How I feel trying to use dischage and understand it

[shellyky]

[GraphicDisorder]

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Funny stuff! 

I'm just shy of 2 years in to WB and Discharge, and I can tell you that every step is more time consuming and expensive than plastisol. And if you are a "manual" printer, there is some extra "stuff" you have to learn, but hang in there. You've come to the right place.

It can seem overwhelming and some shirts just don't work right, no matter what you do. You'll have to test. I try to get the sales staff to tell the custy that the colors are more subtle (although not much and with some colors not at all) and there is more variation with the shirts. And if ordering various colored shirts all with the same design, they will have to accept even more deviation.

When ordering shirts I try to get the girls to order 100% cotton tees with these 3 items stressed to the vendor: 1) Shirts in all sizes from the same country of origin, 2) reactive dyes, and 3) no overdyed items. That is mostly a pipe dream cause the staff doesn't always do it, and the vendors don't usually know or even pay attention to the request. But a big part of why I want to do that, is to educate the vendors. After a while you can tell what will discharge well and what won't. You'll develop some colors of ink that you like, and learn what percent of activator will give you the results you want.  But it's harder.....

You could PM me and I *might* be able to talk you down from the ledge on an item or two. But mostly, just just have to poke around with google....like with most stuff you want to learn.

[Binkspot]

If a dim wit like me can figure it out I'm sure you guys can. I will admit we did tons of reserch and testing and still a little uneasy with it but feeling better each time. We found the info here and from the mfg to be invaluable. Still and always will have lots to learn. Now find myself when printing plastisol thinking how much easeier and better the job would have been using the wb and discharge instead and why we didn't try this sooner.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

<snip>Now find myself when printing plastisol thinking how much easeier and better the job would have been using the wb and discharge instead and why we didn't try this sooner.<snip>

Me too! I wish it worked on everything, but alas.... 

I just ran 100 one color bright green discharge on 100 black Gildans (NEARLY FLUORESCENT level of brightness) with 1 screen on Thurdsay. I'm always thinking how much easier that is given the fact you don't have to underbase it. One screen, slam bam boom, box 'em up. No flash, no registration, better feel, nearly equal washability.  MIGHT have been Royal Blue, Kelly Green, Kansas State Football Purple (yippee!!), or 50/50 blends---and it's probably a no-go. But we sell a lot of black Gildans, and those nearly always are gonna work.


@ShellyKY don't give up.  It's worth the trouble to learn it.  And custys will request it, once they "know", setting you apart from most of your local competition. PARTICULARLY on a big print with lots of coverage, it is clearly more comfortable to wear....just like your most favorite-ist saturday ugly-shoes. But you WILL have to tinker, no doubt about it.  It took me a months to get a really great red.

[GraphicDisorder]

We are so lazy haven't even tried it past the first time yet still. 

[Doug S]

I've been throwing a discharge print in from time to time.  The white discharge on black gildans have really turned out great.  I've tried the pigments and haven't been truly satisfied yet, but I think that's more user error than anything else.  My problem is figuring out the temp and dwell time in the dryer.  I have a mini sprint with an 8 ft chamber and have been running them through at 1 minute and 45 seconds at 355 degrees.  I don't know if I should lower the temp and dwell longer or vice versa, I guess trial and error will get it right.

[sweetts]

Just tried discharge today WOW so easy I lOVE IT!!! see video from today

Discharge screen print

[tonypep]

I've tried to do my  best to encapsulate what all goes into this (it really is not difficult at all) but it will have to wait till April/May issue of PW or do a search here

[sweetts]

I've tried to do my  best to encapsulate what all goes into this (it really is not difficult at all) but it will have to wait till April/May issue of PW or do a search here

can't wait!!

[Sbrem]

Brandt, that is one unhappy kitty. Wicked funny. Shelly, you'll be fine, sounds like you're thinking too much. Try it without too many expectations, and work on it from there. Our first try, way back, was a simple white, then a 3 color, then DC underbase with plastisols on top. Not that hard, really. If it doesn't work, that's when you need to get into the science more, but try simple first...

