Curing your screen printed garment

When y'all have printed the garment you need to cure the ink otherwise when the garment goes through the launder you volition notice that information technology fades, cracks and in some circumstances disappears birthday. There are some inks that are air dry but popular inks such equally plastisol and waterbased inks need to be cured.

Curing is the bodily chemical process by which the ink dries and bonds to the shirt fabric.

We are frequently asked 'what is the best equipment to cure screen printing fabric ink?' The unproblematic answer is a tunnel dryer yet they can be expensive specially when starting off, so what are the options?

Of import: Not all textile ink cure at the aforementioned time or temperature. Accept a look at 'The Cure' which looks into ink curing in some detail.

Always check the documentation that comes with your ink and remember that the best test is ever a launder test.

What equipment can exist used?

Hair dryer

Hair Dryers – they are not hot enough, they will dry a waterbased ink only not cure it – Not RECOMMENDED

IronIron – Don't give an even heat and most are not hot enough to cure the ink fully. If you are press T Shirts for your ain utilize and are not worried about the ink gradually disappearing then an iron is an pick – Non RECOMMENDED

Heat GunOestrus Guns – With a lot of patience and skill you could cure the ink only y'all are likely to scorch the garment so be conscientious. You can use a heat gun to touch dry out the ink (the same job as a flash dryer) prior to printing the next colour – Non RECOMMENDED (express utilize)

Flash dryersFlash Dryers – normally used for touch drying the ink between prints when printing multi colour, it is possible to apply a flash dryer to cure the ink but tin be time consuming and requires management to ensure the garment does not burn. Works amend for plastisol ink than waterbased ink (which requires longer cure). Limited Use FOR Depression Production.

Hand CurerManus Curer – can exist used for both impact drying the ink between prints when printing multi colour and comes with a timer making utilize easier. Tin also be used for ink curing as the hand curer uses quartz elements which heat immediately and cool immediately making the equipment safer and more than free energy efficient than a traditional flash dryer. We apply mitt curers for exhibitions and training sessions. RECOMMENDED FOR LOW PRODUCTION.

Heat PressHeat Presses – are fine for curing depression numbers of garments, about modern presses have timers making it easier to manage. Heat Presses are used for lots of different applications such as vinyl transfer then commonly found in almost T Shirt printing shops.

When using a heat press to cure screen printing inks you volition need to put some grease proof paper or transfer release paper on the ink first before curing. Y'all will demand just a very light pressure and you lot will need to set the timer according to the ink yous are using. Can be used for curing screen printing textile inks

Tunnel DryerTunnel Dryers – the best solution to cure big numbers of garments in a short infinite of time but the most expensive. They can cure potentially hundreds of garments per hour. Nosotros make them to all shapes and sizes based on the level of production and the size of garments beingness used.   If you are printing with waterbased inks choose the longest dryer you can afford to avoid having to put the garment through twice. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED