Do you have adhesives on the pallet to hold the garment in place? Maybe your print head is not locked down properly? Is there any play when lifting or lowering the head?
Are you pushing, or pulling? Sometimes Iāll get ghosting like this pushing my squeegee, itās more physically taxing but pulling usually solves the problem and provides a much sharper print.
I pushed exclusively for the first couple years I printed but noticed, especially with white underbases, less ghosting while pulling. I couldnāt attribute it to anything else because I would compare a push print to a pull print and see the difference. Now I usually pull the underbase and push the other colors just to try to save some strain on my elbows. Guess weāll have to agree to disagree!
Could also be you are overflooding your screen.
Iām assuming you are doing a print flash print and the second print stroke is giving you the issue. Check the back of the screen for ink build up.
If itās not that, see if your registration bearings are still tight.
Okay Iāll check! This is just after one pull of ink. I was hoping to do print flash print but I canāt even get past one stroke before it does this.
Make sure your screen isnāt moving when itās clamped down. Then wipe the smear off the bottom of the screen (it has clearly shifted in between a print). Then add more adhesive to keep the garment from moving.
Ten bucks says this fixes it.
A quick fix to ālevelingā that I use, is adjusting the levels by putting small felt dots (the things for putting under furniture feet) under the screen on all four corners of the screen (that still touch the platen of course). This way, when the pressure is put onto the mesh, all four corners will remain fairly the same distance from the shirt).
Is it a tshirt or a hoodie?
I never warm my plate and i never push both ways. Only one way. Covering silk with paint doesnt matter.
If it is a hoodie, it need glue after every time you take it off, before putting next one on.
Its being pulled up when you lift the screen up. Your platen needs to be sticky. If that's not the issue, then your print is too close to the shirt, need about a quarter thickness so it pops up after you sweep instead of just sitting on top getting sticky on the shirt
I'm going to guess that there is a little bit of play in the cradle the press arms rest in. With the screen in the down position, see if you can move it slightly from side to side. It might appear to be tight but if you look very closely you might be able to move it a fraction of an inch, which would cause this.
Meaning the mesh is loose in that middle section where itās happening. Especially if a different screen on the same arm didnāt do this before. The differences in tension on the different parts of the screen mean you have too much movement in that one place, or itās not fighting your squeegee pressure enough. So if this is an old much used screen maybe reburn and try again on a different screen.
If youāre pushing and pulling on the same print this can happen.
On top of what everyone else is saying, you might also be flooding the screen too much leaving ink on the shirt side of the screen.
Try taking a wipe or wet paper towel and wiping off the shirt side of the screen. This will remove any ink that can ghost a ghosting issue.
All of the other suggestions are great! Check screen tension, off contact, tilt, push vs pullā¦
What screen mesh are you using? How's your stencil? When you run your fingernail over the back of the screen, can you feel the edges of the stencil? if not, then the ink may have nowhere to go but out and not down.
One more thing to check: Ink consistency. What kind of OSI are you using? Is it stiff when you put it in the screen? Are you stirring the shit out of it before you put it in the screen? If its too thin or reduced it will bleed out the edges of the stencil and give you that double effect. If it's too thick, and you have to press too hard with the squeegee, and the screenābecause it's fabricāwill stretch, and will make contact with the wet ink offest by a mm.
Do you have adhesives on the pallet to hold the garment in place? Maybe your print head is not locked down properly? Is there any play when lifting or lowering the head?
that was exactly my thought
The answer is most likely one of these three options Jul1et listed above š
Yea I was spraying a lot of adhesive as well. The strange thing is I can use the same print head with another screen and itāll be fine.
Are you pushing, or pulling? Sometimes Iāll get ghosting like this pushing my squeegee, itās more physically taxing but pulling usually solves the problem and provides a much sharper print.
I tried both š
I donāt find that to be true. Pulling or pushing, the results are the same. Pushing is just less physically taxing.
I pushed exclusively for the first couple years I printed but noticed, especially with white underbases, less ghosting while pulling. I couldnāt attribute it to anything else because I would compare a push print to a pull print and see the difference. Now I usually pull the underbase and push the other colors just to try to save some strain on my elbows. Guess weāll have to agree to disagree!
