WATERBASED INK AT IT’S FINEST

We recently visited Magna Colours for a day course on how to use their waterbased inks to gain the best results. We had the opportunity to learn from their best technicians and play with a range of their award winning waterbased inks.   

If you are just starting out in waterbased ink, Magna Colours has an entire learning academy to help you make the transition from plastisol to waterbased ink. If you haven’t got time to take the full course, here are our top tips that we have learnt from visiting the Magna Colours Factory. 

1 FLOOD, 2 PASSES

Yes, you read that right. 1 flood, 2 passes. Magna Colours suggests that whether you are printing on an automatic press or a manual press, it is best practice to pass the squeegee over the screen twice. This is to force the ink through the screen and make sure you are FULLY clearing the screen before going onto your next print. Having a perfectly clear mesh will stop ink from drying in the screen. 

BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR FLOOD

With waterbased printing you need to keep your screen flooded with a heavy deposit of ink between prints. You should leave at least 2mm of ink over the entire image area to avoid it from drying in the screen.

MIST, MIST, MIST

Some printers use a misting machine but if you can’t afford an expensive piece of kit, find yourself a handheld spray bottle which distributes a fine mist of water. When misting your screen, the aim is to gently mist the edges where your ink has built up. You should use this little and often. Try not to drench your screen with water as doing this may leave a negative result. 

You can buy a trigger spray bottle at Screen Print World. Remember to use our DISCOUNT CODE : CRP5 

GOING ON A BREAK BUT DON’T WANT THE INK TO DRY?

If you have ever printed with waterbased inks in the past you will know the annoyance of taking a break. In the past we would rather skip break time than let our inks dry in the screen. 

Here is the trick!… before going on a break, print your design and leave the mesh clear (ie. do not flood!). Once the design area is clear, spray the mesh with water then cover with a damp towel/rag. Doing this will keep the screen moist and keep the mesh from clogging up. When you come back from your break, just remove the towel, do a quick test print and you should be good to print again. 

USE FLASH DRYERS

When it comes to printing multi-colour designs, you can treat waterbased ink similar to plastisol. Give the design a quick flash in between colours to avoid the ink from transporting onto the next screen. This leads onto our next tip…

You can purchase the best flash dryers for all studio sizes at Screen Print World. Remember to use our discount code for Screen Print World with all your orders!

> Click here for flash dryers <
USE DISCOUNT CODE : CRP5

PRE-HEAT YOUR PLATENS

For best practice, make sure your platens are hot before printing your run of t-shirts. Doing this will allow the heat to transfer through the garment easier resulting in a shorter flash time. Having hot platens right from the start will also ensure that your printing will continue to run smoothly throughout the job. 

FOCUS ON A SMOOTH UNDERBASE

The quality of your underbase is extremely important to achieve a good final print. You are looking for a smooth and even underbase everytime. If your underbase is rough or uneven, you will start to find pinholes in your design. 

If you are struggling to get your underbase perfectly smooth, here are some things you can do to troubleshoot the issue:

• Check that your platen doesn’t have any excess lint build up.
• Check your platen for dents or wear and tear.
• Make sure you have an even layer of stick on your platen.
• Make sure your screen is of good quality, clean and a high tension.
• Check you have enough snap between the platen and screen.
• Make sure your squeegee is nice and sharp.

If all of these pointers are good then you should be printing a perfect underbase later.

MIX UP YOUR MESH COUNTS

It is advised to use a 43t mesh (110t US measure) for your underbase and white inks, but when it comes to the top colours, we advise using a 62t mesh (156t US measure). 

If you use the same mesh count throughout all of your colours you may find it is creating an unwanted patten in your print. The best way to remove that pattern is to use a different mesh count from your underbase to your top colours. 

CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE VIDEO

We documented our trip to Magna Colours. Check it out here: 

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR BLOG!
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We fund our blog and YouTube channel by selling our Blind Maggot t-shirts. Please help and support us by purchasing a shirt. As a thank you, we are giving all of our squeegee viewers £10 off our limited edition t-shirts!

GET £10 OFF LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRTS  DISCOUNT CODE : SQUEEGEE

Check out all of the designs here and keep watching our YouTube channel to find out how we printed them: https://www.blindmaggot.co.uk/collections/limited-edition

> BUY A SHIRT HERE <

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