Excalibur’s 501 PF Curable Reducer can be added to any Excalibur Phthalate-Free Plastisol ink to not only drop the viscosity but also help improve the flow of the ink and help the ink clean completely from the screen mesh. Even though it can be used in any quantity the following precautions should be taken when mixing 501PF Curable Reducer into Excalibur Plastisols.
- Always stir the ink thoroughly prior to adding to the screen in order to break down any false body that builds up during storage. This should always been done prior to adding 501PF Curable Reducer to any ink. If using an ink paddle with a variable speed drill always set drill to turn on a slow speed to not allow any heat from the friction of stirring to build up in the ink. Introducing heat to the ink will begin the gelling process and make the ink more difficult to print.
- Adding too much 501PF Curable Reducer will diminish opacity particularly when printing a high-opacity ink onto dark backgrounds. For this reason best results are attained by adding no more than 3-5% of 501PF by weight to any high-opacity ink that is being printed on dark backgrounds.
- Adding too much 501PF Curable Reducer will diminish the film strength of the finished print and cause a phenomena called “fibrillation” where the fiber of the shirt stands up during the washing process and breaks through the ink film causing the print to look faded. This phenomena can also look like undercure of the print. In order to determine if the print is “fibrillating” or “undercured” simply wet your thumb or rub a wet cloth over the print. If the colors in the print darken and appear stronger or more vibrant the shirt is “fibrillating”. If the print looks the same after wetting it is undercured and needs to be cured longer in your conveyor oven.
- 501PF Curable Reducer can increase the chances for dye migration on 50/50 poly/cotton blends or 100% polyester fabrics and should not be added to any ink being printed on those type fabrics. 1501PF SportPro Curable Reducer should be used instead.
