screen mesh for discharge

[balloonguy]

I am looking at some specs for inks and they are showing mostly 110 - 156 for waterbase and discharge inks. Is what most people are doing? It seems like an really wide mesh for such a loose ink.
Thanks,
matt

[alan802]

Well, in the beginning I was thinking higher mesh counts with thin stencils would be fine, but I think there needs to be a sufficient ink deposit to soak the threads enough for the print to be opaque.  I'm finding better results with the lower/more open mesh counts like the S threads from Murakami, the 135/48 and 150/48 more specifically.  A super thin ink deposit can work if done correctly but the more ink (up to a point) the better/brighter the ink is.  If the image is appearing on your pallets after a short run then I think you may be putting too much ink down and/or too much pressure being applied.

[JBLUE]

We run 230's on most colors, some 180's, and a 160 once in a while for white. You dont need to bury the shirt to get opacity.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I use 160s for the most part but if I need more detail 230s work just fine.

[Dottonedan]

Good questions.

I have customers that run all sericol discharge. They use 230's and print 45lpi on everything.
I have another customer that prints Rutland M3 on top and a discharge underbase (one a 230 at 50lpi.

I have another that prints 330 mesh with some 305's and 230's for both all discharge and also plasticol on top with a discharge base. They make the call as to what ink method they want to use.

The one thing that surprised me is how bright a discharge white is on any dark color using a 230 or even a 305. (roughly a 90-95% white).
The other thing that surprised me is that it's this bright (and not penetrating through the entire thickness of the garment threads. They seemed to just be on top or half way through.

To me, a negative for this brightness is that even a 3% dots that fade out to nothing on the shirt are VERY BRIGHT, unlike a 3% dot on plastisol. The fact that the plastisol dot it so small, (thin) and sucks up shirt color, enables it to seemly fade away into the garment more (far more) than in discharge. The single dot of discharge reminds me of the old light bright kids toy. You can have one light bright hanging out by itself, but it's still VERY bright. you need to be aware of this little fact as it can play a major role in your separation method.

[JBLUE]

We ran these on Friday. All 230's. Underprint was a 230 discharge base. These were all done with a single pass no double stroking. Super bright and a great soft hand print.

[ericheartsu]

we have always used 110's for our white ink, and it stays so bright.

i just experimented with a 156 for a super detailed image, and it look great as well.

[alan802]

I've used a few 230's and 205's that had decent results, but I think the best overall prints came through the 150/48 and 180/48.  I have one of the shirts that was printed through a 205 and after a few washes it has dulled due to the shirt knap and fibrillation, I don't know if that would be different if it were printed with a more open mesh count.  We did a 7 color sim process with discharge UB, plastisol top, a few weeks ago and we changed the UB screen a few times during the run and the top colors were better once we got down to the 180/48.  The first UB screen was a loose 230 static alum, then we moved down to a 40 newton 205 roller mesh and ended up with the 180.

What mesh counts do you have in the shop?  If I were you, I'd take a low, mid and high mesh count, burn the same image on all three and use the sericol red and test the three against each other.  Hand won't really be a factor, there is very little hand even when printing through a 110/71 after the wash so I'd simply focus on which mesh count gives you what you think is the best print.

[balloonguy]

I will try several meshes. The lowest I have is 110 and I go up to 330.
I now have another question: Do I need a water resistant block out? Can I use emulsion?
Thanks again to all. I REALLY appreciate the advise.
Matt

[Gilligan]

Is there any sort of "Idiots Guide to Discharge" out there?

I love the concept but I feel like I know more about running an Auto than I do printing discharge... and we all know my experience with Auto's.

[JBLUE]

We just block it out with emulsion. Holds up just fine for us.

[tonypep]

A waterbased blockout will not resist the ink. By using emulsion as a blockout you can post expose. to harden it. There is no idiots guide that I am aware of but if you can access old Printwear issues I believed I penned three or four articles on this
tp

[Gilligan]

A waterbased blockout will not resist the ink. By using emulsion as a blockout you can post expose. to harden it. There is no idiots guide that I am aware of but if you can access old Printwear issues I believed I penned three or four articles on this
tp

I can access whatever the general public can get on their website and maybe the way back machine.  What were the titles or even better time frame if you can remember?

[tonypep]

Somewhere btwn 2004 and 2007 I believe. I believe Brannon found one and it may be on the spotcolorsupply website.

[Gilligan]

Thanks for "narrowing" that down to half a decade.