How to thin white water based ink for screen printing
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
- In this video I cover my process for thinning white water based ink for screen printing. If you have ever printed with white water based ink, then you know it's really thick and tends to dry quickly. Adding clear core to the ink can make it thinner and easier to work with.
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been waiting for this!! excited to see what you have to say
Hope you liked it!
@@startupscreenprinting Hi, I mixed some clear core in with my white comet, but it doesn't appear to have done anything as its just as thick as ever! I also put quite a bit clear core in. Do you know of anything that I could do?
Did you mix 12% of the amount of white? So for example if 300 grams of white ink, you’d put 36 grams of clear core
@@startupscreenprinting Yes, I started with 12% and then fully mixed it up, although it still seemed too thick for my liking so I added more clear core in but that didn't seem to change the thickness too much
Hmm I’ve always had great results from just 12%. I mean it’s still way thicker than any other color of water based ink, but it’s creamier than before the clear core and easier to work with and stays wet longer. I’m surprised you didn’t have a good result.
Just to be sure, you’re using clear core and not opaque core, right?
You can also use the clear core, opaque core, and white pigment to mix your own white. It will be way thinner but you will need probably to do print-flash-print-flash-print in order to have a nice white print.
Seeing white ink move that smoothly makes me want to try water based even more! I'm nervous to try because so many printers talk about the drying out of the screens. Would love to see a video on the speed with which you might do a job. I always wonder how fast you have to keep moving when using water based ink, so my perception my be misconstrued. I'm super intrigued by water based!!
oh don't let the fear hold you back. Water based is soooooo worth it. I can tell you with absolute confidence that you do NOT have to work quickly. Sometimes I move at a snail's pace and it works just fine. White ink you do have to be a "tad" faster than others, but it's really no big deal. I've got a 450pc order that I'm about to print soon and I'm thinking about doing a live stream while I print, so even if you can't be on the live the video will be available after so you'll be able to see the speed at which I print. It's black ink, so I definitely am not worried at all about it drying because black is super wet and thin. It's my fav to print for sure haha.
@@startupscreenprinting Oh man, this is great info! I might order some white this weekend even! I initially thought I would start with water base ink because I am working out of my garage and I worry about the chemicals in my drains (and just chemicals in general!) and the fear of my "not so perfect set up" and the screens drying out, made me start with plastisol. Everything I had read said, water based was hard for beginners. Seriously, thank you for all your info and feedback. I will hopefully catch your livestream! I'm super curious how your set up works. I only have a flash dryer too but have been heat pressing my shirts to cure. Have an AWESOME weekend!
Great Video
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I've been having this problem where, even using clear core with the comet white as you described, the t-shirt is sticking to the screen after my print stroke. It seems to be because the ink is drying out on-press, because i'm not sure what else would be making it stick. I increased the off contact to well over 1/4", honestly probably 1/2" at this point, and I'm spraying a little extra puff of spray-tack every other shirt or so to make sure there's enough.
I guess my question is, can I add substantially more clear core to keep the ink from drying out without losing too much opacity, or is there anything else that could be causing the garment to stick to the screen with the white ink?
To me it sounds like this might be a heat issue. How hot is your platen getting during this? I find that if my platens aren't cooling off enough then the ink starts to get thicker, faster and the shirts start to stick cause it becomes harder to clear the screen when printing. The other variable that comes to mind is what mesh size are you using. If its something lower than a 156, then it might be letting too much ink through and also too much air in so the ink is drying faster and its harder to clear. Hope that helps!
good video, but are you talking about white being the underbase to print other colors? I'll look for another video for using Comet white as an underbase for multiple color print.
If you’re asking if it’s ok to use comet as an under base the answer is yes, I do all the time :)
Great video and informative tips that I will definitely try in the future… So glad to see this for there’s not a lot of in-depth information on RUclips specifically for printing with water based inks.
Are there other options to touch base with you to ask questions other than RUclips?
Sure! You can DM me on Instagram - @startupscreenprinting
@@startupscreenprinting Will do! Thank you sir...
