Posted by Harvey Cole - Outside Sales on 7/11/2016
With so many different types of inks and so many different types of substrates it can be difficult as a relatively new screen printer to find good information on curing techniques - these tips are here to help you get started.

Find any old-school screen printer who has been around the block a few times and a large percentage of them will likely tell you 'just get your dryer good and hot - we never touch the temperature, we just speed the belt up or slow it down'.  Well, if you are printing pretty much the same shirts and same inks over and over and over, this technique may work.  For the rest of us, we might want a more scientific and researched method of curing.  

At one of our recent How To Screen Print classes an industry rep from Rutland Group (manufacturer of Rutland, Union, and QCM ink lines) had a question on general guidelines on dryer temperature.  His answer was, of course, that there was no set number, temperature, or belt speed.  However, for most general purpose inks he recommended a temperature of 320 degrees for 60 seconds.  This number was supported by research from their own chemists and R&D department.  The problem comes with the vastly different quality of substrates and screen printing equipment that you use.


When your screen printing dryer is running and set to a temperature of around 300, running many shirts through quickly can dissipate the heat and make it difficult for your dryer to maintain a consistent temperature.  Spacing your shirts out and running a slower belt speed can help maintain a constant temperature.

The next logical question may be 'what about polyester substrates and polyester inks?'  Indeed, high heat can be the enemy of polyester material, as at a temperature usually required for standard plastisol inks, polyester material will tend to release the actual dyes in the shirt and cause dye migration issues.  Well, one of the big innovations happening in the screen printing industry right now is the introduction of silicone screen printing ink.  These are a brand new type of ink that are sold and fully supported by Texsource that are formulated to cure at a lower temperature than most polyester materials will typically release their dye at.  Recommended curing temperature for silicone inks are in the 260-280 degree range.  Silicone inks also offer the advantage of being extremely elastic, making them perfect for athletic wear.  


dye migration issues that typically plague polyester materials and inks can be remedied by using new Silicone screen printing inks.

What about substrates that are not designed to be heated to the temperature required for a certain type of ink?  What about plastics, nylons, or other materials that might melt, burn, or otherwise be damaged by such heat exposure?  For those materials, Texsource recommends using an Air Dry Ink such as those from ColorFX.  Air Dry Inks, as the name implies, does not require heat to cure, and has excellent adhesion to a variety of materials including plastics, woods, glass, and metals.  An exact list of supported materials can be found on the subsequent product pages for those inks.  They offer an excellent alternative to standard screen printing inks when heat curing may not be advised.  

All of the screen printing inks that Texsource sells typically include a product spec sheet located on their product page.  This sheet can offer help with topics such as curing, mesh count, additives, application, and more.  Following the manufacturer specified guidelines is always the most important advice, but hopefully some of these tips will be able to stay in your memory and help as well.  
Posted by Doug Smith - Texsource Indiana on 6/16/2016
In an ongoing effort to always make your online shopping as easy as possible, Texsource has some new changes and upgrades to our site make it easier than ever to find the screen printing equipment and supplies you need.


Likely the most noticeable change is in our Screen Printing Ink section.  We spent quite a bit of time going through this section and found numerous ways that we could improve.  First, whenever you do a simple search on our site for something like 'Green Ink', you will now get more accurate results.  But in the past where you would simply see a screen filled with green color swatches that you had to click through to find out more important information (such as the manufacturer or ink series), we now have that information right on the color swatch itself, for all inks and all manufacturers.  The new color swatches look like this - 

As you can see from the 2 color swatches in this image, it is now easy at a glace to see the exact color (taken directly from the manufacturer source), the ink manufacturer, and the exact ink type or series.  Having such information available at a quick glance can not only help you find the ink you need faster, but can also eliminate errors in ordering.  

In addition to re-thinking our ink swatches, we also looked at our overall ink product pages.  We have updated the newly formatted SDS sheets (where available - as of this writing sheets for all products are not yet available), new product and series descriptions, and printing and curing instructions.  The idea is to provide you with as much important information about the products as possible, but still make a product page easy and quick to read so that you can get back to other important tasks.  

