Neon Yellow 50/50's... The Job I Killed.....TWICE!

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Well....actually I just killed it once, but with TWO separate problems, each of which require reprinting.

1)  Scorch.  Oh yeah, I've read that these are problematic shirts to avoid scorching, but did that stop me?!? Noooo.  I ALMOST fixed problem #1 with a batch machine washing in White Vinegar. About 95+% of the scorch came out. I probably added a quart of vinegar to the Large Load setting, and let them soak about 30 minutes.  Impressive improvement, but I would have discounted them heavily.

2)  Bleeding.  Worst sublimation I've ever seen, and it seemed to get worse while the replacements were in transit. The CCI D-White WB ink turned absolutely yellow.

Worst part of the whole deal, is I'm ready to re-print the 30-ish shirt order BUT I have absolutely no confidence that these will be any better.

Any words of wisdom? 

Stan

More details:  I can use plastisol if I want. The front art is spot black lettering, with spot white outlining. The back is a black logo, no problem there.  My dryer is electric, with decent control if I'm careful.  I have various low bleed inks, none of which have thrilled me in the past, hence my private collection.

[ZooCity]

We print neons with Wfx Quick White, no problems.  Performance White for anything scary. 

[RICK STEFANICK]

Well....actually I just killed it once, but with TWO separate problems, each of which require reprinting.

1)  Scorch.  Oh yeah, I've read that these are problematic shirts to avoid scorching, but did that stop me?!? Noooo.  I ALMOST fixed problem #1 with a batch machine washing in White Vinegar. About 95+% of the scorch came out. I probably added a quart of vinegar to the Large Load setting, and let them soak about 30 minutes.  Impressive improvement, but I would have discounted them heavily.

2)  Bleeding.  Worst sublimation I've ever seen, and it seemed to get worse while the replacements were in transit. The CCI D-White WB ink turned absolutely yellow.

Worst part of the whole deal, is I'm ready to re-print the 30-ish shirt order BUT I have absolutely no confidence that these will be any better.

Any words of wisdom? 

Stan

More details:  I can use plastisol if I want. The front art is spot black lettering, with spot white outlining. The back is a black logo, no problem there.  My dryer is electric, with decent control if I'm careful.  I have various low bleed inks, none of which have thrilled me in the past, hence my private collection.

I'm sure you know the dye migration was because of the 50/50 garments. take zoos advice and p/f/p with a soft lb white and be done with it

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Thanks.  I have some Wilflex Epic Performance White which I had thought was a low bleed white, and some Wilflex Poly White which is kind of hard to print due to its thick properties. Which would you guys choose, and at what target temp--out the drier?

[RICK STEFANICK]

use the performance white, you dont need poly.. 320 out the dryer

[ZooCity]

For bleeders, I use Performance White.  It's not as soft as Quick but it cures at a very low temp - 290˚F.  Yes it is thick but warming the ink before hand will help immensely.  You may also add 1-2% of the QEC viscosity buster from Wfx to this ink if you are still having trouble.  We print it manually all the time. 

It is very, very bleed resistant but temp is your #1 issue with dye migration so watch that temp. 

Bring the shirts up to about 320 surface temp on raygun, like Rick said.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Thanks guys! 

I have some other Low Bleed White coming, but I guess I didn't order it soon enough to print this particular job.  (If I like it, I'll mention it on the forum).  I'll just mix in a little viscosity buster into my Epic Performance White and print that, shooting the temp right underneath the last panel with a gun to stay just under 320. 

Gotta go....these go to a party later today.

[jasonl]

We print neons with Wfx Quick White, no problems.  Performance White for anything scary.

Same here!

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I thought I would report back sooner on this, sorry.  I caught a bug or maybe food poisoning, and really didn't care for a day and a half or so.

I abandoned the waterbased ink and ran this in plastisol.  Neon Yellow 50/50 bleeds and scorches. Note to self.  These were District Brand labelled The Concert Tee.  I've no idea where they came from, I don't order my shirts.  My wife or one of the gals up front does all that.

Black and white inks, Wilflex Epic Matt Black through 305, and Wilflex Epic Performance White (reduced with 3% Wilflex Viscosity Buster by weight) through 230--PFP.  It didn't bleed (sublimate) that I could tell, and only one shirt showed any scorch at all, and that was at the bottom edge of the platen, where the heat from the flash wasn't moderated by the platen.  The platen can act as sort of a heat sink, and on cotton it doesn't matter quite as much.  It was a minor scorch.

So if someone reads this and it helps them, great...but I think the main thing was to stay at or just under 320 on the tunnel dryer and be careful with the flash.  My dryer is infra-red and dialing in the heat was no easy feat. One shirt in the tunnel VS a full belt makes a depressingly large difference in temps with my dryer,  and this job requires walking a tight rope, between enough heat to full cure the plastisol, and too much--resulting in scorched shirts or dye sublimating through the white ink.

My opinions are my own and your setup might vary, but this worked for me. 

I finally got it right... once in a row.