When curing a water-based print, the ink layer needs to breathe in order to evaporate the moisture. Hover the heat press right above the print to let the heat evaporate the water content. Once it is dry, press onto it for 30-45 seconds.
What is the difference between screen printing and water based printing?
For example the screen printing with water based inks feels much softer and smoother. The water based prints are breathable. It means the inks allows the garments and fabrics to breathe properly. The water based inks are long-lasting and the prints will last as long as your garment. What to do when the inks are drying in the screen?
What is curing in screen printing?
Curing your prints is one of the last steps of the screen printing process, but it is one of the most important steps. Ink needs to be cured properly so it sets into the garment. If the ink does not cure fully, it will crack, fall apart, and not last for long.
How do you Dry water-based inks?
With water-based inks, the water needs to evaporate before the pigment can cure. Having equipment with forced air is the most efficient way to cure water-based inks. Not every printer can get his or her hands on a forced air conveyor dryer, but investing in a forced air flash dryer is more feasible.
Why don’t all screen printers use water based inks?
Many screen printers don’t use water based inks simply because they think that screen printing with waterbased ink is tricky and complicated. But do you know these inks can be a joy to use and printing with water based inks can give you a smooth result?
Does water based screen printing ink need to be cured?
0:041:18Water Based Screen Printing Tip - Take Your Time Curing - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe ink needs that length of time to not only cure. But to evaporate the moisture out of the ink asMoreThe ink needs that length of time to not only cure. But to evaporate the moisture out of the ink as well maintaining a temperature of 320.
Does water based ink need to cure?
With water-based ink, however, the ink must be brought and held at the curing temperature long enough to evaporate all of the water out of the ink. Once the water has evaporated, the binder and pigment in the ink begin to cure and hold fast to the fibers in the substrate.
How does heat press cure water based ink?
When curing a water-based print, the ink layer needs to breathe in order to evaporate the moisture. Hover the heat press right above the print to let the heat evaporate the water content. Once it is dry, press onto it for 30-45 seconds.
How do you use water based ink for screen printing?
0:013:20How to screen print waterbased inks - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBlack it's pretty thin so pretty much just pour it out you want to use plenty. To back flood becauseMoreBlack it's pretty thin so pretty much just pour it out you want to use plenty. To back flood because these are air dry inks. Let make sure cap your ink.
Can you cure water based ink by air drying?
One of the challenges of water-based inks is achieving proper cure. With water-based inks, the water needs to evaporate before the pigment can cure. Having equipment with forced air is the most efficient way to cure water-based inks.
Can you air dry water based ink?
WATER BASED ink for Textiles Most commonly used for darker prints on lighter fabric for a slightly softer feel. Waterbased prints can air-dry and do not require heat-setting if you add catalyst.
How do you cure water based ink?
0:151:1390 Second Tip: Curing Water Based Inks - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWhen carrying water-based ink you want to make sure that the ink sits at 300 to 320 degrees forMoreWhen carrying water-based ink you want to make sure that the ink sits at 300 to 320 degrees for three minutes once your shirts have gone through the dryer.
Can you cure water based ink with heat gun?
1:167:34Screen Printing Tee Shirts: Can A Heat Gun Cure Plastisol Inks?YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd it's used for a lot of different odd sentence jobs around the house and stuff so the heat gun isMoreAnd it's used for a lot of different odd sentence jobs around the house and stuff so the heat gun is readily available to many people who screen prints as you know with plastisol textile screen
Can you cure water based ink with a flash dryer?
If you have used water-based ink: Although waterbased ink dries to air, it takes a high temperature to cure water-based inks. You can cure the ink at 165°C (some are hotter) by using a flash dryer, tunnel dryer or heat press. It can take up to 2 minutes to cure waterbased inks.
How long can you leave water based ink on a screen?
Leave it on your screens with no problem. Leave it on a shelf forever and use it years later. Make sure it's cured correctly, and it can last a hundred washes.
Which is better plastisol or water based ink?
Plastisol ink has better color vibrancy Water-based inks can produce a vibrant print on lighter garment colors, but still not as well. When you need your colors to be rich and brilliant and pop off the print, go with Plastisol screen printing. It's one of the reasons it remains the long-time industry standard.
