Sericol

[LuxInks]

Are you guys mixing off of that multipage mixing chart that they provide? That thing is gnarly! Also, I'm seeing 12 colors to use for mixing as well as 5 fluoros and an extender base. Are all of these needed?
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Paul

[chubsetc]

I have not used the system a ton but in my limited use I have needed to use the fluoros in mixing pantones off their mega sheet.

[IntegrityShirts]

Are you guys buying all of these mixing colors in gallons in a kit, or individually?  Hard to know if I'm going to like them enough to fork out the money for gallons!

[LuxInks]

Are you guys buying all of these mixing colors in gallons in a kit, or individually?  Hard to know if I'm going to like them enough to fork out the money for gallons!

^^This is exactly what I am thinking^^

I think Tony P, uses this brand as well as Gerry @ Clovis Screen. Maybe they can enlighten us on it a bit.

Thanks for your input Chub, I appreciate it.
Paul

[Prosperi-Tees]

I did one Pantone mix off there chart, I think it was an orange shade and I was thoroughly disappointed, I had to eyeball it quite a bit. The only place that sells qt sizes is Atlas screen. It would be a good way to go and figure out which colors you will need to purchase gallons as far as usage cause I couldn't imagine for my shop having a whole set of gallons.

[patfinn]

i use sericol mixing system everyday. works great for most colors, but some need to be eyeballed after getting close. If I didnt only print waterbase, it would be very hard for me to invest in the whole system which you need to be able to use their ink system effectively. that is why I tell people that want to get into discharge that cci and matsui's system is great since its a pc base system.

[LuxInks]

i use sericol mixing system everyday. works great for most colors, but some need to be eyeballed after getting close. If I didnt only print waterbase, it would be very hard for me to invest in the whole system which you need to be able to use their ink system effectively. that is why I tell people that want to get into discharge that cci and matsui's system is great since its a pc base system.

Thanks Pat.
We've been using the Matsui for years, and have been fairly happy with it. We are looking towards the Sericol as we like the "right out of the bucket" use as opposed to the additives that we must add to Matsui. Reviews of the Sericol have been great from what I've read about. Sericol has a distribution center within about 20 miles of us, so if it works out, we're stoked cause we can pick up.

Thanks for the info Gerry, I think that we will pick up the quarts from Atlas to give it a shot. I'm sure like with any ink mixing system, there is some learning curve involved. I'm just surprised that they don't have ink mixing software. Looks like I'm going to print out all 85 pages of their ink mixing chart and put it into a binder haha!

Thanks again guys.
Paul

[ZooCity]

I've been darn impressed with the Sericol formulas so far.  Keep in mind they are meant to be "starter" numbers to get you close, quick and then color knowledge of your ink set needs to kick in. 

Gallons aren't a big deal for us, it's RFU, not a concentrated ink, so you'll get through them quick enough and they are vaporlock buckets. 

Being RFU also makes eyeballing safe and fast. 

We should feel lucky Sericol even offers single gallons I guess.  They were previously geared to very high volume orders for ink and make many other ink types that are only available in drums/containers.  Nowadays they are looking to work with smaller shops. 

[LuxInks]

Awesome to hear Zoo! I figured with them being RFU's, that a gallon wasn't a ton. I was just hoping to not go big without doing some more testing. BUT, I looked at Atlas' pricing on quarts. they are around $26 for the fluoro's, and gallons from Sericol are in the 50's.
I'm going to make the leap. I'll get it all dialed in and post up some input when I feel confident that we have it going good.
Thanks again.

[ZooCity]

Lux, when you ask Sericol for samples to test you get gallons sent to your shop.  We trialed a white, red and... I can't remember.  Like it and ordered another 2 gallons for a larger job to give it a real test.  I was extremely happy with it.  Dirt simple to use, note the almost complete lack of additives in the system.  I went with the system b/c it's very seasoned, it's simple and omits (most of) the need for tomes of secret recipes and black voodoo magic, and it prints well of course.

Only three things I would like to see are:  a better HO white (CCI's stomps on the texcharge white), a set of pigment boosters for that 1 mix in 10 that needs it and a fixer additive to boost throughput in the dryer and/or increase colorfastness over many washings. 

[LuxInks]

All good points Zoo. I'm really looking at the ease of it all as well without the voodoo!
I put a sample request into them today.
Thanks again for the input.
Have a good weekend.