TSB

screen printing => Ink and Chemicals => Topic started by: Mr Tees!! on March 19, 2012, 02:21:49 PM

Title: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: Mr Tees!! on March 19, 2012, 02:21:49 PM
...looking to see how you guys may be tackling these...found a good ink that cures maybe?
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: Sbrem on March 19, 2012, 02:52:45 PM
Hate 'em. Our best luck with them has been using a clear primer, then air dry multi-purpose inks, like NazDar's 9500 series. I've tried some other things with no luck in particular. Some recommended a water based ink that I tried last year, but it was totally awful for us. They did take it back and credit us, which was nice. Eco Aqua-Pura I think it was. However, someone was making it work for them, it just wasn't us. Inkman (Mike) maybe?

Steve
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: royster13 on March 19, 2012, 04:07:38 PM
Nazdar has some inks that will work....
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: ZooCity on March 19, 2012, 10:08:01 PM
These are about the dumbest thing I've seen in a consumer product in a while.  What exactly is 'green' about a semi disposable piece of junk that takes solvent inks to print? 

Encourage your client to say good riddance to them and go with something more sensible. 
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: whitewater on June 21, 2012, 08:58:35 AM
ok bringing this back to relevance...whats going on with these polypro totes?  can i use plastisol ink on them or does it have to be air dry?

i/m asking because i have to quote for 9,000 quantity..instead of the insulated bags he will take something else..

I was looking for black canvas but can not find cheap ass ones...

For the polypro totes ive read before that they tend to melt....
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: royster13 on June 21, 2012, 09:05:28 AM
You can usually buy them printed for pennies more than blank from a promotional products supplier...At 9,000 pieces a supplier like American Ad Bag would print them for 8 cents each....
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: whitewater on June 21, 2012, 09:08:12 AM
thanks royster..

ill look into it.
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: mk162 on June 21, 2012, 09:09:55 AM
I printed some last week.  Blank ink, lime bag.  I used some catalyst in the ink so I could drop the heat.  They melt fast.  I didn't want to do them, I quoted the guy high and he bit.  150 bags, $1.18 a print plus a setup.  He could have had the bags done for less than my bill..  Took me 30 minutes from start to finish.

And yeah whitewater, just because you CAN print something, doesn't mean you should.  Like I said in another post, let somebody else do the work on these and print something where you make more money.
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: inkman996 on June 21, 2012, 09:23:15 AM
I used the aqua pura for a long time on these and it does work well atleast with the inks I had. I have not purchased the stuff in ages and it seems to be less or not even advertised any more so who knows if what I had and what is available today is the same. It did air dry and dry quickly at that, once started you need to go with out stopping and go as fast as you can.

We have not printed these in quite a while because the ASI guys do it so damn cheap, it makes sense to sub out.

The nazdar DA series would probably work also but we have mixed results with this ink on water proof materials and curing.
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: whitewater on June 21, 2012, 10:34:02 AM
I printed some last week.  Blank ink, lime bag.  I used some catalyst in the ink so I could drop the heat.  They melt fast.  I didn't want to do them, I quoted the guy high and he bit.  150 bags, $1.18 a print plus a setup.  He could have had the bags done for less than my bill..  Took me 30 minutes from start to finish.

And yeah whitewater, just because you CAN print something, doesn't mean you should.  Like I said in another post, let somebody else do the work on these and print something where you make more money.

mk....i know....
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: mk162 on June 21, 2012, 10:36:20 AM
good, last week you seemed dead set on printing these in house.

I like to stick to what I know.  I had a guy come in here wearing a shirt that looked 4 years old.  The print was perfect, the shirt was crap.  That makes me feel good.
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: JBLUE on June 21, 2012, 10:41:59 AM
We print them fairly often. I suggest you order some samples and see how they react. Some take more heat than others. Some wont even let you get to 320 without shriveling up like a Shrinky Dink. If it were me I would outsource that typ of quantity. Anything over 150 pcs for us goes out the door with these things.
Title: Re: Non-woven Polypropylene grocery totes.....anyone doin em?
Post by: Inkworks on June 22, 2012, 12:39:30 AM
Low temp plastisol works just fine, but it can be pricey. I often just use nylon catalyst and regular plastisol, give them as much heat as they will take without shrivelling and you're good to go.