Underbase question

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

When applying an underbase is only one squeege pull required? Over the weekend I did some shirts which required an underbase (i used a 156 mesh)....I did one pull...flashed...then pulled again and flash....I didnt think one pull laid enough of an underbase down..It was pulled "clean" I just didn't feel it was white enough so I did a second pass...this in turn made the print thick once completed.

Should I only be doing one pull in a perfect scenario?..am I over killing it by 2 pulls? I feel I should be getting my underbased one with one pull.

[mk162]

you certainly can do it in 1 pull.  it depends on the mesh, ink, squeegee, off contact and the phase of the moon.  But if it looks good with 1, roll with it.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

you certainly can do it in 1 pull.  it depends on the mesh, ink, squeegee, off contact and the phase of the moon.  But if it looks good with 1, roll with it.

but dont i want a SOLID white underbase.......my first pull it didnt seem like a dense white underbase....am I supposed to be going for SOLID white with no hint of shirt color coming through?

[Frog]

Simple answer, no. solid isn't needed. In fact, sophisticated underbases use halftones and vary percentage tints depending on what color overlay is being used where.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

Simple answer, no. solid isn't needed. In fact, sophisticated underbases use halftones and vary percentage tints depending on what color overlay is being used where.

aahhh...so I overkilled it..I was going for total solid white becuase I thought I needed it to be that way....I should have did a print with one underbase pull and see how it came out...I'll keep this mind for the next job I get.

Thanks for the education.

[inkman996]

Worse case scenario you hit it twice wet on wet, never stroke flash stroke flash. Usually we print it one stroke only and that is more than good enough. Your underbase is going to decide how smooth your final print will be, if it is not a smooth clean underbase all the top colors or even a second white will be rough if the first white was flashed. Once a ink coat is flashed its roughness is permanent anything on top will also be rough.

What I have to ask tho is why didn't you experiment when you had it all set up? Use some scratch shirts and try different techniques and choose the best option. Also do not be fooled by the white base after the first print, sometimes the white needs to be printed a few times to get a really smooth and creamy print.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

Worse case scenario you hit it twice wet on wet, never stroke flash stroke flash. Usually we print it one stroke only and that is more than good enough. Your underbase is going to decide how smooth your final print will be, if it is not a smooth clean underbase all the top colors or even a second white will be rough if the first white was flashed. Once a ink coat is flashed its roughness is permanent anything on top will also be rough.

What I have to ask tho is why didn't you experiment when you had it all set up? Use some scratch shirts and try different techniques and choose the best option. Also do not be fooled by the white base after the first print, sometimes the white needs to be printed a few times to get a really smooth and creamy print.

just my inexperience..I thought I had it.....I did print flash print flash underbase...and I did get them smooth, clean strokes even though i did 2. I did think you had to flash the underbases if you did 2.....I didnt know if you would do 2 underbases you dont flash the first one....I'll keep that in mind also.

[blue moon]

Worse case scenario you hit it twice wet on wet, never stroke flash stroke flash. Usually we print it one stroke only and that is more than good enough. Your underbase is going to decide how smooth your final print will be, if it is not a smooth clean underbase all the top colors or even a second white will be rough if the first white was flashed. Once a ink coat is flashed its roughness is permanent anything on top will also be rough.

What I have to ask tho is why didn't you experiment when you had it all set up? Use some scratch shirts and try different techniques and choose the best option. Also do not be fooled by the white base after the first print, sometimes the white needs to be printed a few times to get a really smooth and creamy print.

I'll second this. If you need to stroke twice to get a good smooth underbase, go for it. Get the jobs out the door, but keep an eye on making it work with one stroke. Keep working on it and it will come. I should say there are jobs where one swipe is not an option and no matter what you do, it will need two strokes.

pierre

[ebscreen]

Some sage advice there Pierre my man.

[inkman996]

FYI the only time I ever find I need to hit the white twice for an underbase is for fleece and sometimes ribbed or linty type material, other than that its just one swipe with a good decent underbase white ink.

[ZooCity]

Pick a mesh for the ub that will clear easy and still hold the art. I can't say enough about the 150s for underbasing.

Off contract needs to be optimal for the ink, image and the substrate. If the screen lays in the ink too long before snapping off you get problems.

Also, get the white ink nice and warm and keep it moving, as mentioned.

Last one I'll toss out is use a sharp blade.  Having a good edge nets good shear and if all the rest is in place I find that lack of clean shear is what makes me double stroke a ub.

[Frog]

I am finding that I need to modify a lot of the whites I try for general printing, but for underbases, maybe even more so. Since we are not going for super opacity, a lower viscosity white, or one modified to be so, eases the task.

[blue moon]

the opacity of the underbase is also directly related to the opacity of the top ink you are using.

For a simulated process system which we use, the underbase has to be brighter than most other systems as the ink is very translucent and it is dull when the underbase is gray.

If you are using very opaque inks (like maxopaque), you can get away with white underbase that is so thin it looks gray. THe maxo inks are almost opaque enough to work without underbase on their own. So consider the ink system you are using!

pierre