Best Foil?

[ol man]

I know this is a loaded question with 25 different answers...
However we have quite a bit of foil work headed our way , and historically we have had spotty success with this ..standard issues, foil not releasing in the "corners", sometimes spotty in the middle of a field of foil.
We have been using royal crown foil.. and plastisol based foil adhesive- hit flash hit thru a 125.

I would rather spend an extra dime for consistency and reliability..
thank you

[Colin]

Heat press specs?

Pressure/time/etc? - foil resist?

I have personally found water base foil adhesive is the best.

[TCT]

We won't use any foil adhesive aside from the Virus stuff. It is hands down the best out there. Yes, it's expensive.

We have had good success with Amagic foil, but we have not tried nearly as many types of foil as we have types of adhesive.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[ol man]

Heat press specs?

Pressure/time/etc? - foil resist?

I have personally found water base foil adhesive is the best.

320 @ 20 sec// med to hard pressure. has given us our best results..

[blue moon]

crown is generally considered to be the best with Amagic potentially better in some colors, but otherwise close second.
If you are having problems across the board with Crown, chances are it is something you are doing.

try pressing the foil right after the second hit of glue without running the shirts through the dryer. Then rub the foil down with a scrap shirt and peel of when completely cold. Faster is usually better. . .

pierre

[ol man]

crown is generally considered to be the best with Amagic potentially better in some colors, but otherwise close second.
If you are having problems across the board with Crown, chances are it is something you are doing.

try pressing the foil right after the second hit of glue without running the shirts through the dryer. Then rub the foil down with a scrap shirt and peel of when completely cold. Faster is usually better. . .

pierre

this will be one of our tests next week....possibly over curing the adhesive is one i had not considered.

and i appreciate the help

[Colin]

We have found that with a plastisol adhesive:  You will still have occasional "voids" where the foil doesn't want to stick.

Fine points/fine lines/small pieces can sometimes not want to stick as well.  I press at 350 for about 15 seconds, peel cold, peel very fast.

With a waterbase foil adhesive, it is rare that we ever see an issue with any of that.

I have also seen the same brand of foil peel off differently from roll to roll.....

Best of luck!

[chubsetc]

I would rather spend an extra dime for consistency and reliability..
thank you

I do not chime in on much here but I just ran my first foil job in a long time.  Previously with plastisol adhesive I had spotty results, literally.  This one was an almost solid circle of foil about 8" in diameter.  I decided to pony up for the virus foil adhesive because of the good reviews.  It worked awesome!  I ran them double stroke through a 135/48 with no flash and followed the manufacturer directions from there.  (Double stroke was just being safe, will test single next time.) The first foil transfer came out spotty with medium pressure so I in increased the pressure a bit and bam they were perfect.  It is also time saving as you are pressing for only 5-10 seconds with the heat press.  Well worth the ink cost as you can charge a premium for the foiling process.

[jsheridan]

you can always tint the glue with color to match the foil you're using. that way and spots that don't stick, won't be to noticeable.

[kingscreen]

Where can you get AMAGIC foil adhesive on the east coast?

[BP]

they are called K Laser now. you can only get it CA.

[chubsetc]

River city graphics in Texas is where I got mine.  I also have an extra unopened quart from them in New York I would get rid of for $50 shipped to you which is a bit less than from them.  PM if you are interested.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

they are called K Laser now. you can only get it CA.

They will sell direct from their California facility, but I can buy from Graphics Solutions Group and I'm CERTAIN other distributors that I simply haven't tried.

Having said that, I prefer Crown in almost all colors, for it's easier release on plastisol adhesives. If I'm printing waterbased and/or discharge colors with foiled elements by myself, I don't need another waterbased screen to dry out--even on my auto. So I'll pick Wilflex Clear HD Gel for the foil adhesive.

But if I'm printing silver foil no matter what the other art is, I'll use the Virus adhesive, period. It just works. But it will dry in, if you have any delays, and requires a more careful reclaiming process. In my experience, it will leave worse ghosting than plastisol adhesives.

Mark me down for Crown foils as my first choice. Amajic (K-Laser) has some foils that Crown doesn't, and the Virus adhesive seems to work better for K-Laser foils for some reason in my shop. Crown (except silver) peels easily with fewer voids with any adhesive I've tried.

I always PFP foil adhesive, regardless.

[ol man]

Virus has my vote hands down.
We ran a job yesterday. silver foil which always seems to be riddled with the most issues.  Foil wanted to stick even before heat was applied, went off without a hitch.
Virus is super expensive - but it worked like a dream.