EMBROIDERY
Embroiders can stitch logo's on sleeves in a variety of ways. Logos are often placed at the top of one or both sleeves, while taglines or URL's can extend the length of the sleeve. Just be sure to consider direction of the text. For logos that read from left to right the left sleeve should read from bottom to top, and the right sleeve should read from top to bottom.

SCREEN MESH
Mesh count is nominal and defines the target number of threads and openings per linear inch in each direction. Thread diameter: sets the range for fabric thickness, is nominal, and defines the target diameter of the filament as they arrive from the yarn spinner (there's no guarantee that any bolt is composed of precisely the named thread diameter). For athletic garments in which names & numbers are printed 74-mesh count is preferred. For names and spot color printing the mesh count can run from 110 to 305 mesh. For 4-color process printing mesh counts can run from 305 to 355 depending on dot size, line of artwork, and effect desired. Specialty & 3-demensional printing may require specific emulsion thickness and special ink to meet the design specifications in addition to varied mesh counts. Be sure to speak to one of our technical sales representatives.

ATHLETIC NUMBERING
For print quality on athletic numbers, start by knowing a little about the fabrics that will be used. Are they polyester, 50/50, or nylon? Do they contain Lycra spandex or other materials that pose ink and adhesion problems? The best athletic printers earn their reputations because they pay attention to details like these.

At Screenworks Supply we offer Rutland and Triangle ink, both of which offer a line of ink intended for athletic numbers. These inks are high opacity and made with specific resins and plasticizers that, when properly cured, will withstand many years of usage and laundering.

The fabric content of the uniform you want to print determines what ink you should use. Athletic ink designed specifically for nylon is not bleed resistant so don’t use them on polyester; use low-bleed ink specifically formulated for 100% polyester. If the uniform contains Lycra spandex, then you should use a stretch additive to help the print withstand cracking when tightly stretched over shoulder pads of a huge lineman.

Also, many printers hear the word "nylon" and immediately reach for any of the numerous catalysts available on the market that help inks adhere to nylon fabrics. Catalysts are not always needed for printing on nylon, and in this application, athletic uniform. Uniforms are knitted (as opposed to woven) nylon, a fabric comprised of a vast number of small fibers that form the main fibers. Inks seep down into and wrap around these small fibers during printing. Once the printed garment is cured, the ink has formed a mechanical bond with the nylon fibers, thus securely adhering it to the fabric.

When printing, make it as easy on yourself as possible by using tightly stretched 74 to mesh (threads per inch). Also, it is important that you have the proper buildup of emulsion on the print side of your screen. This determines ink deposit and edge sharpness of the number being printed. Murakami’s Photocure HV or Saati Textile PHW is good choices as they allow coating to your desired thickness in one step without drying in between coats. The amount of ink that goes onto the uniform determines the film strength of the number. Football uniforms, for instance, need the best film strength possible to survive a helmet in the chest several times during a game.

For one-color numbers on light-colored uniforms, providing you use athletic ink with good coverage, two squeegee strokes should suffice. This will give you a print that not only has the athletic look but also the necessary film strength. Dark-colored uniforms are different. While two strokes without a flash may look acceptable, a print-flash-print technique provides a much better final print.

Two-color numbers should be flashed after the first color on light garments to resist the second color from picking up any ink on the back of its screen. When printing dark garments, print-flash-print-flash the first color and print-flash-print the second color. These techniques produce a consistent, durable athletic look.

While fabrics may look smooth in appearance, both mesh and dazzle cloth actually have small ridges that are sometimes difficult to print over. In this case, make sure your first squeegee stroke pushes the ink down into the fabric not only to promote adhesion but also to fill the mesh and allow the second coat to appear smoother. This technique is especially important for ink adhesion to the newer, stretch fabrics that are becoming more prevalent on the market today.

If you are printing nylon mesh, place a protective piece of paper or proofing square on your platen to catch the wet ink pushing through holes in the fabric. This backing substrate can be then sent through the dryer and reused. If you are more environmentally conscious, you can recycle your newspaper for this.

No matter what underlay you choose, lightly spray the platen with a repositionable adhesive, print the number, remove the sheet after you have taken the garment off the platen, and reapply a new sheet. This keeps the wet ink that has been pushed through the mesh holes from offsetting on the back of the next garment.

The most important part this entire process is curing. An improperly cured print will not hold-up and will lack any density. Because athletic fabrics and the ink film on the garment are thicker than your average T-shirt print, they require longer curing times in your dryer. Cure can be measured in several ways. Infrared thermometers, donut probes and laundering are acceptable methods to test cure — with laundering being the most definitive test.

Test by using the same type of fabric you are printing on. Cut the print in half, launder and dry one half three to five times, and then compare it to the unwashed half. If you see no differences between the two halves, then your print is properly cured.

The temperature probe is also a very good test. This is a white Teflon ring with two crossed wires touching in the middle. This ring is attached to a hand-held thermometer. By placing the wires in the wet ink of the print you can watch the temperature the ink reaches as it proceeds through the dryer.

The infrared thermometer is least accurate as it only reads the surface temperature of the ink.

While the most critical part of curing nylon uniforms is simply reaching the cure temperature of the ink, polyester uniforms pose an additional challenge, dye migration. Dye migration occurs when the fabric temperature rises above the set point of the dyes in the fabric. When this happens, the dye molecules move up to the top of the garment and can be sucked up through the ink film, thus turning white ink pink on a red garment or gray on a black garment.

Dye migration can be controlled by testing your fabrics prior to printing and by monitoring your flash cure and dryer temperatures during curing. To test, use a piece of the actual fabric, smear a small amount of gel clear onto the fabric and cover the wet gel with a white, 100% cotton piece of fabric. The next step is to place this in a transfer machine for 12 seconds at 350ºF and then let it cool. Peel the white fabric off and observe the amount of dye that has transferred to the fabric.

If you see a strong amount of dye, then take this testing a step further by printing an actual number on the design and do an accelerated test by curing and placing the print on a heat transfer machine as you did with the gel above. The heat generated accelerates the dye migration process and will show what may happen to the garment after it has been in the customer's hands for a while.

Dye migration can happen immediately or might not be evident until two weeks after printing. To control dye migration by monitoring your flash cure and dryer temperatures, use the donut probe and set your dryer so that the fabric stays below 330ºF while still making sure that the ink film reaches the required cure temperature. In conclusion for the best results, test, test, and test before production.