Heavier garments like Beefy tee's do require more saturation. More saturation requires more
evaporation before the discharge process starts. Add to the fact that you've covered your water
layer with a non-breathing plastic layer and you've got your answer on that one. Longer
dwell time should help.
We print %100 cotton sweatshirts just like we would regular shirts.
If something needs to specifically be done with discharge (IE the client asks for it)
we occasionally mark it up, depending. Some jobs are just easier run with discharge,
so we do it and don't upcharge. Contract is always upcharged.
WB colors blend, very well. This is part of their attractiveness. It also means that butt reg
had better be butt reg, etc.
Light flood, you want a thick layer of ink to keep the screen from drying in. That said we'll start
to move the floods down as we get near the end of a run to be sure that we're getting full floods
with diminishing amounts of ink. Rarely see any difference unless you're really squishing it through.
On custom mix colors we make sure there's enough from the initial mix for the entire run. For white and
such we'll mix several batches throughout the day. Estimating wb ink usage is a little more difficult
due to the level of saturation, which will change the amount of ink used quite a bit, as opposed to plastisol.
Experience will kick in at some point and you'll get closer.
Never seen anything other than emulsion damaged by WB inks. Maybe pride, but that's it.
We avoid reg marks whenever possible (MHM FPU allows this) and when not possible we place them high
enough above and far enough below to not have to have ink travelling over them. (IE setup job then shorten
stroke/flood length) You really don't want any tape on the back of the screen at all. We will also occasionally
tape on the ink well side of the screen, after setup, before inking. There's an art to it though to make sure the
tape isn't lifted by the squeegee/flood though.
We use Murakami Aquasol HV and a post exposure and wipe on hardener on long runs. No problems
on 10K plus runs. I'd go Diazo if I could stand the exposure times though.
WB screens are reclaimed immediately after use. Or at the very least get all of the ink out. Do NOT let sit.
And no ink in the dip tank of any variety.