Steve

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I've been throwing a discharge print in from time to time.  The white discharge on black gildans have really turned out great.  I've tried the pigments and haven't been truly satisfied yet, but I think that's more user error than anything else.  My problem is figuring out the temp and dwell time in the dryer.  I have a mini sprint with an 8 ft chamber and have been running them through at 1 minute and 45 seconds at 355 degrees.  I don't know if I should lower the temp and dwell longer or vice versa, I guess trial and error will get it right.

Wash test for color fastness. That sounds like a pretty short dwell time to me. 

I've been testing a waterbased foil adhesive from Jantex with discharge or waterbased background colors.  I messed up one print for a custy last week and washed it, knowing it was undercured.  Long story short, the black WB Matsui 301 Base background image was NOT fully cured and it washed out UN-BELIEVABLY! for one wash/dry cycle.

Dried does NOT equal cured, and you can't tell the difference by feel.

CORRECTION, that was CCI Premium D-Base with Matsui PC Black Pigment.

[brandon]

Hang in there and trust me and everyone else on here that once you get it down the amount of time you save on most jobs is amazing. And in our area it puts us ahead of a lot of much bigger shops even as they don't offer it. Don't give up! Just dedicate a solid weekend and a box of shirts to the screen printing gods for learning and it will pay off.

[Doug S]

I've been throwing a discharge print in from time to time.  The white discharge on black gildans have really turned out great.  I've tried the pigments and haven't been truly satisfied yet, but I think that's more user error than anything else.  My problem is figuring out the temp and dwell time in the dryer.  I have a mini sprint with an 8 ft chamber and have been running them through at 1 minute and 45 seconds at 355 degrees.  I don't know if I should lower the temp and dwell longer or vice versa, I guess trial and error will get it right.

Wash test for color fastness. That sounds like a pretty short dwell time to me. 

I've been testing a waterbased foil adhesive from Jantex with discharge or waterbased background colors.  I messed up one print for a custy last week and washed it, knowing it was undercured.  Long story short, the black WB Matsui 301 Base background image was NOT fully cured and it washed out UN-BELIEVABLY! for one wash/dry cycle.

Dried does NOT equal cured, and you can't tell the difference by feel.

CORRECTION, that was CCI Premium D-Base with Matsui PC Black Pigment.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll try a longer dwell to see if that helps.  The Ryonet discharge says that it cures in 60 to 90 seconds, but I just don't think they are coming out as vibrant as I would like. 

[Sbrem]

I've been throwing a discharge print in from time to time.  The white discharge on black gildans have really turned out great.  I've tried the pigments and haven't been truly satisfied yet, but I think that's more user error than anything else.  My problem is figuring out the temp and dwell time in the dryer.  I have a mini sprint with an 8 ft chamber and have been running them through at 1 minute and 45 seconds at 355 degrees.  I don't know if I should lower the temp and dwell longer or vice versa, I guess trial and error will get it right.

Wash test for color fastness. That sounds like a pretty short dwell time to me. 

I've been testing a waterbased foil adhesive from Jantex with discharge or waterbased background colors.  I messed up one print for a custy last week and washed it, knowing it was undercured.  Long story short, the black WB Matsui 301 Base background image was NOT fully cured and it washed out UN-BELIEVABLY! for one wash/dry cycle.

Dried does NOT equal cured, and you can't tell the difference by feel.

CORRECTION, that was CCI Premium D-Base with Matsui PC Black Pigment.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll try a longer dwell to see if that helps.  The Ryonet discharge says that it cures in 60 to 90 seconds, but I just don't think they are coming out as vibrant as I would like.

Does Ryonet's cure time take the type of dryer into consideration? All infra-red isn't the most efficient way to dry these, a gas dryer, with convection is much better, imho...

Steve