screen printing heat transfers
Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:05 pm
We just got our new Hotronix 16x20 draw press this week and we're experimenting with it today. The press is simple enough to use, but we're having problems with the transfers. We're using Trans-75 (cold peel). The design is a multi-color design with an underbase. We're using multi-tech general purpose plastisol inks. We know we need to soft-cure between each color. This is where we having problems. Obviously we're over-curing because the transfer peels off of the garment. We're using our flash unit to soft cure between colors. We're flashing just enough so the ink is tacky but not wet. The flash unit is approx. 1 1/4 inch from the platen and we're flashing for 10 sec. If we flash any less, the ink is still wet. But flashing for 10 seconds seems to be over-curing the ink.
We do have a dryer and we know it's suggested that you print all one color first, soft-cure in the dryer, re-register, repeat. We're hoping to be able to print all colors at once just as if we were printing shirts.
Also, we're using the same screens we used for printing this design on shirts since we're just experimenting. They range from 86 (shimmer ink) to 110 to 230 for a color with halftones. The ink is reduced with soft-hand extender.
We're at a loss at what to try next. Any suggestions?
We do have a dryer and we know it's suggested that you print all one color first, soft-cure in the dryer, re-register, repeat. We're hoping to be able to print all colors at once just as if we were printing shirts.
Also, we're using the same screens we used for printing this design on shirts since we're just experimenting. They range from 86 (shimmer ink) to 110 to 230 for a color with halftones. The ink is reduced with soft-hand extender.
We're at a loss at what to try next. Any suggestions?