Yep I use ink jet films, and i think i follow so far the steps to get to the press and start with production. however, the only thing I'm having trouble with is the emulsion. Thanks for your recommendations regarding this matter.
Anytime, always love to help! Ya i didn't like that emulsion. We tried several to find a good one that works for discharge and water based that still reclaims. Humidity could be it but its pretty humid here in Ohio during summer. If you're post exposing then its just bad emulsion. We also use ink jet films and highly recommend that in case you're using laser films.
Great video! I have a question for you... where does one go to get nice cotton tshirts... I mean the soft, thin, "organic?" tshirts. I know that I can buy a new one from an online retailer, but in that case I'm paying 30 bucks or more for a "nice" soft tshirt, which is too expensive as a raw material... and even then it's hard to find blank ones. That is I'm assuming there is somewhere where I can buy them direct. Do you have any advice on this?
Plastisol is easier to print and cure. Waterbased you get a softer vintage feel. If you choose the right ink and shirt color you can make plastisol feel pretty close to water based by thinning down your inks though. We prefer printing plastisol cause we've perfected it and its ease of use. thanks!
Seems if u flood w water base it eats the stencil faster. That's a given. Have u tried the WBP emulsion from Ryonet yet? I need my stencils to last longer than an hour. I'm going to try it.
Is the screen just breaking down? Its hard finding emulsions for WB that work well. We didn't have much luck with that emulsion you're using. We use DZ 343 right now. Ulano discharge used to work great but i may have gotten a bad batch cause last time i used it it was horrible. You can also try post exposing your screen after washing out. You can also use fixers that make your stencils permanent but then screen is wasted after the job. Hope that helps! Good luck!
Great tutorial! Is waterbase ink good to go out of the bucket or do you have to add any additional chemicals to the ink or shirt? What waterbase brand do you recommend?
We prefer to print traditional plastisol. Its much easier and not so rushed. We've perfected how to get softer prints using plastisol. Only time i like doing water based is if its black ink or darker ink on lighter fabrics.
hi im quite new in silkscreen printing, i always have problems ink not registering properly on shirts especially white waterbase inks,how do i fix that?
First of all, thanks for replying! Yes, the screen is braking down after a couple of runs. I do post expose the screens but it is not solving the issue. I live in Florida so humidity in my garage is probably high, and I don't have a dehumidifier, but the screens get preety dry with a drying cabinets from Vastex. Do you think this can be a reason why the screens are breaking down too? i'm going to purchase the DZ 343 today and I'm crossing fingers it does a better job. Thanks
Really all we are doing is "pushing" the ink back with the screen up slightly. You just want to flood the screen with ink to cover the stencil to prevent any kind of clogging. You don't need any pressure to flood cause you're not wanting to push ink through the stencil. If you work fast enough, flooding might not even be necessary.
Hello, I'm having hard time getting a strong stencil for water based and discharge ink. Do you have a better idea about coating a screen for thtis matter? I'm using Ryonet WBP Hybrid Emulsion for Water Based & Plastisol. Doing 1:1 coating and exposing it for about 5:30 minutes with a UV Screen Exposure Unit w/ Compression Lid. I started with one minute up to 5:30 minutes to see if i can solve the issue but the screen is not good yet. Any suggestions? Thanks,
I believe yes, I have heard about certain water based inks that you can hang dry but must let them dry individually for a couple days before they are good to wear/wash.
Steves Projects I feel the same way, I still have issues at times with water based inks. I recently started to using plastisol ink and they are so much easier to work, goes on so clean and perfect. Plastisol ink last longer in storage, I don't have to worry about the screen drying out to fast. The trade off is that water based inks are so much easier to clean and have this soft feel I love, but I can live with that. I print as a hobby and I used print only waster based prints, now I'm printing with plastisol ink because most costumers don't know the difference( or notice it) and don't care. Unless they specifically ask, then i'll use water based inks.
water based is always going to be thin. Only when using opaque white would it be thicker. It does thicken as it starts drying so you want to keep spraying water as needed
Hello, I see that you use the same technique i want to develope but i want something different, like the mountain t-shirts, have you seen it? i want to create my own brand maybe you can help me with my doubts.
because water based is very thin and you want to lay down more ink to saturate the garment. Also because its so thin, the squeegee blade sometimes sticks when pushing with such thin inks. Plastisol is much thicker and easier to push. We sometimes still push with white water based
