Q.What is a Screen Printing?

A. It is where an ink is mixed in a printing base and is forced through a screen mesh, onto a substrate with the use of a squeegee.

Q. What are the advantages of Screen Printing?

A. Screen Printing is the most versatile in terms of technology print. It can produce various effects print from traditional to trendy inks, with bold and brilliant colours.

Q. How do I slow ink from drying up?

A. Evaporation can caused inks to dry. To prevent screens from drying up fast, you may need to add a reducer base to the ink.

Q. How do I prevent my screens from clogging during printing?

A. Ensure printing area is well ventilated or use a couple of humidifiers in the printing area. Wash-up the screens immediately with water and a soft brush after the last print is used.

Q. What should I do should the ink dry in the screen?

A. Should the ink dry in the screen, try spraying with a window cleaner and dry with a lint-free cloth. Wash off again with warm water mixed with a dishwashing soap by using a soft brush. Then rinse with warm water again and pat dry.

Q. Can I reclaim my screen? How?

A. You can reclaim your screen provided it is not applied with a photo hardener. Soak the screen for about three (3) minutes in a flat pan that is filled with a mixture of 1 liter water and 10 grams of emulsion stripper.

Q. How do I remove the ghost or haze after reclaiming my screen?

A. To remove the ghost and haze on your screen, you must wear gloves and mask first. Slowly rub both sides of the screen with cloth applied with Isophorone to remove the shadow. Then apply the haze remover on both sides of the screen and rub or brush the paste briskly to avoid premature screen rupture. Let the screen stand for about 5 minutes or less (much better). Rinse off with a gentle spray then with a power spray on both sides.

Q. Can I clean my screen in the middle of printing waterbased-inks ?

A. You can gently wipe the back of the screen on every set of prints with a very damp-lint-free cloth. The water will break down the ink in the screen. Repeat with another piece of very damp-lint-free cloth if needed, then pat dry.

Q. Do I need to do underprint on my shirt?

A. An under-print reduces or eliminates the substrate colour from showing through.  If printing light ink on a dark shirt, it is ideal to do a white layer of under-print first. If using a matte base inks on a dark shirt (especially with dark coloured inks), it is not necessary to do an under-print.

Q. When do I use a registration guide?

A. Registration guide is important if printing with more than one colour.

Q. Why is it important to heat set my prints?

A. Heat setting your final print helps improve your print against washing off as it dries the inks but it can fade off in time. You can set to cure the dried inks with a household iron or a heat press machine, protected with a cloth or a Teflon sheet. A conveyor oven drier is most ideal to use. A guided temperature would be at 150°C (300°F) for not less than a minute.

Q. What is the ideal screen tension ?

A. A drum tight screen tension influences registration, ink deposit, & print details. It enhances fabric & stencil's life as well. The best screen tension varies with mesh count, frame size, frame material and substrate. Tension is lost in time and due to deflection of the frame bars.

Q. How long should I exposed the screen?

A. There is no standard rule in screen exposure. It depends on the age, the type, and the distance of your light. It depends on the mesh and your stencil colour. It depends on the quality of your stencil or emulsion. It depends on your coating thickness (the thicker the longer time) and your mesh count (the lower the longer time). It is better to slightly over expose than under expose for developing and even reclaiming screen.

Q. What should I do if my old emulsion won't come off when reclaiming?

A. An under exposed or uncured screen can make reclaiming difficult. It is necessary to re-exposed it again in order to harden the emulsion completely.

Q. What is the difference between a screen printed shirts from a vinyl heat transfer shirts?

A. Screen printed shirts have inks penetrated onto your shirts that make it to last longer than the vinyl heat transfer shirts. Screen printed shirts may fade or crack a little but would still look great for years to come with proper care and handling.

Q. What is a Water-based Ink?

A. Water-Based ink is a printing base that uses water and co-solvent that evaporates when exposed to heat.

Q. What are the advantages in using a water-based Ink?

A. Water-based inks provide a soft hand feel and provide greater ink penetration. It is ideal for use on a manual and machine printing. It uses water to clean the screen.

Q. What are the disadvantages in using a water-based Ink?

A. Water-based inks require longer curing time to ensure that the water or solvent has totally evaporated. Care is important to prevent the ink from drying fast in the screen. Water-based ink if left on the screen for a short period of time in a poor ventilated environment has a tendency to clog the screen faster.

Q. What is the shelf life of your water-based inks?

A. Most of our water-based inks have a shelf life of about 24 months from the date of manufacture, as long as the inks have been handled hygienically and stored at room temperature with the lids firmly closed.

Q. Can I intermix your water-based inks with other brand inks?

A. Intermixing brands can lead print to delaminate and inks to break. It is recommended that you do the test print first against wash and other tests to determine incompatibility due to intermixing brands. Intermixing brands can cause problem in the technical help.

Q. Why is my print adhesion poorer now when I have always been using the same inks for the same type of fabric for a long time?

A. Your fabric composition may have changed or may have been loaded with remnants of sizing chemical. It is necessary to pre-test all fabrics before production print.

Q. What is the right ink for my use?

A. Keenworth water-based inks are available in various series – for a traditional to a fashionable print technique. Send us your samples or your design concept and we shall do the service for free.