I don't know about water base but with my plastisol I place my ink tube in a shallow pan of hot water while setting up a job. When I'm ready to print the white ink is smooth and feels lite on the squeege without thinning. I wonder if this would work for water base ink.
Hi David. That's a good idea. The nice thing about plastisol is that it softens as it warms. A lot of people will simply stir the ink a bunch before printing to get it warmed up and softened. Unfortunately with water based ink, heat causes water to evaporate, so warming the ink will actually thicken it slightly. So thinning it with the clear core is best.
Does adding clear core, or water, mean I’d need to change the curing times at all? Am curing with a heat press
Hi Tim, I'm not totally certain, but I would imagine you could cure the same as usual. I guess there's potential adding water means it would take longer for the water to evaporate completely, but if you're adding a low-cure catalyst like I do, then it probably will still take the same amount of time to get to the curing temp of 260+ so I think your current process would be fine. Certainly worth testing to confirm, but I don't think you'll have any issues.
thoughts on doing this but with the opaque core?
Typically the opaque core is only used when mixing custom colors and in that case, you'll be adding a ton of clear core to the mix anyway. I'm not sure of a situation where you would be using opaque core on it's own so there's not really a need to thin it on it's own.
@@startupscreenprinting i mean thinning the white with opaque core. I have found even the opaque core is still very wet and thin.
ohhhhhh haha i'm an idiot... totally missed that lol, my fault. hmm I haven't considered that. It would certainly maintain better opacity than the clear core so I could see a benefit there. It's thinner than the white for sure, but quite a bit thicker than clear core so I'm wondering how much you would have to mix to see a benefit. The idea has potential. If you end up trying it, i'd love to hear your results.
i wonder that this clear core would work in every other colours ? ( black, blue, yellow, etc...) like does it also make the pigment weaken ?
Yeah it does weaken the pigment some. The other colors are already super thin so they don’t really need it. If you use the Fusion mixing system, the clear core is an ingredient in every color you mix.
Really interesting video. What is clear core? A retarder perhaps?
Yeah it's not necessarily a retarder, but often used as such. In this case, adding it to white, I'm definitely using it as a retarder. It's meant to be a clear base for the water based Fusion mixing system from Green Galaxy. In the mixing system, it's added with their opaque core plus pigments to form a colored ink.
Hello sir. I just got my first small gig. They want color other than white in black cotton T-shirts. Do I need white under base? Is that same as white ink? TIA.
Depends on the color, but most likely you'd need an underbase. Josh at JoshIsTerrific has a good video showing when it's needed: ruclips.net/video/tMw-k-HJlds/видео.html
What would be the mixing ratio if I buy a quart of both clear core and white ink?
You would still only mix 12% clear core into the white. So a quart of white is probably somewhere in the 900+ grams range, so you’d add about 100+ grams of clear core into it. Total white times 12% will get you the clear core amount to add.
@@startupscreenprinting thanks appreciate it!
Cant I just add water to thin it out? Or would that ruin the ink?
It wouldn’t ruin it but it could thin it too much which could make your ink leak through the mesh. Plus water evaporates faster than clear core you would end up needing to add more and more as the ink continues to thicken as the water evaporates. That’s why adding clear core is best as it thins the ink and will last much longer during high runs so you don’t have to keep adding more while you print.
What is the best Emulsion to use for water base inks
I personally use Baselayr Complete and I love it. You can also use Baselayr Long Lasting. Both available from Ryonet ssp.ink/ryonet
Why don't you add water?
You certainly could, however the issue is just straight water evaporates much faster than the clear core, so you would have to continually add more water and it could make the ink too runny. So I find that the clear core helps the white be thinner/smoother while still maintaining a moisture content that doesn’t evaporate too quickly. That’s what works best for me, but I’d encourage you to try both methods to see what you like better and go with that. 👍🏽
An 8 min video to show how to thin waterbased inks 😂
haha what can i say, i like to be thorough 🤣