Impressions - September 2020 - 39

extra flashes, which increases the chance of
scorching the garment. Replacing T-shirts
due to garment scorching is bad enough;
replacing expensive nylon jackets could
be the difference between a profitable job
and a costly one.
Screen and Squeegee Selection
If you're a beginner, select a 110 or 156
mesh when printing on nylon to allow
the ink to be easily printed with a single
squeegee stroke instead of using multiple
strokes, which can cause misprints. More
seasoned screen printers use higher mesh
counts in the 230 range, stretched between
25 N/cm and 30 N/cm to lay down a thin
ink deposit on the substrate,making flashing
and curing quicker and easier.
A 65-durometer, straight-edge squeegee is ideal for printing on non-absorbent
substrates like nylon.The softer squeegee
lays the ink onto the surface without
necessitating too much downward force,
which can cause the ink to spread and
impede an image's detailed areas.
Another good option for printing
on nylon jackets is a 65/90/65 tripledurometer squeegee. The soft, 65durometer blade edge shears the ink
onto the jacket surface, while the 90durometer core keeps the blade ridged and
helps maintain the proper squeegee angle.

between 8% and 10% for best adhesion
results.Always follow the manufacturer's
recommended mixing ratio for the product you are using.
It's important to mix just enough ink
to print the quantity of jackets needed
because the ink will start to "set" after
four to six hours. Use a digital scale to
weigh the correct amount of catalyst to
be mixed into the ink. Adding too little
catalyst will cause adhesion problems and
adding too much will cause a stiff print,
as well as surface crazing.
Two-part plastisol inks also can be used
to print on non-woven polypropylene
bags, nylon backpacks and other sewn
nylon products.
A hold-down platen is a useful accessory,
and these devices are in high demand
during the fall as screen printers ramp up
jacket printing, according to Erik Naftal,
president,Action Engineering, which offers hold-downs in a 16" x 16" adult size
and a 12" x 16" youth size. Naftal says the
company also gets requests for custom

hold-downs that can be used for other
items that need to be secured without
using a pallet adhesive.
The Printing Process
Prior to printing nylon jackets, it's common to place them in a conveyor dryer
to remove moisture and wrinkles. This
also can be accomplished by pre-flashing
the jacket. Pre-heating the garment also
shrinks the material and helps with colorregistration issues.
It's not necessary to unbutton the jacket right out of the box because it can be
dressed over the hold-down platen in
the same way that a T-shirt is loaded on a
screen-printing press pallet.After loading
the jacket on the platen, lock down the
hinged, four sided hold-down clamp to
tighten in all directions.
Next, load the catalyzed plastisol in the
screen and flood the entire image area.
Then, lower the screen with off contact set
at 1/16 and print with one squeegee stroke,

Manufactures have created new revenue
streams for screen printers in the form
of coach's jackets, team outerwear,
windbreakers and more. Photo provided
by J.America Wholesale Blanks.

Ink Mixing
The main ink system used for printing
on woven nylon consists of plastisol
and a catalyst that is added at a ratio of

Limit the
number of
colors that will
be printed on
a nylon jacket
because each
color needs
to be flashed
before the next
one can be
printed.
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Impressions - September 2020

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