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Not sure what you mean about a hard flood or soft flood? Do you mind clarifying? Haven't tried Bolt white...who is it made by? This ink seemed to me to be a bit stiffer than what we normally use. We use just about anything. Mostly Cool white by Int. Coatings. But we have also been using Sport White by Total Ink Solutions, and are really digging it.

​@@Almightees70 Feel free to fact check me on the difference between hard/soft flood but essentially a hard flood is when the squeegee is more upright on the flood stroke and sends the ink through the image more (you can see the image almost as if you were printing) verses a soft flood just covers the image and is lighter like spreading peanut butter over it (completely covers the image). Bolt White is by Wilflex-it is also a stiffer ink and is low cure or standard cure and is excellent for blends or just standard cotton (you can use on 100% poly using low cure but I don't like to trust the print not being fully cured so I usually use a blocking grey solution or if I'm really paranoid a blocking grey and a poly ink on top haha). I previously used the Glacier Max 151 or 158 by QCM or the Perma White Polyester which were pretty decent but I just am loving the Wilflex line at the moment. I have heard good things about International Coatings as well and would be fun to give those ones a try someday!

@@scotlandskysurf8948 ok…that makes sense. I use more of a soft flood most times. For polyester we use SanMar’s Sport-Tek PosiCharge Compeitor tee and can use straight cotton white and have zero dye migration issues.

@Almightees70 I wonder why it is with that particular garment-maybe they use special dyes or something? That is a good tip, thanks for that!

The PosiCharge...from what I understand is a special dyeing process that locks in the color on Sport-Tek's 100% poly shirts. But it has to say PosiCharge in the name. SanMar has other 100% poly shirts that are not.

We‘re glad your here!!

You got it!

Thank you!

More than likely...probably a 180 on the white and a 200 on the green. If I know I'm going to print, flash print the underbase I try to put my white on a 180 to try and keep the ink film as thin as possible without sacrificing opacity.

@@Almightees70 Speaking of keeping ink detailed-I had a doozy of a day trying to print on canvas tote bags through a 200 mesh (it was even a light colour tote!). I would do a test shirt and it would work just fine with a flood, stroke, flood, stroke, and a third dry stroke print to finish it off but do you have any tips for fine detail printing on tote bags or would you just go down a mesh count to a 160 and save the hassle? I'm talking like 4-5 heavier passes to get the ink to go onto it with enough coverage.

Yes...totes can be a booger to get good coverage on. I would either go down on my mesh count, or possibly use a thin thread mesh. That is if you have any?

Thank you for your comment! Really? Other that a stand alone white...we've been pretty pleased with how bright ours have been. Where do you get your from? if you don't mind me asking?

@@Almightees70 I’ve used a couple different sites NinjaTransfers and RolledUpPrinting. Overall I’m happy with them, however some colors are on the pastel side.

I would never try to take you away from Ninja...but it wouldn't hurt to give Merch Studio a try? Look them up online, I order from them and I'm always very pleased with the quality and turnaround!

Whatever works is what I always say! Yes...if the ink color is darker than the garment I usually don't underbase...unless for some unusual reason, or some kind of effect I'm trying to achieve. Do you do all your own art and printing?

I just do the printing but yeah there’s been some instances where I could have gone either way and it could just be preference or trial and error-like you said, whatever works! I also enjoy the nuance of how certain tone on tones work and have had some nice results doing that.

Do you mean tones overprinting on top of tones? For instance, to create different colors using fewer screens?

@@Almightees70 I’ve dabbled in some basic CMYK but I meant printing for example a pink ink on a pink coloured garment-has some neat results sometimes as I’m sure you’ve tested too. Black on charcoal is my favourite combo for sure.

@@scotlandskysurf8948 Oh ok…I know what you’re talking about. CMYK is the one printing technique I have the least experience in.

Glad we could help! I'm not super technical....so I've always coated this way since my first job in the industry. It has always served me well, so I have a don't fix it if it ain't broken, mentality. Do you always end up with your last coating stroke on the print side?

@@Almightees70 Totally! Great wisdom to keep with what's working. I've been doing a one/one always ending with the squeegee side to push it through to the other side (Perhaps when it dries it all starts to sit where gravity takes it anyway but who knows haha). I had been changing my coating technique in the last few months as I was finding I wasn't getting enough stencil thickness to really lay down enough ink on top of the shirt. I was so frustrated having to do 3 hits on things and barely getting enough coverage/opacity but lately have been getting excellent results.

Do you have any thin thread mesh screens? One of those with a thicker stencil coating technique can really help with that.

@@Almightees70 I’ve got the 157/48tt which I absolutely love now and am pleased to say I haven’t been doing 3 hits now for the last half year. Long story short I had a graphics emulsion instead of a regular emulsion and never knew about EOM-so frustrating but such a relief to be getting better results now moving forward. I also purchased a paint coating thickness gauge to see what my EOM is looking like. On the 157/48tt I’m dialing it in slowly but surely to be about 20%. If you don’t have a thickness gauge I’d recommend it if you ever have employees who can then get their coating thickness comparable to yours.

