing when used as a base and has crazy awesome mat down, I'm all ears.

[Orion]

We run a ton of triblends and currently use plastisol. From what I gather HSA is the answer for those troublesome triblends. On another note, how well does HSA perform on cotton garments? Also curious as to who to look to as my supplier of HSA here in Texas, suggestions anyone?

[LoneWolf2]

Just printed a few hundred last week with HSA ink, and they were a damn nightmare. Discoloration, weird sizing variations, colors bleeding/shifting when printed on top of an UB. Found it extremely hard to get  a nice opaque print on them as well.

[Biverson]

It's funny as I have good luck with Next Level and have the discoloration problems with Bella's 50/50 blends. I cannot fold them or else I'll get lines, even if I'm only temping at 320. I did some NL CVC black and those bled more than I'd like. I go back and forth between the 2, but am leaning towards Bella right now as I just have to send them through flat.

For mat down the only time I have fibrillation problems is when the base gets a little too gelled. It's not fully cured, but sits under the flash a little longer than maybe it should. That's just a problem with me and production I have to watch and fix.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Prince Art]

...my only issue at the moment is fiber mat down...

One thing that has helped me when manual printing is to do a flood/stroke/stroke before the flash. I just make sure there's a bead of ink across the squeegee blade before the second stroke. I do a reverse-angle pull flood, and push strokes, in case that matters. 70 duro. I also tend to go heavy on the mesh count for white. (ELT-S white is not the most opaque white out there...)

On the other hand, whenever possible, I prefer to use a "vintage" soft hand look, and not worry about fibers sticking through. Makes for a much softer print, well-suited to these shirts.

[mimosatexas]

All good tips, and that is the way I have been doing it as of late, though I found I prefer 135 or 150 thin thread over lower thicker meshes and triple durometer instead of the softer stuff. Little bit smoother base than with say a 110 and 70 durometer combo, but still issues with the print being a little fuzzy. It isn't bad, not like some of the horrible crap I have seen come out of other shops, but it isn't as smooth as what I get on "standard" shirts. No client complaints, just my own desire to put out the best looking and most consistent product.

[whitewater]

We print a ton of tri blends. Next Level totally fit the best. Bella and District have a weird fit. Ive personally wear them and also others at our crossfit box.

We dont have issues. But what i tell the customers is that we will print it more like a washed out look. Since we use plastisol with those tri blends if we do a solid color it feels like crap when wearing. We may still p/f/p but we would use a high mesh screen.

Not one customer has complained about how we do it, we just tell them up front and everyone is down with it. ( Watch, since i said this someone will bitch)

Since we use a thin layer we reach the curing temps more easily.

[Stinkhorn Press]

we (i personally) loved what next level was doing - 2 years ago.
something happened and the quality took a nose dive. couple customers this year threw their hands up and said NO MORE next level.

printing on them - quick flashing white, try synergy poly

[mk162]

Skip the tri-blend and go CVC.  It's softer and 10 times easier to print.