Printing Black on 100% Poly

[Fresh Baked Printing]

So I'm printing my first 100% poly job (Sport-Tek? - Competitor? Tee. ST350). They also get numbers from Transfer Express.
Transfer Express says the the procedure is the same for poly shirts as it is on cotton shirts regarding their screened transfer number application
Printing black ink on a gold color shirt so I'm assuming the regular black should be no problem.
Do I cure the shirt just as I would a cotton shirt?

Pretty much business as usual with these 100% poly shirts getting the regular black ink?

[Chadwick]

I print on polyester 'stuff' all the time, much to my dislike.
Jerseys, under-armor style garments, blends, etc.
White ink requires a low-bleed mix, but regular old black ink works just fine.
Watch your first garments going through the dryer carefully.
Many poly garments require the belt to be sped up some, as they will shrink,
or even 'scortch' faster than cotton.
Find the sweet spot and you should be golden.
Hope that helps.

[blue moon]

So I'm printing my first 100% poly job (Sport-Tek? - Competitor? Tee. ST350). They also get numbers from Transfer Express.
Transfer Express says the the procedure is the same for poly shirts as it is on cotton shirts regarding their screened transfer number application
Printing black ink on a gold color shirt so I'm assuming the regular black should be no problem.
Do I cure the shirt just as I would a cotton shirt?

Pretty much business as usual with these 100% poly shirts getting the regular black ink?

also, make sure you have somebody catching them. They will wrinkle if left in the bin and you will have to send them through again.

[Sbrem]

good tips, also, use more tack especially for multi color, they just don't stick quite as well. Plain old black should do fine.

Steve

[Fresh Baked Printing]

All great tips. Thanks everybody!

[squeegee]

Though I think black ink on gold will not be a problem, watch out for ghosting especially with light ink colors on darks, when you stack them hot say front side just printed and facing down sometimes the image will ghost onto the shirt below.  We stack in small piles, like 6-12 at a time and let them cool before putting them back in one big pile (especially in hot summer months).  I know it sounds crazy but we've had the problem happen more times than I want to remember.

Don't pack them hot either, let them cool.  I've opened 2 week old cases that were packed hot and they migrated horribly, if you let them cool, it will help a lot.

One more reason I hate polyester.

[Chadwick]

Oh yeah..
we have a cool down box on the end of our one dryer ( proper name escapes me ).
The other one doesn't, so we set up a fan blowing across the garments as they come out.
No a cure all, but it does help if you forget to catch them.

[DraginInk]

All good suggestions.
While we're on the poly subject I'll add that we run any poly through the dryer before we print. It helps with shrinkage if we are printing anything that requires flashing and seems to help with sublimation problems... dye migrating into light color inks, ghosting, etc.

[Frog]

All good suggestions.
While we're on the poly subject I'll add that we run any poly through the dryer before we print. It helps with shrinkage if we are printing anything that requires flashing and seems to help with sublimation problems... dye migrating into light color inks, ghosting, etc.

I run Poly and nylon through the dryer to deal with shrinkage, but I challenge the process as helping in poly dye sublimation/dye migration in the slightest.
From what I understand, if anything, it can actually exacerbate the problem by exciting those little molecule fellas.
Run 'em down to pre-shrink, cool 'em off, print away, and watch your temps.

I am willing to listen to anyone with repeatable, quantifiable evidence to the contrary. I am still learning.

[squeegee]

I would love to know an expert's take on this as well.  Dye migration is a huge problem and with onset in popularity of 100% poly gear, it would serve us all to know as much as possible on the subject.

[squeegee]

To further my previous post, in case it wasn't obvious I was trying to suggest, can we get an industry pro to talk shop about dye migration and have a good discussion on the subject, not discounting in anyway all suggestions made previously.

[ZooCity]

One thing I didn't see mentioned here is an ink with a low cure temp so you can ensure a good cure without melting the garment or aggravating the dyes too much.  If it's 100% poly I reach for the "athletic" inks every time and they haven't done us wrong yet. 

I'm with frog on running them through the dryer once or pre-flashing if it's multicolor but am highly skeptical that heating up the garments is going to somehow help prevent migration of the dyes into the print.  I don't see the logic there, the more I think about it. 

One thing that's frustrating about dye migration to me is that it's out of our hands often no matter what we do as printers.  From the little I know, both garment manufacturers and dye houses don't use consistent product as it isn't economically feasible to do so.  That leaves us stuck dealing with whatever mix of whatever sort of polyester they used and whichever sorts of dyes they mixed up to dip that lot into.  It's little wonder the variables are all over the road. 

On the sunnier side, we've had the pleasure of added migration blocking from the phthalate-free inks we use.  I guess they block dyes better than standard plastisols.  I didn't know this until recently and just figured we were doing everything right.

[Fresh Baked Printing]

After printing, is it the wash cycle or the clothes dryer that causes them to bleed? Can following specific laundry instructions after they're in the customers hands help?

[Frog]

After printing, is it the wash cycle or the clothes dryer that causes them to bleed? Can following specific laundry instructions after they're in the customers hands help?

Twenty years ago, I had an order of 50/50 reds printed white turn pink two weeks later. Some laundered, some not. In this instance, at least, it was neither the washing nor the drying cycles.
I have avoided this combination like the plague since then

[Dottonedan]

After printing, is it the wash cycle or the clothes dryer that causes them to bleed? Can following specific laundry instructions after they're in the customers hands help?

Like Frog said.  It can be neither but and it can also be all three, Dwell time/heat, Time in the heat in a store/on shelves, Drying in a dryer.. I remember seeing an order go through the shop perfect and a few weeks later, they started complaining about them turning pink (on the shelves/hangers). Time/heat can also turn them if the due is not blocked well.

I did just notice a shirt today that Jerzees gave out at the show ---a few months back Maybe Jan/Feb. and I know it's been washed at least 5 times. Still bright as the first day Solid white on Red 50/50  I happened to pick at it today for some reason.