Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Spring 2015 - 10

Working with

Athletic
INKS

* The greatest demand today is for
a white athletic ink that will remain
bleed resistant on most any
polyester fabric. Photo courtesy of
Sportsmansguide.com

countries, it is imperative that you pretest any new fabric coming into your
facility to ensure the products you currently employ will perform on those new
fabrics. The greatest issue that most polyester printers encounter is dye sublimation and/or dye migration from a lack of
proper testing prior to production.
From the standpoint of product performance, we want to ensure a print has
a sufficient ink film to maintain opacity
without the need for excessive heat in the
flashing or curing process. This requires
the thinnest ink film possible, while
achieving the desired opacity using a
high-opacity, low-bleed ink. It also is
wise to print any overprint colors with
low-bleed inks; as well as an additional
insurance policy against dye migration.
Underbase: 160-140
Overprint colors: 230's
Highlight white: 140
POLYESTER PERFORMANCE FABRICS
Polyester performance fabrics offer the
greatest challenge from the standpoint
of the ink's product performance. Many
high-performance fabrics are manufactured with a polyester/spandex blend. The
additional challenge here is that we now
need an ink that will be opaque and bleed
resistant, as well as have excellent elongation. From that standpoint, you want an
10 * Spring 2015

ink that will stretch up to 200% without
any sign of cracking. It is here that you
always need to pretest for all the previously mentioned printing characteristics
prior to production.
Although there are numerous products for printing polyester and many for
high elongation, the actual number of
inks that can perform all of these functions well are fewer than you may think.
As I mentioned, there is no magic in a can
but you still want the following performance characteristics for printing these
types of fabrics:
* High opacity
* Superior bleed resistance
* High elongation
* Low after-flash tack
From the standpoint of application,
you can use the same printing parameters
here as mentioned for 100% polyester.
For the novice printer, acquire some
sample or scrap fabric (from the manufacturer, if possible) to conduct testing
to ensure the ink you are using will perform to your (and your customers') expectations. Most importantly, you should
always wash test any fabric to ensure the
inks you used are properly cured and
adhered to the fabric.

Rick Davis is the southeastern regional
sales manager for Triangle Ink Co. He is a
35-year veteran of the textile screen-printing
and apparel manufacturing industries.
His background includes plant design,
management and troubleshooting, and he
also is a member of the Academy of Screen
Printing Technology. For more information
or to comment on this article, email Rick at
rickd5050@yahoo.com
Hear Rick speak on screen-printing topics at the 2015
ISS shows. Individual seminars are just $25 if you
pre-register: issshows.com.

* Polyester performance
fabrics need an ink that will
be opaque and bleed resistant, as well as have excellent
elongation. Photos courtesy of
Sportsmansguide.com

http://www.Sportsmansguide.com http://www.Sportsmansguide.com http://www.issshows.com

Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Spring 2015

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