want to get better printing UA product

[Croft]

so I have been printing UA for a few years , I am getting good results but really want to get better,

I picked up some of there retail shirts on the weekend and the printing is really opaque , crisp smooth and not too thick , I'm just wondering if anyone has insight as to what ink or process there using.
They weren't ironed on, under a magnifier I can see screen marks.

The shirts I got were particularly nice, white and neon lime with a medium blue on black and they were very sharp. From the back side I think I can see a grey under base but not sure.

All I can think of is possibly a grey base with a smoothing screen , but I'm not 100% sure that it is plastisol?

Also it wasn't silicone, I use that as well.

[blue moon]

I would imagine most of that stuff is HSA due to big name store requirements. That would mean three or maybe even four screens to get it that smooth and bright. 'just a guess though . . .

pierre

[LoneWolf2]

My guess would also be HSA and silicone.

[DannyGruninger]

Chances are it's HSA....... And I know for fact some of the under armor stuff has 6 underbases, yes I said 6.

[Sbrem]

We've printed a fair amount of their stuff with standard plastisol, Rutland white blocking base. The customers are very happy with it, but if you want the look you find retail, I think the guys are correct with the HSA; I've also read a lot about a lot of underbases, at least 3 before the top colors. In the end, I think your customers will decide for you, meaning if they want to  spend the dough to make it right...

Steve

[Croft]

Ok whats HSA

[AAMike]

I believe they are referring to high solids acrylic. I have experience with Rutland's EKO acrylic as well as silicone. I like the silicone for designs that are smaller. No underbase is required with silicone unless you are printing on sublimated poly. With the EKO, they have a barrier black as an underlay. Both of these systems require you to flash every color from what I have seen. Here is something to research and think about. Try using Rutland's EKO barrier black and then printing plastisol on top. I only tried it once at the last company I worked at, and it worked and passed the wash test. Rutland will not sanction printers doing this. The reason I even tried is because it was research and the EKO black is creamy and easy to print and can kill sublimated poly which is arguably a tough material to master. That being said, it is on my list of projects to complete in 2016.

[jamiem]

where was the shirt made?

[mk162]

We print a ton of UA stuff.  Strange thing is one style the shirt will stick to the platen fine and the next you can't nail down.

We use OneStroke's 357 white either through a standard 155 or 230 mesh.  Stuff works great.

[Croft]

We print a ton of UA stuff.  Strange thing is one style the shirt will stick to the platen fine and the next you can't nail down.

We use OneStroke's 357 white either through a standard 155 or 230 mesh.  Stuff works great.

Thats funny same thing here but we find it can happen between different colours , we do lots of runs in the 500 to 12k pieces and there can be some big variances , biggest being where the shirt was made even within same style
for us Jordan and Nicauraugua shirts print nice and bright but any from Columbia print fine but look dull exact same style shirt but somethings different.

We have also printed batches of black UA tees where we can print thousands then we hit a stretch where our hands will turn black from handling the shirts , that really concerns me .

[jamiem]

where is the printed shirt you have made?

[ScreenFoo]

I'm with mk162 on the random stick issues, vac platens would be the best way to drop our reject count here.

Past that issue they are about the easiest printing stuff I ever get my hands on...

[Croft]

where is the printed shirt you have made?

Columbia , Jordan, Nicauragua, Hondourous