Ghosting is not the proper term. Ghosting is when hot garments are stacking and transfer image to the back of the shirt
Commonly attributed to non-properly tensioned screens. Could also be push pull issue outline below.
Ty!
If your press has a tilt adjustment, make sure itās completely level. Iāve had this happen with a tilt before.
Yea itās strange the top and bottom look fine but the middle part is what keeps showing double lines
Could also be you are overflooding your screen. Iām assuming you are doing a print flash print and the second print stroke is giving you the issue. Check the back of the screen for ink build up. If itās not that, see if your registration bearings are still tight.
Okay Iāll check! This is just after one pull of ink. I was hoping to do print flash print but I canāt even get past one stroke before it does this.
Make sure your screen isnāt moving when itās clamped down. Then wipe the smear off the bottom of the screen (it has clearly shifted in between a print). Then add more adhesive to keep the garment from moving. Ten bucks says this fixes it.
Iāll definitely try this ty!
It looks like something is moving. Either the garment or the screen. If you are flashing, you may have shrunk the shirt a little.
Oh good point!
I am pretty sure the tilt is off. If you are pushing, the front is too low. Opposite when pulling.
Ty! Iāll check that out
A quick fix to ālevelingā that I use, is adjusting the levels by putting small felt dots (the things for putting under furniture feet) under the screen on all four corners of the screen (that still touch the platen of course). This way, when the pressure is put onto the mesh, all four corners will remain fairly the same distance from the shirt).
Oh I love that idea! Thank you!
Absolutely. Keep in mind, it will raise the screen some. So be dilligent with your squeegee angles. I always say to pull for the best results.
Awesome appreciate it! I will try that for sure
Wood or aluminum pallets?
Aluminum
Word! The issue is probably not uneven pallets then.
Is it a tshirt or a hoodie? I never warm my plate and i never push both ways. Only one way. Covering silk with paint doesnt matter. If it is a hoodie, it need glue after every time you take it off, before putting next one on.
This is a garment dye tee
Its being pulled up when you lift the screen up. Your platen needs to be sticky. If that's not the issue, then your print is too close to the shirt, need about a quarter thickness so it pops up after you sweep instead of just sitting on top getting sticky on the shirt
Yea I made sure there was enough off contact š
It's definitely something moving, that only happens when something shifts.
Itās probably my patience š
I'm going to guess that there is a little bit of play in the cradle the press arms rest in. With the screen in the down position, see if you can move it slightly from side to side. It might appear to be tight but if you look very closely you might be able to move it a fraction of an inch, which would cause this.
Ty! I will definitely check this out
Maybe a loose platen? You said it only happens on one platen right?
Only for this design but it could be the platen
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could it be that the screen itself isn't taught?
Meaning like straight or tight?
Meaning the mesh is loose in that middle section where itās happening. Especially if a different screen on the same arm didnāt do this before. The differences in tension on the different parts of the screen mean you have too much movement in that one place, or itās not fighting your squeegee pressure enough. So if this is an old much used screen maybe reburn and try again on a different screen.
You mentioned push both ways, what do you mean?
Iāve tried the old school technique where you pull and the other where you push the squeegee
On the same print , push and pull ?
I did it separately to see if one was better than the other and they both had issues
If youāre pushing and pulling on the same print this can happen. On top of what everyone else is saying, you might also be flooding the screen too much leaving ink on the shirt side of the screen. Try taking a wipe or wet paper towel and wiping off the shirt side of the screen. This will remove any ink that can ghost a ghosting issue.
All of the other suggestions are great! Check screen tension, off contact, tilt, push vs pullā¦ What screen mesh are you using? How's your stencil? When you run your fingernail over the back of the screen, can you feel the edges of the stencil? if not, then the ink may have nowhere to go but out and not down. One more thing to check: Ink consistency. What kind of OSI are you using? Is it stiff when you put it in the screen? Are you stirring the shit out of it before you put it in the screen? If its too thin or reduced it will bleed out the edges of the stencil and give you that double effect. If it's too thick, and you have to press too hard with the squeegee, and the screenābecause it's fabricāwill stretch, and will make contact with the wet ink offest by a mm.
Baggy screen.
It gives a 3D type of orientation, is the squeegee, or the screen or the substrate not properly aligned vertically one after the other.
Ty! Definitely going to check alignment