Rough white plastisol print -> Heatpress?

[OhNoPrinting]

because I intend to make every beginner mistake, i have to deal with a rough plastisol print (very thick&sticky white ink on black shirt).

So i want to try to smooth it out a little with a heat press..should I cure them completely in the dryer and then heat press or first heat press (5sek) then dryer?

Print was: White ink stroke then flash. (the flash i only use, so i dont smear the ink when taking the shirt of the pallet)

[Doug S]

We've always cured before pressing.

[CBCB]

Yeah, cure it first and it just should need a second or two under the press to achieve the max improvement.

Definitely worth looking into the variables here though. Screen tension, squeegee sharpness, and a nice white ink that’s been mixed and moving.

When all else fails…

[OhNoPrinting]

Thanks!

Cured it in the dryer -> heat-pressed the white prints -> smooth and a little bit rubbery (but in a nice way)

And I might be wrong, the white looks whiter..?

My guess why it feels rough: the white ink is really stick and my screens are very low on tension (maybe 16/17 Newton). Plus, I was playing with off-contact and I think it wasn´t enough, so that the screen was lifting a bit of ink.

[screenxpress]

Just out of curiosity.  Is this like an 80 or 100 mesh job?

[Maxie]

You should use a thinner mesh and print flash print.
Are you printing by hand?

[3Deep]

All white inks aren't the same but really any white can be worked with you just have to know how especially your cheaper white ink, as Homer would say you get what you pay for,  tight screens will improve the printability of cheaper inks plus a little additive to make it smoother.

[OhNoPrinting]

yes, manual printing with a 70 durometer squeegee on a 55T white mesh (i guess it would be 140 in the US). Tiflex Himalaya (don´t think its a very cheap ink, but as stated I got it with the manual, so i can´t be sure how old it is)

I choose the mesh because the lines in one of the logos is only 0.5mm. (and the higher ones I have are dirty. I used a 90T for the black on white shirt)

I tried stroke flash stroke but moved the shirt (or it shrunk from the heat?) and it came out blurry. But when i flood, stroke, stroke, stroke it came out pretty solid white (but a bit rough).

I got also a big canister of "reducer" but i really don´t know what it is, how it will affect. Need to read up on that.

[tonypep]

Premature release of ink from screen is often due to lack of off contact and elongation properties of the ink (or a combination of the two) and can result in a "rough" print. More variables of course but when I train printers, I always tell them to "read the screen". By that I mean that when you lift the screen you can often or always (with a bit of practice and observation} tell when you have a proper release of ink from screen. If you look at the screen and see ink residue, then you should rethink the application. Some white inks have an alpha prefix LE which stands for low elongation. Good consideration. Tighter screens release ink quicker and better as mentioned.
Confused? Welcome to screenprinting.
tp

[screenxpress]

I choose the mesh because the lines in one of the logos is only 0.5mm. (and the higher ones I have are dirty. I used a 90T for the black on white shirt)

I tried stroke flash stroke but moved the shirt (or it shrunk from the heat?) and it came out blurry. But when i flood, stroke, stroke, stroke it came out pretty solid white (but a bit rough).

Sounds like you did not have any 'tac' on the platen to hold the shirt down.  Use a waterbase tac, not spray

I got also a big canister of "reducer" but i really don´t know what it is, how it will affect. Need to read up on that.

"Curable" Reducer is added to really thick ink to make it more pliable to move.  However do not add more than 10 percent or will effect the opacity of the ink. Actually start out with about 2% and gradually work up from there until its "spreadable" to your liking.  Other products such as Chino base has similar effects.