crooked prints!

[ericheartsu]

We are going crazy over here. We are trying to print a 3 colored print on our gauntlet.

Print registered in 10 mins. Lines up straight on the plattens. Comes out of the dryer crooked.

Print is realigned. Plattens are checked to make sure they are straight, tees are checked to make sure they are being loaded straight, and image is still coming out crooked.

Any idea what i could be missing or overlooking?!

[royster13]

Optical Illusion?....

[Screened Gear]

Is this a new press? New location? Did you try one of the shirts on to make sure? I get customers say the prints are crooked some times. Every time they are not, its just the way the shirt was laying when folded. When I pull shirts I pull a little to one side because of the positioning of the press to the dryer. It twists the shirt a little. Check and see if that is what it is. The more tack on the boards the more of a twist there is when pulled.

[ericheartsu]

old press, same location it's been in for 6 months.

one side of the image is slightly higher.

light tack on the pallets, and they are being snapped off evenly to minimize twisting

[GKitson]

We are going crazy over here. We are trying to print a 3 colored print on our gauntlet.

Print registered in 10 mins. Lines up straight on the plattens. Comes out of the dryer crooked.

Print is realigned. Plattens are checked to make sure they are straight, tees are checked to make sure they are being loaded straight, and image is still coming out crooked.

Any idea what i could be missing or overlooking?!

Measure the armholes and see if they are 'square' to each other....
Excess glue during unloading could cause distoration such as you are describing...my best guess as to the problem
A loader with a 'strong' arm could cause such a distortion, have another loader try and see if the problem is repeated.
Special treatments such as acid wash or tie dye can cause this due to way additional mechanical finishing is accomplished.
other....


~Kitson

[Screened Gear]

old press, same location it's been in for 6 months.

one side of the image is slightly higher.

light tack on the pallets, and they are being snapped off evenly to minimize twisting

Are these some fashion tees? Did you try to load a good old Gildan? Honestly I have no clue at this point. Is it every shirt or just alot of them?

[ericheartsu]

i think it was employee error, but it's so strange. the same employee has been loading shirts all day with no problem. Then we get to these tultex tees, and 6 out of 8 will be fine, 2 will be crooked. we just went through all the shirts he loaded, and they are fine.

just switched operators...checking now

[Inkworks]

Could be shirts with a 1/4 turn weave shrinking and pulling when they dry. Normally the dryer won't do that, but the shirts will twist after several washes. I have some with a side seam that comes almost to the middle of the front after a few dozen washes.

[ericheartsu]

Could be shirts with a 1/4 turn weave shrinking and pulling when they dry. Normally the dryer won't do that, but the shirts will twist after several washes. I have some with a side seam that comes almost to the middle of the front after a few dozen washes.

yeah i know what you mean.

These are just standard Tultex 0202 shirts. we haven't had any issues like this before. just so bizarre! great way to waste an afternoon. let me tell you

[Screened Gear]

I found your problem...tultex tees. I know they say they have improved but I have a hard time ordering them for customers. The last time I printed them (2 years ago) the customer brought back a bunch that shurnk up like 2- 4 inches and many that twisted. I feel the same way about Bella.

Back to the reason for the twist or 2 out of 8 being messed up. They stretch and they are never packaged straight. When I print fashion type shirts I can only load them at about half my top speed. They take that much longer to make sure they are correct and sometimes just to open the shirt to go on the board. We have alot of static during the summer so that adds to my dislike of them. (I print a hell of alot of them)

Have your guy put them on and then feel down for the armpit to make sure each side is the same distance. Its the only way I have found to make sure they are on correct. When you do it all the time it doesn't take much longer.

[ericheartsu]

here is the print in  question. sorry it's being linked. it's an instagram vid.

3 color discharge:

http://instagram.com/p/brmhGhg8jQ/

[JBLUE]

Jon nailed it. Tultex= sh!t. Another reason on the thinner shirts when you pull them on the pallet just the drag across the adhesive can distort the shirt enough so that the logo is off. Look at the grain of the fabric and see how it runs.

[Screened Gear]

Jon nailed it. Tultex= sh!t. Another reason on the thinner shirts when you pull them on the pallet just the drag across the adhesive can distort the shirt enough so that the logo is off. Look at the grain of the fabric and see how it runs.

Jason is correct about the pallet adhesive pulling them out of whack. Tultex are not the worse, the worse are triblends or the viscose ones that don't ever stick to the boards.

[ZooCity]

Eric, I've had to seriously overthink this issue (see past post I made on this) and here's what I determined:

• Shirts are not cut and sewn consistently "straight" to begin with, they vary in proportion around 1/2" on avg it seems and, depending on brand, can vary wildly in their sew lines.
• On basic Ts, it's more difficult to catch the above issues on press due to the simple shape of the garment.  Women's Ts with the "hourglass" cut will give away a poor cut/sew job much more easily when loaded on a platen.
• The direction of the fabric can not only throw off your loading but trick your eye into thinking a print is crooked, especially with heathers and pattern fabrics receiving square images.
• You must allow even the finest of shirt loaders a 1/4" of variance.

I forget that some folks have a hard time with ring spun and lighter fabrics, it's 99% of what we run so it's the norm for us and everything is setup around those types of fabrics.  I agree a G2000 is easier to throw and pull but we maybe fill a couple dozen orders per year with those sort of Ts.  You can adjust to ring spun it just takes different care with the platen tack and loading and of course, it goes slower.  I don't think a lighter fabric is to blame for crooked prints though. 

If it really is operator error, have your guy slow down.  Use a clear ruler and measure every 24 shirts or so for center, in a straight line from sleeve stitch to image to sleeve stich and in a straight line from where the collar meets the shoulder stich down to the image....or whatever method you prefer.  On tricky runs keep a mannequin in the back too. 

[Inkworks]

Silly question, but what are using to check the shirt is straight on the pallet? Shirt weave? Armpit seams? Shoulders to platen edge? We use armpit seams and even the new guys get them straight after they figure out how to check that the line between the two armpit seams is perpendicular to the pallet edges, even on left-chest prints pulled way off center on the platens to accommodate different sizes of shirts.