@@scotlandskysurf8948 The thickness gauge sounds interesting…where did you get it?

The animal services guy asked if they are moving...meaning are the puppies moving...are they alive. But the second guy thinks moving means moving as in are they going from one place to another. Just a misunderstanding that makes a funny joke! Thanks for your comment!

Check this video out! I go over several of the coating techniques we use here at the shop. Let me know if you have any questions! czcams.com/video/x47NXJE3lMk/video.html

Thank you for your comment! Would you care to elaborate on why you think 99% of people don't use screen printing due to UV light?

I did print, flash, print my white on the back...I just didn't shoot the video that way. We get a lot of flack for printing it like that.

Yesssir!

Whoosh

I didn't get your comment at first...now I get it! LOL!

Anything we can do for a laugh! It's really just a way for me to get David to say "I think that's Superman" when I hear him saying "I think that's super man".

Thank you! I could have use my flash...but then I would just have been standing there waiting. I like to keep moving, helps me cure the boredom on certain jobs!

@@Almightees70 I hear you. When nobody is watching me I'll often do squats or calf raises our just move my feet around in between prints so I'm not standing still haha.

@@scotlandskysurf8948 Great idea! Sometimes I even dance!🕺

Yeah...I can see that. I do like it for certain jobs. And I did know that the adhesive can be bad news. Thanks for your comment!

I sure don't...that was quite a few years ago and the guy that was making them, wasn't going to be making them anymore. That's why I could kick myself for not buying more. But at the then time when I thought about it...I only had the BWM Hopkins 6/6 and I didn't want to spend the extra money to buy 5 more. That was before I had the National 6/4.

@@Almightees70 Ain't that the truth! I also checked Wal-Mart for those shelf liners but didn't have any luck-I'm in Canada. Is there a specific link you might have for those you could send? Otherwise I was just going to cut up a fabric board or something and I feel like your method seemed easier.

@@scotlandskysurf8948 See if this works: www.walmart.com/ip/Solid-Grip-Shelf-Liner-with-Clorox-White-20-in-x-6-ft-Roll/45743465

Very cool! We've never printed on anything but textiles.

We sure are!!

YES!!

Wow! Where are you located?

Yes, it is! We love Chromaline ChromaBlue! we've tried other brands, but always go back to the blue. And we are planning that video idea you gave us, about squeegees. So stay tuned! I think it may have been a dual durometer. 60/90...maybe?

Glad it helped! I think we've all done that. Thanks for hanging with us!

😂!! It’s says Gantt! It’s my clients last name.

Thank you for the tip!

No problem and hope it was useful! Learning lots from you guys. Still trying to figure out what the heck that cabinet liner stuff is you use to raise the print on the left chest on button polos and such. Have a great day Almightees!

@@scotlandskysurf8948 Thanks you too! We get it at Walmart in the Homewares department.

You're welcome! Glad I could help! I like your son a lot!

Thank you! Feeling better already!

It really depends on how many shirts in the order. Both processes will work, but DTF is better suited for smaller quantities, and screen printing for larger quantities.

The bad thing was that I was working on David’s press, dropped some ink…and forgot to clean it up. So he stepped in it, and you see the aftermath!!

Thank you for your kind words!! Not going anywhere any time soon!! God bless you too!

Thank you brother!!💪💯

You had your own shop?

Do you really want to?

@@Almightees70well yes, but I’m in the wrong country

Thank you!

Thank you! You're awesome too!

Thanks! Maybe that's something I should look into?!

We usually print, flash, print on most jobs just because our orders are smaller and the cost of an additional screen can raise the cost per shirt too much for most of our clients. Especially now that inflation has increased so substantially. I definitely understand the benefits of a hi light white, but will our customers choose to go that route? I know some printers out there will say how much thicker the ink film will be printing that way….but we have gone up on all of our mesh counts to counteract the three layers of ink.

@@Almightees70 Thanks for the explanations, that all makes sense. I've been finding that certain colours (Fuchsia, light yellows, lime green for instance) I have to do 2 passes to get the opacity achieved on a dark garment anyway if I'm doing a highlight white method. So on those I for sure see the benefit of saving a screen setup and doing 2 hits of the white underbase and then hitting those colours just once on top. I can understand the thicker ink layer and counteracting it with higher mesh counts except for an effect that sometimes can happen (is it called a mignet effect?) where you'll get these weird screen lines across the image. To prevent that I've found that if the underbase is a higher mesh count than the overprint colour it doesn't seem to happen. How high of a mesh count do you usually go when printing the underbase? I find if I go higher than a 160 mesh with white it gets taxing on my arms after awhile haha. Thanks again as always, keep up the good work Almightees!

Thank you! I’m glad you got it figured out!!

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion. We have a variety of durometers here at the shop. Some triple, some dual. Also depends on mesh count, ink color, and ink viscosity.

