Author Topic: Clear Discharge different shades  (Read 992 times)

Offline Pangea

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Clear Discharge different shades
« on: September 27, 2018, 12:25:51 PM »
I have a client that wants a vintage-y looking off white/natural cotton color print. My thinking was that it would be easy enough to use discharge base and everything was going great until I started doing the left sleeves on the larges. The print is a five location (LC/FB/RS/LS/Tag) and we're printing on Canvas 3501s which are side seamed.

Am I going to run in to issues with every print location having a slightly different shade of natural cotton? This is a reprint since they weren't happy with how the first batch came out (prints weren't all the same shade, thought it was my dryer scorching) so if I have to cut my losses and issue a refund I'd rather stop printing and save a day on press.

Any advice would be very helpful.


Offline ZooCity

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Re: Clear Discharge different shades
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2018, 12:55:38 PM »
Probably yes. 

Most mills aren't going to have the same dye lot for each panel of the garment which will be the main reason for that variance.

Instead of doing a truly tonal print here, use a pigmented DC ink with the desired shade.  It's opacity will keep the print color standardized and you'll still get the look.

FYI, true tonal DC really is only for select clients that are ok with variance, it's never consistent within or between garments since the garments are never consistent.

Offline aauusa

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Re: Clear Discharge different shades
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2018, 12:57:34 PM »
go with one stroke water color inks.     this will give you the look your are wanting.   look them up on FB and you will see a few post which have the water color inks printed and it is a vintage look.

Offline ABuffington

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Re: Clear Discharge different shades
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2018, 01:04:33 PM »
The amount of ink you print will vary on setup and affect color.  So a 60 duro narrow squeegee will lay down more ink than a 70 duro wide squeegee.  So this is just subjective viewing and adjust duro, angle, speed, pressure until it matches previous prints, and it isn't easy.  The amount of ink in the screen and how frequently you add ink also can affect how it discharges.  We tried to keep at least an inch of ink in front of the squeegee at all times by building ink dams around squeegee/flood stroke to keep it localized and added a drop of activated ink every 10 prints or so with a worker walking the back of the press. (We did 7-10 color discharge prints.)  Keeping ink fresh every couple of minutes helps.  Then there is shirt fiber.  It tends to gather in the center of the print path and needs to be removed and scooped out.  About 4 hours of printing and you could see a dip in the bead of discharge ink that would print a dark stripe down the middle of that print.

Then to make it more interesting,  you need to measure out activator and base precisely and keep that ratio consistent.  I used small plastic cups pre-weighed for a quart only and added to exactly 1 quart of base.  Then there are dye lots in the shirts.  One dye lot may discharge a bit different than another even though they are the same color shirts. this is why we liked adding pigments to the base.  You can duplicate the greige goods color with pigments and print a tan far easier.  Then the difference in squeegees, print speeds, is not as crucial since the pigment is left over and shading isn's as noticeable.

 
Alan Buffington
Murakami Screen USA  - Technical Support and Sales
www.murakamiscreen.com

Offline Pangea

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Re: Clear Discharge different shades
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2018, 01:35:10 PM »
Probably yes. 

Most mills aren't going to have the same dye lot for each panel of the garment which will be the main reason for that variance.

Instead of doing a truly tonal print here, use a pigmented DC ink with the desired shade.  It's opacity will keep the print color standardized and you'll still get the look.

FYI, true tonal DC really is only for select clients that are ok with variance, it's never consistent within or between garments since the garments are never consistent.

There were 3 people involved in the design process and the only "color" they could agree on was the clear discharge  ::). At this point I think I'll see what they think of the tonal difference or see if they want me to try and match a Pantone to the already printed backs (which all look the same).