Glitter Inks...

[Donnie]

I took in some high school BB play off action this weekend. I saw a pretty amazing print done with glitter ink. The men's version had a standard orange ink but the women's had a glitter orange. It was a simple design, white and orange on black but wow the glitter popped.  I am sure many of you have done some glitters and am just wondering about the ins and outs. The best INKS, meshes ect. I am assuming around 20 to 30 mesh count but what about screen prep. Emulsion or Cap film?

[Fluid]

mesh will be determined by the size of the flakes in the glitter yet most likely you can go with a 80 mesh count and get great results. Print flash print method with No underbase will yield the best result with glitter inks as well as metallic inks.

[hazeremover]

A 20 or 30 mesh is not necessary. Like Fluid said, an 80 or 60 mesh will yield excellent results. Direct emulsion with a couple of thick coats on the print side. Capillary film is an alternative but not necessary unless you're super concerned about the evenness of the stencil surface but with glitter ink it's not much of a factor. No underbase.

[LuxInks]

We do a fair amount of glitter & shimmers and put them through 60-80 mesh with emulsion. We usually keep those screens coated 2/2, sometimes even 3 on the print side.
For crystalina, we use a 60.
Make up a few garments with some fun designs on it and up-sell it to your customers. It's real easy to work with.
Good luck!
Paul

[Sbrem]

maybe it depends on the ink brand, we couldn't get enough glitter (Wilflex) down with an 81 SDE mesh we get from Saati (think 81 with "S" threads) so we went with a 36, now that puts it down, and we've done some colored underlays while the glitter sits on top. One needs to mess around with it some, like most special effects inks... the first time I used glitter was in the 70's, a 16T mesh (what a biatch to coat)

Steve

[brandon]

I'm gonna probably get crap for this but with the thick glitter of QCM we have run an underbase of the color of the glitter and then run the glitter on a 25 mesh. Yes, it is like a screen door. But one stroke light pressure with amazing results.

[rmonks]

My limited experience with glitter has been testy. I for some reason have a problem getting the ink cured, the glitter reflects the heat. The first time I printed glitter it looked great, but it came off in the wash. SO I would definitely do a wash test before sending them out the door. Would love to see the shirt you are talking about.

[bimmridder]

We print it through a 26 also. We make ours from glitter flakes and Wilflex Nova Base. Prints nice and has a dry glitter look.

[Donnie]

Could not find the color I wanted (hot pink) from any ink company. One of my suppliers to me to call Meadowbrooks Inventions Inc. http://www.meadowbrookinventions.com/hiband/index.html.  I got some Rutland Clear Base and I am mixing my own. They suggested 15% glitter by weight. Just mixed it today... pretty easy.  Running them this week.

[Frog]

Fortunately the color suits you. Prepare for traces of hot pink glitter everywhere for a few months!

[RICK STEFANICK]

we use a 33 mesh screen for glitter and crystaline...

[Donnie]

The prints turned out great.  Used a 40 mesh and took Fluids advice on the PFP method. Got to stay on top of the ink levels in the screen though. Got to keep a butt load of ink in it at all times. For a front and back print we went through a gallon and a quarter of ink for just over 300 pieces about a third of which were fleece.  I am thinking the ladies going to be all over them like a hobo on a ham sammich and bad actin' in an Adam Sandler movie.

[T Shirt1]

Does anyone put a clear over the glitter?