Rutland Silky White

[XG Print]

While we liked it for the most part, we found it to have less coverage and brightness than the Legacy we have been using. 
I can fully see it's place, especially as an UB, but we just don't want to end up stocking 3-4 different Whites.
We are now testing out Total Ink Solution's White.   We really like Legacy, so it's going to be tough to get us to switch.

Perfect Timing!!

[Denis Kolar]

While we liked it for the most part, we found it to have less coverage and brightness than the Legacy we have been using. 
I can fully see it's place, especially as an UB, but we just don't want to end up stocking 3-4 different Whites.
We are now testing out Total Ink Solution's White.   We really like Legacy, so it's going to be tough to get us to switch.

Have in mind that I am a manual printer.
Who makes Legacy?

[jvanick]

While we liked it for the most part, we found it to have less coverage and brightness than the Legacy we have been using. 
I can fully see it's place, especially as an UB, but we just don't want to end up stocking 3-4 different Whites.
We are now testing out Total Ink Solution's White.   We really like Legacy, so it's going to be tough to get us to switch.

Have in mind that I am a manual printer.
Who makes Legacy?

International Coatings makes Legacy white.. I believe it's 7014...

we got a sample of it a year or 2 ago, and I liked it decently on the manual... on the auto it climbed like crazy.

[shaneds]

We've been using the Silky White LB for all of our cotton work and using Legacy for 50/50. Probably have went through 120 gallons of Silky so far. Fast flash timing, and really soft hand when printed, we love it for cotton. It doesn't hold up well against certain blends however - G800 50/50 no problem - but 60/40 blends from Next Level we have seen bleed. We use Legacy for all blended garments like. It has more of a hand but is very opaque. We had used Street Fighter & Market White for cotton before Silky.

[Denis Kolar]

We've been using the Silky White LB for all of our cotton work and using Legacy for 50/50. Probably have went through 120 gallons of Silky so far. Fast flash timing, and really soft hand when printed, we love it for cotton. It doesn't hold up well against certain blends however - G800 50/50 no problem - but 60/40 blends from Next Level we have seen bleed. We use Legacy for all blended garments like. It has more of a hand but is very opaque. We had used Street Fighter & Market White for cotton before Silky.

  I primarily need this for Next Level CVC shirts (60/40)

[Colin]

Silky Cotton:

Production batches from this January Printed a few weeks before long beach show:  MUCH lower viscosity than batches I received last year.  Lower opacity and longer flash times.  We had a repeat job that we COULD NOT match the opacity on using the same ink - different production batches - ink mesh was the same, eom the same, etc....  I was told the ink is IN SPEC.  Tried a different batch number - same results.  We will no longer order and use Silky Cotton.

Side comment:  If the Silky Cotton has sat for 3-4 months, it does body up nicely and is a joy to work with.... Think of it in the same vein as aging whisky and other fine beverages.

Silky Low Bleed:

Production batch from January: Again printed a few weeks before long beach show.  We first printed it through a 225S mesh for a sim process underbase on Delta Pro Weight garments.  LONG FLASH TIMES, but we made it work.  Used a smoothing screen and ran 5 colors on top wet on wet.  We noticed at the end of the run that the dots of white at about 45% and below would randomly pull off of the shirt and clog the screen above it... or randomly stick to the back of the screens.  This design was fairly distressed so we didn't really notice as we were running, but comparing the first shirt to the last, we could see the results.  Again a distressed design, so we were ok with the final print.

We had a different, smoother shirt for another job.  Exact same results.  I was looking for it, switched out to another ink - and had ZERO problems after that.  The Silky low bleed has adhesion issues.

The low bleed is VERY creamy and if you have a spot color design, it will hold up well, but watch for fine lines/detail coming off.

We are now only using that 5 gallon for vintage whites.....

Again, Rutland said the ink was in spec.

Currently searching for a go to cotton white.  Sticking with the Rutland SF Low Bleed.

[Denis Kolar]

OK, look somewhere else I guess

[mimosatexas]

I have been going through another round of testing out whites and still am not happy with any single ink.  There are some I LOVE that cost a ton, but I have been going through so much ink lately that it is just starting to add up.  I'm really wanting to find an ink that:

-will print well on 50/50 without bleed issues
-has fantastic mat down (I do lots of ringspun stuff)
-holds edge definition
-low puff for smoother finish
-and matte/semi-gloss. 

I can work around opacity with mesh/eom so I don't care as much about that anymore.  I print manually so the whole squeegee climbing stuff isn't as big a deal to me either.

I tested Legacy white and was unhappy with it, though now I am failing to remember which attribute annoyed me from the list above...I have tried a few of the major brands "cheap" cotton whites and they all suck in one way or another (usually excessive puff, really poor mat down, or tend to have crap edge definition).  My favorite all around white is still the triangle poly excel, though it is a bit glossy, it just looks so freaking smooth and clean when printed and never bleeds on the 50/50s etc.  It also costs twice as much as most of the "cheap" whites.

