Aluminum pallets with a soft top rubber

[mimosatexas]

we have not had good luck scrubbing the lint off here...  it never leaves the platen tape clean enough?

Maybe we're doing something wrong... but the procedure i've tried in the past:

spray with water from a spray bottle.
scrub with red scrubby pad.
- just makes a sticky mess.

I am using TexTac also and do literally exactly what you're doing, no sticky mess at all, and all that comes off is the lint, which kind of collects itself into long wet linty rolls that arent even the least bit sticky and can be pulled off the pad easily.  I spray a good amount of water on before scrubbing, usually spraying all the pallets then scrubbing all the pallets, so they do soak for a few seconds i guess.  I also dilute my textac before applying, usually 1 to 1 with water, which could be the main difference.  I found straight textac was too tacky and needed lint buildup just to prevent image distortion when removing the shirts.  Diluted it works perfectly and refreshes great after spray/scrub/flash. After scrubbing, they are pretty much good as new with basically all of the glue still on the platen, no lint at all or very little and it isn't balls or strings that would affect a print as those easily come off onto the pad.  I usually can spray/scrub a good ten times at least before having to put on more glue, and after scrubbing you just flash and the glue is nice and tacky again.

[jvanick]

I'll try this during the afternoon print runs and see how diluting and letting them soak works..

Not having to reglue would be awesome.

[mimosatexas]

I seriously can't imagine having to reglue or change tape regularly.  It would suck complete ass...

That's one of the main benefits of the waterbased adhesive, once wetted it releases all the lint and a quick flash will make it good as new tackiness-wise.

[ScreenPrinter123]

Depending on the performance material we will also retape because every little lint bump or string can show through in the print.  Fortunately we do not have many customers using performance material and being in New Orleans we have a very short window in which we print fleece.  I am on my way to change out the pallet tape and re-level the press as soon as I hit Post!

[jvanick]

I just tried letting them soak, and no luck... maybe it wasn't a sticky mess, but the platens are far from smooth... I'll try diluting the textac, as maybe that has something to do with it.

on the auto, we can change all the platen tape in less than 10 minutes, so it's really not a huge productivity waste, but it would be great to figure out what's going on.

-J

[mimosatexas]

Yea that's weird.  I would start fresh with new tape, dilute the glue 1 to 1, apply, flash, and go.  When you would normally change it, try cleaning instead.  It should clean up very nicely.  I apply with a squirt bottle like you would use for condiments, and spread with paper towel which has the benefit of cleaning up any excess.  I end up with a very thin and even coating, no thick spots.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I may be covering ground that's aleady been covered, but I'm too busy to look through the thread just now.

Applying new WB Tac over fuzz doesn't work for me. If i'm going to apply more tac, I defuzz first. Not so with spray.

[mimosatexas]

My pallets are on around the 7th or 8th cleaning I think right now with the same glue and tape, and I usually only clean the lint off each pallet after running a few hundred shirts.  Each pallet will see a good 50-150 shirts depending on the brand before the tac is too low due to lint buldup to work well enough.  Sometimes it can be a lot more though if I am doing one color stuff or using a brand/style that isn't too fuzzy.  I know I've gotten at least 300 on a single pallet a few times.  Sometimes it is WAY less like certain comfort colors and some random tanks and blends.  Not sure how this compares to you auto guys, but it seems good enough for me.

I have only actually purchased one gallon of textac like 4 or 5 years ago and still havent used it up, though I am finally getting close.  With diluting and refreshing the same glue so many times between reapplying, it just lasts forever.

I attached a photo of a "dirty" pallet and one post spray/scrub/flash.  The photos probaby don't really do it justice showing the lint vs no lint, but it's the best I can do with my cellphone.  Also have a photo of the scrub brush showing just how much came off.  These were cleaned just prior to my last two runs, a 60 shirt 6 color front 1 color back run using black gildan 5000's and a 150 shirt front and back run 3 colors per side using black A980's just as an FYI.

[mimosatexas]

scrub brush with lint from the single cleaned pallet.  Like crooked said, I always defuzz before ever applying more glue.  Glue was probably reapplied last week sometime, maybe two weeks ago.  I couldn't even tell you how long ago I changed the tape...

the lint is wet from the water, but not at all sticky.

[3Deep]

Jvanick if you really want your pallets nice and clean and not remove the platen tape, lightly spray the platen with screen opener or press wash, then take an old squeegee or flood bar and it all comes off very easy, you might have to re-glue but your pallet is clean. So far on our press it don't seem to hurt the platen tape at all, most times I do what every one else does with the scrub pad and water.

darryl

[jvanick]

Just realized I never posted back on this thread...

The 'trick' seems to be the dilution of the Textac with water (I'm using 50%-ish)...  not only does it go along way now, doesn't clog the deli bottle I'm using, but with a few quick sprays of water, all the lint comes off and it's tacky again without re-applying tack.

I'm still a touch worried about when they get badly built up if they'll be smooth enough for performance fabric, but for typical t-shirt printing, it's perfect.

[mimosatexas]

Glad you got it working. I was told early on to dilute it and after testing it seemed obvious. It will last you a long time. I'm not joking about having only bought one gallon in four years and it still isn't empty. I actually use to dilute it like 75% water 25% tax but that won't be sticky enough for some brands like the dreaded comfort colors.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Just realized I never posted back on this thread...

Thanks for the follow up. I often forget to post final thoughts.

I'm glad you've got it too! Like Mimosa, early on, somebody saved me a lot of frustration. And, I've still not QUITE used a full gallon yet either.

I'm still a touch worried about when they get badly built up if they'll be smooth enough for Performance Fabric, but for typical t-shirt printing, it's perfect.

If you use low tack paper, changing to freshen up the surface isn't so painful. I usually only change just before printing (HUCK! PHOOEY!!) Performance Blends  (grrrr......) or after a largish hoodie job, requiring webspray tac. As much as I hate printing performance fabric, fresh paper with 50/50 WB liquid adhesive is MUCH better than spray tac.

[jvanick]

As much as I hate printing performance fabric, fresh paper with 50/50 WB liquid adhesive is MUCH better than spray tac.

you'd hate working here then... we are doing a minimum of 5 performance jobs a day right now...

Today we'll switch over to fresh paper before the afternoon's jobs, then tomorrow morning start on performance... then back to t-shirts in the afternoon.

and yes, low tack paper is the way to go for making it easy to peel.

[TCT]

I'm with Jason on this, we put new pallet tape on probably weekly. We also use a stiff bristle brush to clean/wipe the pallets so that may be part of it.

One thing we did on our press with rubber top pallets, applied a layer of pallet tape to fresh rubber top(it can't have ANY lint/bumps) drew our center lines and whatever other ones that were needed. Then applied another layer of pallet tape on top of that. The bottom layer we NEVER take off(it's probably been more than 5 years at this point) only the top layer gets replaced. The pallet tape comes off another layer of pallet tape waaaaaaaaay easier than it comes off the rubber!