Author Topic: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?  (Read 3513 times)

Offline Clark

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American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« on: May 05, 2011, 11:58:13 AM »
I have had a huge rush on these garments lately.  Lights and darks.  what inks are y'all using for these?


Offline blue moon

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Re: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2011, 12:08:53 PM »
my first order on triblends, I ruined 30% of them. THe flash time is longer then the garment melt time in my case. Make sure you test before running the whole thing.

Load the smaller sizes on the youth plattens so they are not stretched (all the stretched shirts were burnt).

They are also a bitch to load as they are so stretchy, it's hard to get them on straight.

pierre
Yes, we've won our share of awards, and yes, I've tested stuff and read the scientific papers, but ultimately take everything I say with more than just a grain of salt! So if you are looking for trouble, just do as I say or even better, do something I said years ago!

Offline JBLUE

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Re: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2011, 12:14:23 PM »
I hate these for the same reasons above. Be very carful on the flash. The scorch super easy.
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Offline Clark

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Re: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2011, 12:34:37 PM »
Well I have flashed them with pretty good success just raising the flash..but I'd like to get a bright white without a ton of hand. For grins I discharge white'd one and the results weren't very good.  Mainly its the white I would like to get a better print with.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2011, 02:48:31 PM »
Print 'em all the time here.  Nothing special needed really, a fast flashing white helps out for sure though. 

If you're seeing garment scorching before the ink gels you can:

1.make sure the flash is level to the platen and at just the right height
2.use extra tack/smaller platens if need be to keep the shoulder seams off the platen and out of the flash zone
3.add something called "flashing powder" to quicken the flash times of your ink

I think with all the blends we print on, not just tri-bends, getting a super smooth white is pretty damn hard without dropping a crap ton of ink on the shirt.  We get close but the last run of anvil recycled Ts I did I was scratching my head about a better way.  It was a choice between a slightly rougher hand and slightly less opaque print but less ink on the shirt and a fully opaque, smooth print with a bit too much ink.  For the most part though, we're printing for a slightly vintage look on tri blends so it's easy going. 

Offline ZooCity

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Re: American Apparel TR401 Tri-Blends..whose printing them?
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2011, 02:49:24 PM »
Oh and to actually answer the question- we use phthalate-free plastisol, qcm and wilflex epic.