Q. Do you do customs colours?

A. We accept colour matching service for a gallon quantity.

Q. Do you have ready colour mixing bases?

A. We sell ready mixed base series from our standard shades.

Q. Why is my print not adhering to some substrate?

A. The inks you used may not be ideal for use on the substrate printed on. You need to pre-test the substrate days after printing to ensure it does not delaminate in time.

Q. How do I prevent inks from thickening on storage?

A. Make sure to always close the lid tightly when not in use to prevent evaporation. Inks tend to thicken when stored over a period of time.

Q. How do I prevent excess ink build-up around the edges of the screen?

A. Ink is exposed to evaporation as you print. Return the ink to its container and stirring it well so the ink will work just fine when put back in to the screen.

Q. How many number of passes should I make to ensure complete ink coverage?

A. For dark colour fabric, it is advisable to use a matte base ink that can give you enough opacity yet retaining its nearest colour shade. Dark colour fabric normally would require at least 2-3 passes of a consistent and even pressure squeegee in order to produce a clearer and more solid image.

Q. What should I do if my ink prints not opaque enough?

A. Aside from doing multiple prints, you can use a coarser mesh with a rounded squeegee and do flash dry with a heat gun after every print or do an underprint of white. Also ensure enough table adhesive is applied onto the printing board to hold the substrate flat.

Q. Why is my print fading after few prints only?

A. It means your screen is slowly clogging up. You have to rehydrate the ink by adding a few drops of retarder (to delay drying) and stir it well.

Q. When can I modify my inks?

A. Modify your inks only if you need to reduce or increase the ink viscosity to your liking. To avoid problems, make sure that you do not add excessive modifier or even other incompatible products. Always use a weighing scale to weigh in.

Q. How long does it take for the water-based ink to dry?

A. Water-Based ink dries depending on the temperature, humidity, and the ink you use.

Q. How do I print CMYK or simulated process?

A. Unlike spot or solid colour print, tonal print is best used on a wet on wet process. It means you do not exposed each colour print to heat gun or any source of heat until you have reached your final colour print.

Q. Should I clean my screen in the middle of printing the water-based inks ?

A. It is good to clean your screen. You can gently wipe the back of the screen on every set of prints with a very damp-lint-free cloth. The water will break down the ink in the screen. Repeat with another piece of very damp-lint-free cloth if needed, then pat dry.

Q. What is a Plastisol Ink?

A. Plastisol ink is a thermoplastic ink that requires a higher temperature setting to solidify.

Q. What are the advantages in using a Plastisol Ink?

A. Plastisol ink can be left in the screen for many days without mesh clogging. Ink left unconsumed and clean can be returned to the container for reuse without problem.

Q. What are the disadvantages in using a Plastisol Ink?

A. Plastisol ink will re-melt if it comes in contact with heat again, hence it can smear the ink. It requires higher temperature setting to cure. Improper curing can lead to poor washing and cracking of the print. It tends to produce thicker and heavy feel. More opacity produces thicker hand feel.

Q. What is the shelf life of your plastisol inks?

A. Our plastisol inks have a shelf life of about 24 months from the date of manufacture, as long as the inks have been handled hygienically and stored at room temperature with the lids firmly closed.

Q. Can I intermix your plastisol inks with other brand inks?

A. It is possible. However, it is recommended that you do the test print first against wash and other tests to determine incompatibility due to intermixing brands. Intermixing brands can cause problem in the technical help.

Q. What can I do if my Plastisol ink thickens?

A. Plastisol inks thicken over time. It requires a re-stirring of the inks or a mixing of a viscosity reducer.

Q. What do I use to clean a Plastisol ink?

A. Plastisol inks use mineral spirit or turpentine to clean up the screens, squeegees, and spatulas.

Q.Should I clean my screen in the middle of printing the plastisol inks ?

A. It is good to clean your screen. You can print the inks onto a piece of clean paper for the inks to push through and leaving the screen down. You can also gently wipe the back of the screen on every set of prints with a very damp-lint-free cloth. The mineral spirit or turpentine will break down the ink in the screen. Repeat with another piece of very damp-lint-free cloth if needed, then pat dry.

Q. Why do I need to flood my screen?

A. Flooding keeps the screen from drying out.

Q. What is a Sublimation Ink?

A. Sublimation ink is a conversion of a solid dye particle to a vapour or gaseous state (when printed onto a transfer paper) and back to a solid state when print is cured onto the final substrate.

Q. Can Sublimation Ink be applied onto any substrate?

A. Sublimation ink needs polymers to bond. For textile, polyester substrate is used. Ceramics, metals, mugs and mouse mats coated with a special polymer layer can work well. 100% cotton t-shirts with micro-poly outer weaves can enable the sublimation process to take effect.

Q. What are the advantages in doing Sublimation printing?

A. Sublimation ink is printed onto a paper transfer then applied to a substrate of choice. The turnaround time is short and simple with heat press procedure only. Sublimation offer more detail and sharpness of print. The garment has a superior soft hand feel without peeling or cracking.

Q. What are the disadvantages in doing Sublimation printing?

A. The Sublimation process requires light coloured synthetic materials only such as polyester. It does not work well on dark substrates and on untreated natural fibers such as cotton. It cost more and fades when expose to ultraviolet light over time.