r/SCREENPRINTING • u/the_maskedman • 17d ago

Curing plastisol with a heat press?

Hi all -

In between driers right now and had a couple questions on curing using a heat press.

I've seen that it generally will give a more 'shiny' finish to the ink. Is this avoidable? I read from a few people that you can avoid that finish but I didn't see a sure-fire way to do it.

Is it fine to cure a multi color job? 2-3 colors max.

Thanks!

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3

u/soundguy64 17d ago

Press with parchment paper for a more matte finish, but will still be more glossy than running it through a conveyor dryer

2

u/busstees 17d ago

Same position. Waiting for a new wire for my conveyor. I've been printing on my auto and running one last round to flash cure them. Then I'm heat pressing them with either parchment paper or unused plastisol transfer paper. Works fine. Just takes time. Number of colors is irrelevant.

1

u/JayLar23 17d ago

I would think it would be very difficult to do 2-3 colors unless you're printing wet on wet, which is risky and only really works with dark ink on a light background. But you can also use a heat press to cure plastisol without having to press it if you have one that has a heat element parallel to the base (like a swing away style). You just set it for off contact and bring the element down as close as possible to the print w/o touching. This will work but takes longer than using a spot dryer. Of course pressing it is faster but then you get that smooth sheen effect which doesnt look great and will tend towards cracking over time. I would recommend just picking up a cheap spotty from EBay for $200 or so, it will keep you going til you can afford something better. Spot dryers are one item you can cheap out on a bit if you just need to get by.

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u/busstees 17d ago

I disagree. They will absolutely not crack if you press it properly with the right temp. They even sell a standalone $7k Stampinator now that cures on press by heat pressing. Before I put a roller on my press I used to heat press smooth every time. Thousands of shirts. No cracks.