Dingy White , maiden voyage into DC

[Du Manchu]

Did our first DC White job ever today.  Just one color...white.  Not pleased with the vibrancy of the white, as it almost looks like a very light tan.    Any ideas what went wrong?  There are a multitude of possible problems as noted below:

  *80% CCI D-Base (just cracked the seal on a bucket I bought a year ago)
  *20% CCI D-White (same bucket age)
  *5% activator (same bucket age, sort of crusty and needed breaking up)
  *Cured at 350 for 2:30 in 10 feet of electric heat

Also, the hand-feel is more crusty than soft.  Does that soften up post-wash?

Any pointers out there?

Thanks!

[DannyGruninger]

You should be running 80% white(or more) instead of 20% white.

[brandon]

What is the blank you are printing on? Lots of brands even though 100% cotton are not great. And remember blue pigment in your color theory.

[ZooCity]

Run your RFU white as is, with any modifiers you prefer, at 6% activator.

Should be a big improvement on the brightness and tone of the white.  Your formula is more like what we would run for a DC UB, not an opaque, standalone DC white.  That formula you initially ran would be good for overprinting with other colors of plasti, wb or hsa however.

Remember, you are doing two things:  discharging the fabrics dye, replacing it with the pigment you want.   As brandon says, if your fabric isn't discharging to griege color or the griege fabric is dingy as it is, you are already fighting a battle for color vibrancy.  Higher pigment loading helps cover up the inconsistencies or any stubborn dyes that don't want to fully discharge. 

White DC prints, and any high pig loaded and/or high activated DC prints are crusty before first washing.  They basically leave behind a sulfur on the print surface.  Not harmful (I think one in a very few people are known to have a little contact dermatitis from it if worn unwashed?) but need a wash to soften up. 

[kingscreen]

I'm with Danny.   The garment will make a difference too.
Try 80% DWhite, 20%DBase with 6% Activator.

[jsheridan]

a good starting point for a cup of ink is..

250 ish grams of base.. adjust up or down for level of thinness. thick block print, keep it thick. tonal work, more base.

add white up to 1000 grams

stir well

add 60 grams of activator (6%)

stir well

add 30 grams of fixer

stir well

print

[CBCB]

a good starting point for a cup of ink is..

250 ish grams of base.. adjust up or down for level of thinness. thick block print, keep it thick. tonal work, more base.

add white up to 1000 grams

stir well

add 60 grams of activator (6%)

stir well

add 30 grams of fixer

stir well

print

What fixer would you recommend? Can one brands fixer be used in another brands WB ink?


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[mimosatexas]

For cci d-white I just dissolve 6% activator in an equal amount of water and add it to the white. No added clear d-base, no fixers or softeners. The age of your ink does matter too, but the main issue is your mix as others have mentioned.

If you were running Matsui white discharge adding a little clear discharge base and some of the additives helps make the ink more print friendly, but the cci is great right out of the bucket. Dissolving the activator in water just helps reduce clumping and even out the mix, but isn't absolutely necessary.

[jsheridan]

What fixer would you recommend? Can one brands fixer be used in another brands WB ink?


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i've had good results with matsui Fixer N. 
most additives work with other systems but be sure to test for best results.

[TCT]

I'll give another vote for fixer n. If we were to print discharge white with CCI D-white, we would just activate straight D-white, no d-base.

Crustyness(even a word?)- one thing to look at would be what mesh count are you using?

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[CBCB]

I'll give another vote for fixer n. If we were to print discharge white with CCI D-white, we would just activate straight D-white, no d-base.

Crustyness(even a word?)- one thing to look at would be what mesh count are you using?

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Are you using fixer as a standard, or just for tricky/bright colours?

Crustiness (definitely a word!) is something we've got here too. I think we tried a 150S with the CCI D-White. Might have been a 135LX though.

Too low?


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[lancasterprinthouse]

For cci d-white I just dissolve 6% activator in an equal amount of water and add it to the white. No added clear d-base, no fixers or softeners. The age of your ink does matter too, but the main issue is your mix as others have mentioned.

If you were running Matsui white discharge adding a little clear discharge base and some of the additives helps make the ink more print friendly, but the cci is great right out of the bucket. Dissolving the activator in water just helps reduce clumping and even out the mix, but isn't absolutely necessary.

Does the activator in water have a shelf life? I add water to my mixes as well and I?m thinking maybe I can kill 2 birds with one stone by have a bottle of solution ready to go that I can activate from?




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[ericheartsu]

We switched to matsui super 75, and have gotten brighter whites.

Also, electric heat might be part of the problem too.

[Stinkhorn Press]

For cci d-white I just dissolve 6% activator in an equal amount of water and add it to the white. No added clear d-base, no fixers or softeners. The age of your ink does matter too, but the main issue is your mix as others have mentioned.

If you were running Matsui white discharge adding a little clear discharge base and some of the additives helps make the ink more print friendly, but the cci is great right out of the bucket. Dissolving the activator in water just helps reduce clumping and even out the mix, but isn't absolutely necessary.

Does the activator in water have a shelf life? I add water to my mixes as well and I?m thinking maybe I can kill 2 birds with one stone by have a bottle of solution ready to go that I can activate from?




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yes. it evaporates and turns into a scum crust. just mix beforehand with water if you go that route (we never found it helped anything and don't do it anymore)