Inks for 100% Poly *LIGHTS*

[sqslabs]

I've went through all the old threads and have gotten some great info, but none pertaining to this exact question.  I'm about to do a big run of 100% poly *white* shirts, and figured any old plastisol would do.  So I printed a few test blanks and washed them, and while they look to have held up fine, when I give them a good pull the print begins to split with the fabric, and when I let it go it looks pretty good again.  It doesn't appear to be undercured, but looks more like there's just not enough of an ink deposit to hold together. 

The test were run through a 150S with both single and double strokes, and the doubles definitely hold up better, but with the ink also begins to get shiny which I'd like to avoid if possible.  Just wondering if an ink like PolyOne will give better coverage or if I'd see similar results.  Also wondering if a bit of stretch additive would help.  The ink I'm currently using is WM Plastics that I bought from a local distributor as I had to get it here quick for a sample run, but its not a brand I normally use.

The customer had given me some samples of previous designs they have done on these style shirts and it looks like when something is underbased its pretty solid but where its not underbased I'm seeing the same results as I got on my prints.  Is this normal on these type of shirts?  I don't want a bulletproof print, but I'd like to see it hold together like a print on cotton would.

Any help would be appreciated, I'm definitely a n00b when it comes to 100% poly.


Edit: In case it makes a difference, the shirts are Sport Tek ST350's and Denali 42327's.  The tests were on ST350's.

[Frog]

Are these blanks stretchy? (or at least stretch more than regular cotton knits)
My understanding of the "stretch test", is it gives an indication that the film of ink has cured and cross linked. In and of itself, the substrate shouldn't matter except for the question I asked. Could this particular fabric stretch more than regular cured plastisol can?

btw, I usually use my regular plastisol in light poly

[sqslabs]

Are these blanks stretchy? (or at least stretch more than regular cotton knits)
My understanding of the "stretch test", is it gives an indication that the film of ink has cured and cross linked. In and of itself, the substrate shouldn't matter except for the question I asked. Could this particular fabric stretch more than regular cured plastisol can?

btw, I usually use my regular plastisol in light poly

Yep, they definitely have a bit more stretch than cotton tees. But what's weird is on the double stroke prints there is no splitting at all using the same cure time.  I'm using a 150S with good tension and off contact, so the deposit should be pretty good, although it still feels thin on the single stroke prints.  I think I'm gonna run another sample today with a different ink brand to see if it makes any difference in the single stroke ink deposit & results. 

If it were a stretch issue, would a bit of stretch additive help to solve it?  Thanks much for the help.

[Frog]

Yes I guess that's what I was getting at. If the inks aren't stretching enough, a little stretch additive should help considerably


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[Underbase37]

A little stretch additive will go a long way. WM has a good product called G&S base. A good flood to prime the screen should help with the double stroke.

[sqslabs]

Awesome, thanks guys.  I just ran another sample with QCM XOLB ink and got the same results with single/double stroke prints.  I also found a cotton test print of the previous ink and it had no problems holding together.  Will pick up some stretch additive tomorrow and give it a spin.

[noortrd]

Use matsui stretch white.

[sqslabs]

Use matsui stretch white.

I love me some waterbased inks, but there's no way I'm using them for this run.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Rockers]

I would go with the WIlflex performance White or if you need to mix up some colors and have by chance the Wilflex pigments you can  use the Performance base too. Pretty thin on the shirt very opaque and stretches very well.