basics of white ink

[ericheartsu]

We are doing a print with some ICC low cure poly white as an underbase, and using Wilflex Warrior White as the highlight.

This job is going on some 100% cotton tees, some tri blend vnecks, and some 60/40 hoodies, so we can't do straight discharge, and it's a big job so I'm a little afraid to do a DCUB.

But my question is, what factors will result in our white looking like a dull white? Right now they just look very watery to me. They feel really smooth, and are being printed through a 166 for the base, and a 230, possibly a 272 for the highlight. Base is being printed once, highlight is being printed twice.

so what am i missing to make it a very bright and bold white?

[Printficient]

Control of consistent correct heat and duration.

[Printficient]

Control of consistent correct heat and duration.

[tonypep]

Well that's just the tip of the iceburg

[blue moon]

all the inks should cure at the same temperature, mixing low temp and regular temp can cause issues with the low cure stuff!!!

pierre

[ericheartsu]

these are straight out of the bucket. def no mixing in that aspect.

We've been working on trying to control the right heat and time. Even on jobs that we are doing simliar to this, where we are using ICC low cure white on both, we are still getting weird issues from time to time.

[blue moon]

these are straight out of the bucket. def no mixing in that aspect.

We've been working on trying to control the right heat and time. Even on jobs that we are doing simliar to this, where we are using ICC low cure white on both, we are still getting weird issues from time to time.

mixing as in mixing in the same run, not mixing together. If the lower (ubase) ink cures at 275 and the top cures at 320 what temp do you run it at? 320 will cook the ubase and 275 will not cure the top.

from my discussions with the ink manufacturers the 275 degree ink is designed specifically for those temps and will go bad at higher heat. Not sure what bad means, but it certainly sounds like you are experiencing some of the issues.

pierre

pierre

[alan802]

So you're saying that your opacity is lacking or is the ink not the right shade of white, like an off white?  Do you think your dullness is due to some bleeding or is it something else?  If it's an opacity issue that's an easy fix with changing mesh count and/or squeegee blade then work on lowering your pressure while increasing your print speed.

[ericheartsu]

on this particular job i'm not really sure what was going on to be honest. The print run was on next level 3600 black tees, two next level tri blends, and some independent hoods. Originally I thought the hoods were 50/50, but they were 60/40.

The blue and gray tri blends and the gray zip ups looked perfect, but the black tees and black hoodies looked as if they were printed without a base. So i'm thinking now that there was to much pressure on the base, driving the ink through the garment (as they were thinner), thus not allowing the white to sit on top.

[alan802]

We've had some issues recently with black blends bleeding really badly.  If the garments that didn't look good had poly in them then it's possible they bled really bad.  I've been really surprised at how badly they bleed, the Gildan 42000 in black is a terrible bleeder so if the garments are anything like that even the best poly inks have issues. 

[Underbase37]

I can say I've seen a fair share of overdyed shirts that have had this problem, not that they where another color, but more not the dark black they where looking for, so they dye it again.

Murphy37

[Prosperi-Tees]

Not sure if im correct on this but don't poly whites basically have zero matte down properties? I wouldn't think that would be a good ink to use as a base on ringspun garments.

[alan802]

Not sure if im correct on this but don't poly whites basically have zero matte down properties? I wouldn't think that would be a good ink to use as a base on ringspun garments.

I've found that longer bodied white inks do matte down better than short bodied inks as a general rule around here, but there is a lot more to it than that.

[ScreenFoo]

^^Yep, Union poly is what we usually use, and it actually does mat down fibers reasonably well if we have just a couple cotton garments thrown in with the run.

I'd agree with Pierre though, unless you really need two different series of inks, stay with the same series. 
Most of my headaches inkwise come from the continued misunderstanding (or ignorance,) that the color is the only thing that varies in the inks...