Okay so I decided to do a quick video as an experiment just to see what would happen if you try to cure plastisol inks with a heat press. I think that ultimately the process could work by lessoning the pressure, temperature, and perhaps the time. But it does seem that with higher volumes of ink or with under base printing it may be difficult to do without affecting the final look of the print. I had a good time making this video in between print jobs but I admit I have seen videos of people using a heat press to cure shirt but I never saw a close up of the final print either. So it might work for you and it might not. For commercial screen print work I think it would be tremendously slow at best.

The new video is called, “Screen Printing Experiment: Can A Heat Press Cure Plastisol Inks?” In this new YouTube production we test out the idea of curing plastisol inks using a heat press. Many people have asked us before and it seems that some people actually do this so we’re taking a quick look at the method per your request. In the screenprinting video we lay down a decent amount of white ink on a black tee shirt which has to be among the most difficult to cure on a heat press and we test out the method. This should be a fun video to watch as I dive in and try it with only craft paper. I think you’ll see why if you’re going to try this you’ll need a Teflon sheet for sure. For us the print was a total disaster and it really looked bad. Some of the ink picked up on the craft paper while the heat press pushed the ink so much into the knit it spread out some filling it and creating a jagged edge. You certainly would have to lower the pressure, temperature, and perhaps the time to do this without messing up the print. It seems some testing would be in order if this were to be your only means of curing screen printed plastisol inks.

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