Screen Printing Forum

Hi there, I've been printing with Plastisol Inks for a while now, but have decided to switch to WB inks, as it's supposedly better for the environment!

I was hoping that someone would give me a few pointers to printing with WB inks. I am using standard WB inks from Union Inks and need help with the following points:

Thread count: What size screen mesh is best suited for wb inks?

How to print onto dark garments? with plastisol, we just used a white base, but it doesn't seem to be as easy with wb inks. Also, we don't want to use a discharge ink as it contains formaldehyde.

Curing times / methods: have heard a few different ideas, such as 3 minutes under a dryer, or 1 minute in a heat press. does anyone know the best way including times and temperatures?

Any help would be greatly appreciated or if anyone knows any websites that would help.

Cheers all.

I only print with waterbased inks and this is how I do it.
- screen = P55 (mind you that this is a european measure, so this means 55threads/cm not inch!)
- print your white
- a quick dry for 15 seconds
- print your white again to obtain a bright white on dark t-shirts
- flashcure for 30 seconds (depending on your type of flashcure) or dry it in your tunnel

Thanks a lot,

We're using 43T mesh, do you think this is too 'lose'?

Also, once you have your 2nd white down and cured, can you then print a coloured ink on top, to get say a red ink on a dark garment?

Cheers.

A 43T is perfect for big spots without too much detail or to use as a ground-layer. Actually you can't go wrong with a 43T, but I'm used to working with a 55 because i often print a rasterized image on textile.

You can perfectly print a red on the white, but maybe it's better to:
- print white, quick dry, print red, dry
or
- print red, quick dry, print red, dry

It's more a trial and error thing. Just do some tests and you'll see what gives you the best result.

good luck!