The changes don't just pertain to the Ink section.  If you haven't visited our site in a while you will likely notice an increase in new larger photos of products, with multiple product photos when available.  You can now ask a question about any product right on that product page, and get an answer directly from our expert sales staff.  New updated product descriptions for our screen printing equipment have been (and are being) written, product demo videos are being produced and added as we get them, our website 'Search' function has been improved to give you more accurate results, and more relevant related products are now shown for each product.  

Texsource works hard to be the best online experience possible, and we are always looking for ways to improve.  It is all in an effort to make your shopping easier and more accurate so that your shop and your business can run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.  If you ever see a way that we can improve, let us know!
Posted by Bubba Thomas - Outside Sales on 5/25/2016

Why would you want to use a screen printed transfer that uses extra materials, extra labor, and more equipment when you can print directly onto the garment? There are several situations where transfer are more efficient, economical, and profitable than direct printing.

For example, if you have a once a year event that you print for but you have no way of knowing how many shirts will be sold. If you print too few shirts, you will limit your sales. If you print too many shirts, you take an expensive loss. However, if you print the design on transfer paper, you can take the transfers, heat press, and blank shirts to the event and press the shirts as ordered. If you have any transfer left over, you can throw them away and not be losing the money that you would if you were throwing printed shirts away.

If you do the same design over and over for a certain customer and they only get a small number of shirts every time. It is cheaper to go ahead and print enough transfers to last a while, than it is to set up the job on the press and run a dozen or two shirts at a time. You save a lot of time and labor by using transfers for this customer.


 Equipment Needed for Transfers
Transfer paper, Transfer powder( if necessary), Heat Press, Conveyor Dryer, Flash Unit (if doing multiple color design).

Types of Transfers
There are two most common types of transfers, Hot Split and Cold Peel. The main difference in the two are the way they are applied. When applying hot split transfers, the transfer paper is removed immediately after pressing the garment. This method will give you a softer feel but will take away the opacity of the print, especially on dark garment.
When cold peel, the paper is not removed until the ink and garment have cooled off. This method will allow all of the ink to adhere to the garment, making it a more stiff, opaque, glossy look.

Avoid Fine Line and Large Solid Color
In transfer printing, fine detail causes trouble because it is hard to print enough ink and control the temperature of the ink closely enough to insure that the fine lines will adhere to the t-shirt. Lines should be no thinner than 1/16th of an inch and half tone dots should be no finer than .33-.38 millimeters. If you have to print fine lines or small half tones, you should always print an underbase over the entire design, making it the last color down. The underbase will adhere to the garment and the other colors in the transfer, including the fine detail.
Large areas of solid colors may cause problems because they require a very even layer of ink, very evenly gelled. Any imperfections in the thickness of the ink layer or degree of gelling of the transfer may result in an uneven thickness of ink transferred to the t-shirt and an obviously defective design.

Avoid Trapping Colors
Trapping colors creates different thicknesses of ink on the transfers, making is complicate the gelling process, and when using a hot split, it may cause the wrong ink to split when applying it to the garment. It is always better to use butt registration.

Allow for Paper Shrinkage
Since the transfers cannot be printed wet-on-wet, the paper is getting heated in between every color. Making the paper shrink. Always run the paper through a dryer at 180-220 degrees to insure that you will get minimum shrinkage.

Ink Selection
You can use many types of inks when transfer printing, but you will get the best results when using an ink that is formulated for transfers. The most common ink that w carry is Union Ultrasoft Series. It can be used as a hot-split or cold peel. But keep in mind, it will not be as opaque when using it as a hot split on a dark garment. I recommend the Maxopake series from Union, and adding transfer powder the the image, before senfing it down the dryer.

Temperature
Typically you will press your transfers for 10-18 seconds, 35-50lbs of pressure, at 350-400 degrees. Hot splits can run at higher temperature, shorter time, and less pressure. Cold peels should be ran at a lower temperature, longer time, and higher pressure.  
Posted by Dawn Dellinger - Customer Service on 5/2/2016
It is time once again for us to begin promoting our biggest annual event of the year, the Texsource Open House Event, and here is just some of what you can expect if you have never attended (you should!).