Anyone have a favorite that they print on the ringspuns that fits the bill and runs closer to 60 a gallon?

[Frog]

Not an answer, but is it really that inconvenient to have two different inks for cotton and 50/50?
Besides possible additional cost, why put up with the additional characteristics required for most low bleeds?

Interestingly, I just had this conversation with a Nazdar rep. When I was starting out, it was all about minimal cost and minimal ink inventory.
Besides, a gallon of ink, even white lasted me a long time.
When I started actually using enough ink to notice, the sense of having purpose-built inks made more sense.

[mimosatexas]

I already stock a full poly white which I use on lots of blends as well, and a "stupid shirt" white which I use on horrible bleeders or weird stretchy stuff, both of which cost a lot more. I also have a nylon white, a discharge white, an hsa white, a silicone white, etc.

I really like having to only have one ink for cotton and non-troublesome 50/50 in the form of the poly excel, I just would love for it to be cheaper of course and having it be more matte would also be awesome. 

I find that almost any white works fine on something like a black g2000, but toss many of them on a ringspun shirt and the final print looks rough and/or blurry comparatively. Some of them will also turn pink on even a 100% cotton red as well.

I don't mind paying a premium to have one ink for all of those "standard" situations, and will still have 3 or 4 other whites on hand for different stuff. Would just love to pay less of a premium

[screenprintguy]

We just did an order of Royal blue 100% cottons, I had a gallon of Silky white to try out, no where near as opaque as Legacy white from IC. It was nice and Creamy, but no comparison at all. The Silky job on Royal Gildans we ran two pfp 130 Smesh screens, 20 psi, double strokes on both. The job we ran next on black G2000's screens were 150 Smesh, single strokes 25psi pfp and had 100% white opacity with Legacy, it's just really good stuff, at least the stock we get through Spot Color supply is.

[Colin]

I thought the Legacy was respectable!  It flashed a touch longer than I wanted and didn't have "quite" the edge definition I wanted.  But I liked it.  Great opacity!

Unfortunately I would have to order 3 day shipping from Nazdar and RC Screen is almost next door to me.

[ZooCity]

I have been going through another round of testing out whites and still am not happy with any single ink.  There are some I LOVE that cost a ton, but I have been going through so much ink lately that it is just starting to add up.  I'm really wanting to find an ink that:

-will print well on 50/50 without bleed issues
-has fantastic mat down (I do lots of ringspun stuff)
-holds edge definition
-low puff for smoother finish
-and matte/semi-gloss. 

I can work around opacity with mesh/eom so I don't care as much about that anymore.  I print manually so the whole squeegee climbing stuff isn't as big a deal to me either.

I tested Legacy white and was unhappy with it, though now I am failing to remember which attribute annoyed me from the list above...I have tried a few of the major brands "cheap" cotton whites and they all suck in one way or another (usually excessive puff, really poor mat down, or tend to have crap edge definition).  My favorite all around white is still the triangle poly excel, though it is a bit glossy, it just looks so freaking smooth and clean when printed and never bleeds on the 50/50s etc.  It also costs twice as much as most of the "cheap" whites.

Anyone have a favorite that they print on the ringspuns that fits the bill and runs closer to 60 a gallon?

That would be Quick White from Wilflex.  The only issue I've ever bumped into with it is a weird issue with certain fabric/print combos where the blowing agent creates little pock marks/air bubbles on the surface of the base when quartz flashed, frustrating the printing of the top colors.  We keep a gallon of IC Legacy on hand, which I find comparable to Quick, for those jobs with the underbase issue.  Legacy took a couple orders to get a "correct" batch however.

There are maybe better and certainly cheaper white inks but Quick has been consistent, bucket to bucket for years.  That's worth it's weight in gold to me. 

We use Quick's sister ink, Sprint White for cottons.

Have some NexGen cotton white but we weren't able to hit the opacity needed with it at first blush, need to test it further as the nexgen inks perform best with certain print parameters. 

[mimosatexas]

I've never actually tested the quick white. I think I remember someone saying a while back that it sucked to print manually for some reason.  I'll give it a go though.

[ScreenFoo]

I thought the Legacy was respectable!  It flashed a touch longer than I wanted and didn't have "quite" the edge definition I wanted.  But I liked it.  Great opacity!

Unfortunately I would have to order 3 day shipping from Nazdar and RC Screen is almost next door to me.

I was going to mention Legacy is a decent ink for the money.  Glad someone smart agrees with me. 

After flash tack is nearly nonexistent, and although it climbs when it's cold, it seems to slowly drop and flood properly as it warms up.