Curing Prints with a Flash - Screen Printing Tips

[@leviteapparel]

You are killing me with the knowledge I appreciate blessings

[@startupscreenprinting]

Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying and finding it helpful!

[@DanielKanu]

I’m in the middle of setting up my garage shop when I stumbled upon your videos. The info you bring and the thorough explanation is guiding me in this process. This is the third or fourth video of you I’ve watched. I have more to watch and more to learn from. Thank you 🙏🏾.

[@startupscreenprinting]

That’s great to hear! Let me know if you have any questions!

[@julieak2425]

I love watching your video. I just bought a flash dryer and am looking to learn so much.

[@startupscreenprinting]

That’s great to hear! Come join us in The Print Crew (theprintcrew.com) and me and other printers will be there to support you along your journey!

[@justinalvares]

Thanks for all the great info! This is super helpful!!!

[@startupscreenprinting]

Thank you! That’s great to hear!

[@justinalvares]

@startupscreenprinting just getting started and realizing most use plastisol but finding all this great info on eater based is invaluable.

[@startupscreenprinting]

Yeah it’s a really small subset of the market but I love it and I hope I’m helping more people use it. So many are afraid of water based but it’s not as difficult as many make it seem.

[@matthewwong9976]

perfect timing! was just about to purchase a flash dryer myself. I've been using a heat gun, but a flash dryer would just speed things up so much for large prints

[@startupscreenprinting]

that's great, it will definitely speed things up for you!

[@karlbenner8250]

Do you have any suggestions or preferences about ventilation when using/curing Green Galaxy? Contemplating a basement setup, but want to make sure I'm not breathing in nasty stuff or sending it upstairs into the house. Love the videos -- it's been weirdly hard to find someone with such detailed content about waterbased printing. Will definitely be tuning in to the podcast!

[@startupscreenprinting]

Thanks Karl! Yeah I've noticed the same content void and I'm hoping to fill it! Glad you're enjoying the content so far. As far as ventilation, I honestly haven't had a need for it because the great thing about water based inks is they don't include the same harsh chemicals that plastisol includes, so they don't give off harmful or unpleasant fumes. And I've not noticed any of the smells creeping upstairs either. If you had a window, you could always open/crack it and put a fan blowing out if you did want to have some sort of exhaust. The only time you really get a nasty smell and a harmful fume is if you decide to do discharge because you have to add a formaldehyde powder and that's not a great chemical to be breathing in and it smells awful. So in the few times I have printed discharge, I definitely opened two windows in the basement and put a fan blowing air out of one of them to create a cycle of airflow/exhaust.

[@firstdayonline]

Thank you!

[@startupscreenprinting]

👊🏼

[@ThoseDaysMovie]

Hi Jessie ! Quick question- I rent an old house and I don’t think my flash dryer can be plugged inside my home. Would you know of a heat gun that would work ? Maybe battery powered ?

[@startupscreenprinting]

Hi there! So there are battery powered heat guns but they don't last long. You'd have to use a fresh battery just about every couple of shirts. I'd definitely say at a minimum a plug-in heat gun would be necessary and I don't think it's a big power hog so even at an old house I think you'd be fine using it. As far as a flash dryer at the old house, the flash I have uses a regular 110 outlet plug but I believe it does require a 20 amp outlet. I believe most outlets are 20 amp except for things like bathrooms which are sometimes 15 amp. I could be wrong though. I'd see if you could have someone come look at your outlets and determine whether you could run a 20 amp device on any of them. A flash is going to be a way better solution than a heat gun. Or even a heat press would be good, but it probably requires the same power as a flash. Either way, my recommendation is to have someone check your outlets to see what's possible and go from there. Good luck!

[@ThoseDaysMovie]

@@startupscreenprinting Thank you Jessie! Have a great day !

[@Signcutter]

If im creating screen print transfers can I use an oven instead of a flash dryer?

[@startupscreenprinting]

I’d say anything that gets hot enough to gel the ink should work just fine.

[@Signcutter]

@@startupscreenprinting thx!

[@fortworthlocals]

Thoughts on using a forced air flash vs a standard flash? I've always been told you have to use forced air with water based ink.

[@startupscreenprinting]

Yeah I heard that a lot, too, but thankfully I'm proof that you don't "have" to have forced air since I've been using just a standard flash to cure for 6 years now with no issues. But I will say that I do wish I had a forced air flash! Unfortunately I don't have the power available in the basement to run a forced air flash or a dryer.

[@fortworthlocals]

@@startupscreenprinting Thats good to know! All the ones I've seen are 240V and very pricey.

[@startupscreenprinting]

@@fortworthlocals yeah they're a lot for sure. I'm just using the standard 16x16 Riley Hopkins flash and it's worked just fine.

[@fgbestwayInc]

I think ranar has air forced with the option of 110 v

[@matthewwong9976]

could you do a general screen printing video of you just working with the green galaxy inks? tips on how much ink to have on the screen so that they don't try out!

[@startupscreenprinting]

Absolutely!