Is water based screen printing good?
If you prepare well, water based ink has the ability to give you amazing results. They can produce amazing vivid colors. If you are printing dark garments, it is 100% sure that the water based ink will be less opaque as compared to plastisol inks.
How do you cure water based ink?
0:151:1390 Second Tip: Curing Water Based Inks - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWhen carrying water-based ink you want to make sure that the ink sits at 300 to 320 degrees forMoreWhen carrying water-based ink you want to make sure that the ink sits at 300 to 320 degrees for three minutes once your shirts have gone through the dryer.
How long does water based ink take to dry?
Like most standard paints, water based inks air dry in about 10-15 minutes. That being said, once you've opened your jar and inked up your screen, technically your ink is already starting to dry!
Is water based ink permanent?
Water-based ink is non-toxic and not permanent. It washes off the skin and other surfaces easily. That's why Crayola markers are one of the popular art supplies among parents as they're water-soluble.
How do you use water based ink?
Start with simple stuff. Begin by printing water based ink only on your light colored garments, using dark colored inks. Stepping into water based printing this way is fairly easy. Since water based ink is thinner than plastisol, you will need to use a higher mesh and print wet on wet instead of flashing in-between.
Do you need to do a test print before screen printing?
While this gives most screen printers a basic guideline time and temperature wise, these guidelines don’t always work for every job. We always suggest doing a test print before your main screen printing production.
Is Mclogans water based ink at fault?
All water-based inks sold at Mclogans have been approved by our company and these inks have gone through many strict tests to ensure that we are selling you the best products. So when asked if the ink was at fault the answer is no.
How long does it take for water based ink to cure?
Printers may use Warp Drive to chemically reach full cure, but that requires waiting 48 hours for the chemicals to cure the ink (plus, you still need to evaporate the water somehow).
What is water based ink?
Printing with water-based ink is a whole new ball game compared to plastisol ink. One of the challenges of water-based inks is achieving proper cure. With water-based inks, the water needs to evaporate before the pigment can cure.
Can you use forced air to cure water based ink?
Having equipment with forced air is the most efficient way to cure water-based inks. Not every printer can get his or her hands on a forced air conveyor dryer, but investing in a forced air flash dryer is more feasible. Don't Be Scared To Print With Water Base.
What happens if screen printing ink doesn't cure?
Ink needs to be cured properly so it sets into the garment. If the ink does not cure fully, it will crack, fall apart, and not last for long.
How hot does water ink cure?
Before we dive in, let's note that the temperature ink cures at depends on the ink itself. Water-based ink like Green Galaxy will cure between 300°-320°.
Why do printers need air movement?
Water-based inks need air movement to effectively drive the water out of the ink and move the steam outside the dryer so that the heat can cure the ink. Without proper air movement, most printers either have to slow their belts way down or run the shirts through the dryer multiple times.
How hot should a heat press be for printing vinyl?
Curing with a heat press is incredibly simple. For plastisol ink , read the label to discover the cure temp and set the heat press to be 20-30 degrees above that cure temperature. Use light to medium pressure.
Why does it take longer for ink to cure?
You need to test, test, and test. Thicker ink deposits will take longer to cure because more mass means it takes longer to penetrate the ink. Various garment types will affect the curing process (i.e. need to ensure polyester does not bleed). With all the variables that can affect the time to achieve proper cure, test to discover what works best.
What does it mean when ink cracks?
After curing the garment, pull on the ink. Stretch the biggest area of ink to see if it cracks. Cracking ink means it wasn't completely cured. There is a difference between cracked ink and ink film split.
How to heat press water based ink?
Guess what, printing water-based is doable when you have a heat press! Set the heat press at 330 degrees with light to medium pressure. Place a teflon sheet on the print. When curing a water-based print, the ink layer needs to breathe in order to evaporate the moisture. Hover the heat press right above the print to let the heat evaporate the water content. Once it is dry, press onto it for 30-45 seconds. If you add Warp Drive to the ink, press it for 20-30 seconds and set it off to the side to let it finish chemically curing the ink.