The Texsource Open House event is definitely my favorite time of the year on my job.  For a whole day I get to finally put faces with some of the names that I see on my screen every day, voices that I would hear on my phone, company names that I am familiar with, but not always the people behind the name.  Texsource goes all out for this event.  Normally in years past the event has been held over 2 days, usually a Thursday and a Friday.  This year we are narrowing it down to only 1 day, but we are holding an Open House at 2 of our 4 locations; Georgia and our headquarters in NC.  The NC open house will held here on September 30.  

Our open house has deals so good you'll swear they were illegal!

So what can you expect?  Well, anything and everything related to our industry.  If you are a user ofscreen printing equipment or screen printing supplies, then this event will have a good bit of everything for you to check out.  We have vendors who will be showing the very latest screen printing presses, automatic screen printing presses,  the latest technology in screen printing ink(including the very latest advancement, silicone screen printing ink), new printing techniques, supply items and chemicals, and more.  

If you are relatively new to screen printing, or you are looking for new techniques that you may not have tried before, there are a host of demonstrations and clinics that go on all day from all the various vendors on how to screen print.  Since actual vendor reps will be here with their products, this is an outstanding chance to get some hands-on demonstrations and ask questions to those at the very top!  

Ah, the food.  Our owner is an exceptional cook, and nothing but the very best will do when it comes to serving others.  I do not yet know exactly what our menu will be, but I can tell you that the last few years we have served BBQ that is worthy of bragging about.  The free lunch is a highlight for many at the event (including all of the Texsource staff) and you will certainly not leave here hungry!

Best of all, the only cost to you is your gas to get here - everything here is on us (although you might want to bring your wallet with you - there are show deals galore and usually a few racks full of clearance items that gets picked clean fairly quickly).  Since we need an accurate food count, all we ask is that you register in advance here before the date of the event.  Bring out your entire shop and enjoy a full day with us.  

We hope to see you here and we hope to further prove our worth to you as your most trusted industry supplier of screen printing equipment and supplies.  
Posted by Ryan Bolin - Outside Sales on 4/25/2016
Our Open House Event at our Georgia location last week was a big hit with both customers and vendors of screen printing products and equipment.  If you missed it because of scheduling or location, you can catch our NC Open House Event in September.

 The first Open House/ Customer Appreciation Day just concluded at our Texsource Georgia location and it was an amazing turn out! We had a couple hundred people to stop by to enjoy this really big event we put on and with this being our 1st Open House at our Georgia location we were very pleased with the turnout.  Whether you were looking for the latest screen printing ink,presses, dryers, or accessories, Texsource had it all there, with the experts to answer all your questions. 

First of all a big thanks to all our customers who stopped by and spent the day with us! We hope that each of you enjoyed meeting the Texsource staff as well as our industries top leading representatives. There was certainly a lot of screen printing equipment and supplies to be seen!  We know there was a ton of knowledge for you to gain at this event and your responses on the overall show were great!

Secondly, I want to thank our manufactures that came out to support us. You all were a huge part in the success of this Open House and were are pleased that you continue to join us each year that we host these events!

Last and certainly not least, there was lunch! Everyone in the building seemed to love the food that was provided and one thing for sure is that no one left hungry!

                           


Again, thanks to everyone that came out to support us and if we don’t see you this September for our 9th Annual North Carolina Open House then hopefully will see you in 2017 at our 2nd Annual Georgia Open House.  If you want to read more about what to expect at the event you can read more here and also register to attend absolutely free.
Posted by Jason Cabaniss - Outside Sales on 4/19/2016
If you are still printing in your shop with your startup equipment, what do you upgrade first?  Here we offer help in choosing your new screen printing equipment so that you can maximize your shop capabilities.   

