Discharge on 100% Cotton Bandanas - Rookie Question

[ZooCity]

So, I've yet to get into our new shop with the big dryer but I have a run of bandanas to do in sponsorship for a doc fest here in town.  We have a little leeway on the colors, they don't have to be exact matches to the official colors since the bandana colors aren't anyways.  I typically run Matusi RC wb inks on bandanas, cure on a slow belt speed in our Vastex EC-I and then either run through multiple times and/or throw 'em in a clothes dryer on hot for a good long while.  That's worked out great in the past, not something we want to do all the time, but gets it done. 

I'm thinking about playing around with discharge on this run.  We're not ready for it facility-wise but I was considering grabbing a quart of the CCI base and trying it out on these bandanas.  Thought it might be cool and make some of the colors really pop.  Thing is, from hearing you all rave about it, I'm pretty set on using the CCI base but totally undecided on our set of WB pigments and not ready to make that investment yet.  {I'm holding out for the CCI pigments at this point}

Here's my ?: do I need a concentrated pigment set to mix into the discharge base (I know it then needs activated) or can I get away with using some Matsui RC wb ink? 

I think I know the answer to my question already but it doesn't hurt to ask.  Bandanas seem easy to penetrate with WB ink so it seems like an okay way to get my feet wet w. discharge if this is an option.

***edit**
I just spaced the fact that the only color in the group that would really benefit from the discharge is a dark Purple.  That's a no-go with discharge right?  It's a salmony pink like 708c going on there.  Pastel kind of color.  I'm now thinking screw it and I'll mix up some salmon with the HO White and some reds/yellows and lay it on top. 

[ebscreen]

Your edit note is what I would do. White discharge on purple results in a lavenderish color. Mix in a tint of red
and you might get close. Though I've heard of bandanas not discharging.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I have a job that vaguely resembles the Original Post. (Double sided decoration is not an issue.) It is a repeat job for me, except the bandanas are blue this year--last year's were red. This job is 2400 blue bandanas with white ink only. I have a manual press, and have about a year of discharge and waterbase behind me, and 3 years of daily printing with plastisol. My printing fundamentals are coming along nicely, and I do my own seps, stencils, cleaning and reclaiming in house.  I'm changing over to Newman Roller MZX's.

The only set of bandanas I've printed, were for this same customer, and it frankly was a nightmare. I changed platen tape every 150 or 200 prints (Hopkins 6/4) because the ink was printing all the way through the bandanas. I had to flash gel the platens to keep from smearing the ink that had printed all the way through. Then there was a gradual buildup.

Should I discharge these with white pigmented waterbased discharge? Plasticharge maybe? Plastisol with a fine mesh, and print flash print? What mesh should I use to minimize printing through? Is EOM a consideration? (I do have a micron gauge.)

I am desperate, as this job just came up and the deadline is ridiculously soon....

Anybody want to weigh in here??

Stan

(I did the last years job with stretch and glue frames, that were probably in the same range as most of my old stretch and glue frames, 14-17 newtons.)

[tonypep]

Yes you will have that penetration issue and will have to deal with the platens. Also many bandanna mfgrs use a cheap sulphur dye which may result in poor dischargeability.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

OK.  So do you have any specific recommendations? What Mesh might minimize the over-penetration? Will Plasticharge maximize the "whiteness" with one pass, given the dye caution you stated?

Thanks!

[Prosperi-Tees]

My CCI rep just told me that the pigments are 2-3 months out still.

[Evo]

Matsui pigments play very nice with the CCI bases.

Matsui RFU wb inks DO NOT play nice with discharge bases. You will end up with cottage cheese if you mix em.

As far as a pastel finish over purple dyed bandanas, this is almost impossible to tell without just going for it. How discharge bases work with different brands/color/fabrics/batches is a trial and error thing. Sometimes you'll see differences in color quality in the very same batch of shirts. (even though that particular brand/color always seems to work)

In short: crap shoot, but a worthwhile endeavor.

[Evo]

Oh and buy some Matsui Fixer N and mix it into the ink, before the activator. This will vastly improve the wash-fastness without having to run the product through the dryer 10 times. (once or twice will do it). Commercial tumble dryers don't go hot enough.

[ZooCity]

Thanks for the info folks, I'm going to just go ahead and print them with the rfu inks this time around.

2-3 months seems a little long to me right now for the CCI pigments but I'm willing to wait a sec for it.  From the reviews you all have given CCI's discharge set I feel like it's worth holding out for.  I can get comfy with the discharge base and white first and then move over to colors when they pcs are ready.

CroOked: Some of the promotional-grade bandanas are super thin and pretty much anything you print them with, plastisol, wb, is going to bleed through tp some degree.  You can minimize this effect by adjusting the press for the thinner material and making an effort to back off the pressure. 

You'll have to flash the platen or change tape every so many, just part of printing thin materials like this.  Changing tape every couple hundred is no big deal but there may be some absorbent material to lay beneath and discard every so often. Or, you could stack up layers of platen tape under the image area and peel off as needed. 

Tony? Did you mention some product like this?  Hog brand or something like that?

I would go for the discharge on a run that size.  Once washed you'd have a nice soft print that's part of the bandana and it would be one hit all the way.  Depending on how opaque the white needs to be and the open area of the image, the Matsui HO White could get it done as well.  I'd avoid plastisol for something people are going to rub on their face presumably.