Impressions - August 2020 - 38

PROFILING YOUR DRYER
According to water-based ink expert Ray Smith, it's important to periodically profile your dryer using a thermo-probe with the donut attachment.
This tool will help you determine how long it takes the dryer to reach the ink's cure temperature.
Profiling a textile dryer requires a two-person effort, with one person notating the probe's temperature readings as the fleece passes through the
oven and the second person recording these temperatures on a grid until the garment exits the chamber, Smith says. The resulting graph will show
how much time elapses before the substrate reaches the correct curing temperature.
Water-based inks typically require a 90-second curing cycle at 330˚F with forced air, and this time can be sped up, depending on image size and
ink-deposit thickness. As always, Smith says, follow the ink manufacturer's curing guidelines for best results.

Preheating a fleece garment before printing
removes moisture from the garment and
reduces shrinkage during the print run.

To get an accurate temperature reading with
the Atkins Donut Thermometer, embed the
heat-sensor wires into the wet ink film on a
garment before sending it through the dryer.

of the print order, followed by the colors
being printed wet-on-wet on top.
Stencil Thickness -This factor directly affects the amount of ink deposited on
the fabric's surface. Check the emulsion
over mesh (EOM) with a stencil-thickness
gauge; if no gauge is available, slide your
index finger across the screen's contact
side to feel the "lip" of the design on the
screen. If you can't feel where the design
starts or stops on the screen's backside, then
the stencil isn't thick enough.
Screen Tension - The ideal screen
tension for printing on fleece in the
25 N/cm range.This allows proper screen
"snap-off" from the garment after the print
stroke. High-tension screens also make it
much easier to set and control the offcontact distance when printing fleece.
Squeegee Recommendation -
A straight-edge, 60/90/60 tr ipledurometer squeegee is ideal for screen
printing on fleece.The blade's softer, 60durometer edge helps to print the ink
on the garment's surface, while the 90durometer core maintains the squeegee's
blade angle.
As a decorator, you should get ready for
fleece season now by testing the aforementioned techniques and inks. Add a
smoothing screen, roller squeegees and
more so that your toolbox is fully loaded
and you're set up for success in the fall. 
James Ortolani has more than 30 years of experience
in the decorated apparel industry, specializing in
hands-on, direct screen printing and heat-transfer
production. For more information or to comment on
this article, email James at jamesort12@yahoo.com.

Today's ink systems - many consisting of
low-bleed and low-cure varieties - provide the
technology to decorate on fabrics that bleed.
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