We have all been there; brand new to screen printing and having only the basic equipment for starting out.  Many start out with an entry level screen printing press (probably only 1 or 2 color capability), an overhead lamp-style exposure unit, a heat gun for a dryer (luckier folks may have started with a dedicated flash unit), a couple of screens, and some basic inks and cleaning chemicals.  Those of us who stick with it and do quality work should easily and quickly outgrow startup equipment such as that, and face the task of trying to decide exactly what screen printing equipment should be upgraded, and in what order.  

Unfortunately there isn't an answer that fits every shop and every situation.  But there are some things to keep in mind when considering the process.  

I would argue that a quality conveyor dryer should be one of your first considerations for a new equipment purchase.  If you have been using a heat gun, a conveyor dryer will likely make the biggest difference in your shop output and overall efficiency.  Where you may have been standing over a shirt for minutes using the heat gun, a quality conveyor dryer will keep an even, consistent, and controlled heat across the shirt for the correct amount of time (belt speed).  Print, pull the shirt, lay it on the dryer, done.

Next (in most cases) will likely be your manual screen printing press.  I have seen some really interesting modifications to existing starter presses to try to repair or give some sort of new functionality, when modest money could be spent on a newer, higher capability screen printing press, and be done with it.  For many screen printers, this may mean going from a tabletop or bench model press, to a full freestanding press.  Obviously there are considerations of the area you have available as well.  Typically this means going from a 1 or 2 color bench type press, to a 4 color 4 station freestanding manual press (and some will upgrade to even more colors).  A quality press such as this will usually have an outstanding warranty and be very durably built.  An investment in a quality manual press will give you new capabilities, faster production, and more flexibility.  

Perhaps lesser on the list but still important are items such as exposure units, screen drying cabinet, washout booth, etc.  Certainly all of these have their place in a well run shop.  Upgrading your exposure unit may be especially important as they can significantly cut exposure time and exposure errors.  Too many shops are trying to scrape by with older outdated units, and it often seems that they are wrestling to get a quality screen burn.  Newer exposure technology, such asLED exposure units will serve your business for many years of trouble free service and quality production.  

In the end, only your production needs and your budget will determine the best upgrade path for your screen printing business.  But when you feel that you are outgrowing your current screen printing equipment, hopefully these general guidelines will stay in the back of your mind and serve as a good base of knowledge.  
Air dry screen printing inks are a whole category of specialty inks that work well on substrates and materials that standard plastisol, poly, and silicone inks do not have acceptable performance on.

When selecting the proper screen printing ink for a job, the substrate, or materiel being printed, is your primary guiding factor in your choice of ink type.  Cotton material gets, of course, a cotton ink.   Likewise a poly garment will require a poly ink or perhaps one of our new silicone inks.  There are even additives for standard inks for materials like nylon, that will give excellent adhesion to products such as umbrellas.

But what if you are wanting to print on a plastic (Coroplast) sign, or on certain types of plastic bags?  Such items would almost certainly ruin in a typical screen printing setup, as melting would occur during the curing process of running the material through a conveyor dryer.  Air dry inks are exactly as the name would imply, they are a series of inks that do not require high temperatures to cure like other inks do.  When using these inks there are some considerations to both your screen printing equipment and also to you technique that you need to be aware of.  

First, you need to know the limitations of the air dry ink you have selected.  All of the Air Dry inks that Texsource sells online includes exactly what materials the ink will print to, so you should first read that carefully.  Secondly, you should be aware that these inks are far thinner than what you may be used to when dealing with standard plastisol inks.  So much so that it is recommended you start with a very high mesh count screen.  We recommend starting at around a 280 mesh count or higher.  This will keep the ink from running through the screen and ruining your print job.  

Next is the cleanup stage.  As these inks dry without heat curing, you cannot simply leave your screens out as you can with other inks.  The ink will dry and can sometimes make reclaim a real pain, so if you are running a print job, make the extra effort to reclaim your screens immediately after use.  This will save you considerable time, effort, and cleaning chemicals later.  

