Tip:  Puff Without Pucker

Here's a quick tip from Kieth Stevens that was recently published in Impressions on how to avoid puckering the fabric when printing larger areas with puff ink: When incorporating puff to print a design, decorators often run into the “pucker effect.” When large design areas are covered with puff ink, the ink can expand to the point where the fabric underneath gets pulled or puckered during the expansion process. To combat this issue, decorators can modify artwork to accommodate the expansion. Instead of creating one solid area for larger ink coverage, create the artwork using dots or a similar pattern. The spacing will allow the puff ink to expand, minimizing the fabric’s pulling or puckering. This technique works especially well if the fabric includes Lycra or is stretchy, as these materials tend to pucker more. 
Kieth Stevens is the Western regional sales manager for International Coatings. He has been teaching screen printing for more than 10 years and is a regular contributor to International Coatings' blogs. International Coatings manufactures a complete line of non-phthalate screen printing inks, including a wide variety of whites, specialty inks, special effects inks, color matching systems, additives and reducers. For more information on our products, please visit our website at www.iccink.com