@@Almightees70 Ok, I for sure thought the viscosity would have some factor in it (ie a white ink would most likely require a stiffer squeegee?) but the mesh count I never thought of. I look forward to that video, thanks for taking the time to explain. I also love all your other videos showcasing actual client jobs you do from day to day too. Really cool to see the process behind the scenes.

It is a bit thicker, but due to an extra screen fee and smaller quantity…most of our clients are more concerned about not raising the cost per tee up too much.

@@Almightees70 true, for smaller orders skipping a highlight white saves time and money

Very true! Our orders usually don’t exceed 100 pcs.

@@SPYLXER But I do agree that a highlight white is the better way to go if it’s in your clients budget.

Thank you! Yeah…that’s one of the down sides to the ring spun cotton. We do increase off contact a bit and PFP. There will still be a bit of fibrillation, but minimal!!

@@Almightees70 Thanks for that explanation. On that note, I found a little tip I sometimes use and I would be curious to know if you've tried or would be willing to test out. I found it on a screen print forum from 2007 and it worked amazingly and stands the test of time haha. Take a misting spray bottle (I bought one off Amazon for $30 that was more ergonomical) and lightly mist over the shirt when it's on the platen. Print the underbase as you usually would and it'll really tamp down the fibres. Then flash and overbase and you have a super smooth as butter white print. At first I was sketched out thinking the moisture would affect the bonding/final cure but I think due to the fact all of the moisture from the light misting is being sucked out by the flash and the final cure I have tried the stretch test, wash test, etc. and haven't encountered any problems. (Disclaimer would be of course test to see if you have any problems with multiple wash/stress tests and make sure you are curing fully with the donut probe or temp gun or whatever you use). Anyway, let me know if that works for you! You guys are getting smooth prints already so the difference might be subtle but I found it worked better than any flattening screen trick I tried.

Thank you! Give us a sub, if you don’t mind!

You can? I wasn’t aware of this.

@@Almightees70 yes. They have a specialized film that has glitter on it. So it embeds into ink as you print. The metallic they have 2 ways. Specialized foils that go on them and the second is harder to find, it's a specialized film that has nano particles arrangement in a peculiar way allowing light to reflect off making them have that metallic look.

Loose mesh can be a problem. Have you tried the retentionable frames? Eco Frames? Ryonet sells them. I'm thinking about buying a starter pack, for orders where tighter mesh is critical.

That's a low quantity for 6 colors. DTF would be a great option for that order. That's what our Shop would do. DTF holds up well up to around 45-50 washes typically. (not too far off screen printed images) We have been using DTF for a few years on smaller orders and we have never had a complaint on longevity. As far as the plastic feel, after we peel the carrier sheet, we hit the image again with another finish press at around 7-10 seconds covered with parchment paper. It gives it a super light hand and more of a matte finish. Seems to really grab the substrate on the second hit. This is just what we do, and advice is free. Hope this helps. Best of luck.

I agree with @crawleyprintshop7809 , DTF does hold up very well. What I did before I started offering it to existing clients, was to get some DTF printed with the Almightees logo and pressed, wore and washed them to see how they held up. I have been pretty satisfied. But like anything...it won't last forever. And I might be a bit biased, but I do think screen printing does hold up better long term.

​@@Almightees70Does DTF look as good as SP? I like how SP paint gets soaked into the fabric but DTF kind of sits on the top. Which one looks more vibrant given they both have same number of colors used?

It really does look good. I am a bit biased to the longevity of screen printing. DTF does crack in time also. Both look pretty vibrant. But with straight white...SP wins by a landslide, because we can print flash print.

It's called screen printing. Screen printing uses ink.

Yesssir! Will do! Got to see a cardiologist this coming Friday. I'll keep you posted!

Thank you! Yeah it is a bit of a balancing act with adding reducer to get the ink to pass through a higher mesh screen fairly easily and still maintaining opacity. I usually try not to add any and just muscle it through or use multiple passes of my print stroke. Keep grinding!

@@Almightees70 Thanks and yes I do try not to add much reducer but on those higher mesh screens it seems like I'm usually adding a conservative amount. I also have noticed that I have an easier time using the push stroke specifically for the higher meshes as it seems to clear in less passes. Do you find that as well? Also I hope you're recovering well, have a good day.

I usually never push print. My prints always seem to end up getting blurry. I get the whole ergonomic aspect of it, I’ve always just been more comfortable pulling.

@@Almightees70 I pulled for like 7 years, then for ergonomics I did some pushes and got the hang of it, but have ended up pulling for the most part still as there is more control with the slight flex of the squeegee to get into those uneven bumpy parts. But I'll still push when it seems right on those higher mesh screens. I found for the push stroke anything below a 160mesh won't be as good as a pull stroke and get too much ink down. If you're getting blur it could be a combo of loose screen tension, too much or too little off contact, too much squeegee pressure (usually at the end of the push you push harder as your body leans over and you really just have to glide and use way less effort), not the right squeegee durometer (I use a stiffer triple durometer one for it usually), too much EOM, etc. But if you want to see the push stroke executed well look up Golden Press Studios. czcams.com/users/shorts_FAWxfXzVyw