Printing with Air Dry inks can give your business an added dimension of printing that will give a competitive advantage over shops who refuse such work because they may be unfamiliar with the products or techniques.  With proper foresight the job can be easy, and cleanup a breeze.
If you are new to screen printing, one of the most overwhelming aspects that you may encounter is all the different types of screen printing inks and plastisols that are available from suppliers such as Texsource.  Here we break down some of the differences.

As if you don't have enough things to learn as a newcomer to screen printing, the choice of ink type can make or break a project.  Now, the different series from all the major screen printing ink manufacturers all specialize in various things, and that is beyond the scope of a simple blog article, but I will attempt to give you an overview of ink types and their uses in your shop.  

One of the main things to take away from this writing is that the substrate, or material you are printing to, is going to be the most important factor in choosing ink type.  When you see an ink labeled as a general purpose ink, that ink is typically formulated for use on cotton and/or 50/50 shirts and materials.  Many shops will use this ink about 75% of the time, and most smaller jobs where customers want the best possible price will be printed on normal quality cotton or cotton blend shirts.  These 'plastisol' inks are durable, easy to work with, and also some of the more economical inks that you can have in your shop.  

When a customer wants a job printed on polyester or athletic wear, there are special polyester inks formulated just for that.  The biggest problem with polyester materials is dye migration.  That is, when you heat the garment up in the dryer to cure your ink, the heat will try to release the dye in the actual material.  This can 'mix' or blend in with your ink and cause your ink to have a faded, splotchy look that is typically not desirable.  The solution could be to use special inks formulated for use on polyester garments.  These inks are more resistant to dye migrations issues (although they are not immune to some problems themselves).  You also may find benefit in using an underbase with this material. 

an illustration of dye migration issues.  note the 'faded' appearance of the shirt on the right.  

Silicone inks are a relatively new type of screen printing ink, and are available from us here at ScreenPrintingSupply.com.  Silicone inks have a much shorter shelf life and, in the current state of the technology, each color has to be mixed on site using a base and toner system.  The benefits of silicone inks are numerous, however.  It is an extremely durable ink, especially in athletic garments.  It has tremendous elasticity that cannot be matched by any other current ink type, making it ideal for stretchy garments.  It has a smooth, soft-hand feel that is appealing to the touch.  Lastly, silicone inks cure at a much lower temperature than standard plastisol inks, typically at a lower temperature than most polyester materials will release dye, negating dye migration issues altogether.  Note that this may depend largely on the quality of your polyester garment, as lower quality poly garments may release dye at even lower temperatures.  

Then there are all varieties of 'specialty' inks.  These are inks that are beyond the scope of standard plastisol, poly, or silicone inks in that they normally have some feature that sets them apart visually or to the touch.  These can include glitter inks, puff inks, reflective inks, etc.  There are many additives that can be purchased for plastisol inks to achieve many of the same benefits, but there are inks with these features that are ready to use.  

Air dry inks may be your choice for printing on any material where the heat of curing may cause problems or applying heat is impossible.  Such inks are commonly used for printing signs such as campaign or realty-type signs, plastic bags, and many types of promotional items.  Air dry inks are generally quite a bit thinner than standard screen printing inks, so you should typically start with a much higher mesh-count screen (we recommend starting with a high-200 or low-300 mesh).  As the name implies, these inks will fully cure without applying heat, so care should certainly be taken to reclaim your screens soon after finishing the job to avoid a much harder reclaim later.  Our full line of air dry inks all include a full description of substrates that the ink works well on, so be sure to read carefully before making a decision. 

Lastly, take some time to make yourself aware of many of the different types of ink additives, and they will add flexibility to your printing capabilities.  Products such as Nylobond enable screen printing to nylon-based products such as umbrellas.  There are thinners for use in ink that may be a bit thick, puff additives to add depth and texture to your print, and so forth.  

So there you have it, a very brief overview of some of the major types of screen printing inks.  Again, let your substrate dictate your ink type, but it will benefit your shop if you have experience with all of these types, and it will add capabilities and experience to your shop reputation that competitors may not yet have.  All of these ink types and more are available at Texsource at 888-344-4657, or online at www.ScreenPrintingSupply.com. 
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