PRINTING WHITE INK

White ink can be very difficult to work with because it is such a thick ink.  Thick ink takes some arm muscle to get it through the mesh.  Yikes!  I think I need to work out more.  If I had to print a lot of shirts with white ink, my arms would be very tired.  :) 

I have printed white ink two different ways.  The first time, I used a 110 mesh screen which I coated 1 x 2 (one coat on each side, let dry and coated one more time on the outside of the screen).  The thicker the coat of emulsion, the thicker the layer of ink.  I then did two passes with the squeegee, flashed for 7-10 seconds, did two more passes with the squeegee and cured for 35-40 seconds.  The shirts turned out nice.

I was out of emulsion for this job but luckily I had a few 156 mesh screens already coated with a 1 x 1 layer of emulsion.  I had to get the shirts printed so I used what I had.  I decided to thin the white ink with Curable Reducer so it would be easier to work with.  It took a few extra passes because of the thin layer of emulsion but the shirts turned out nice.  I definitely prefer using the 110 mesh screen with a 1 x 2 coating.

Here are the two shirts I printed.  They were for a husband and wife.  The wife is always misplacing things and asked her husband, "Have you seen....???"  The husband always has the same answer....."I dunn kno!!"  I thought it was classic. I think quite a few husbands and wives can relate to it. :)




Here is the shirt for the wife!

Here is the shirt for the husband!

I think they turned out nice.

Jeanette