What is Fibrillation and How I Can Prevent it in Screen Printing?

Fibrillation is characterized as the quick, sporadic, and unsynchronized withdrawal of the muscle filaments of the heart. Fibrillation in screen printing is the point at which the filaments of a shirt stick through the ink store, giving a shirt, post-washing, a washed-out, or even shaggy look. The previous decent, splendidly printed shirt looks washed-out in the upcoming wash, which is not a good thing. 

Garments to Refrain from Fibrillation  

It’s hard to know ahead of time whether a shirt will probably encounter fibrillation. You likely have your go-to clothing that prints well and holds up for your clients. Some garments are more vulnerable to fibrillation as compared to others. However, there are some general guidelines – the garment with a “Vintage” or softer feel is likely to fibrillate more.                              

There is no specific way to determine the fibrillate other than running a test print and washing the garment several times. Here are some points to prevent fibrillation if your printing method results in fibrillation.  

Ways to Refrain from Fibrillation

If your garment faces fibrillation through usual printing techniques, the first step is to try laying down a heavier ink deposit. This can be a problem solver, but it is limited. Sometimes depositing much ink makes print heavy on a hand. If you can’t strike a balance between laying down enough ink, then here are some other ways you can try. 

• Utilize an ink added substance. Special additives are intended to “stick” garments down to tackle the fibrillation issue.

• Consider water-based ink. Water-based ink can decrease the presence of fibrillation because the ink infiltrates and holds fast to garment fibres instead of sitting on top of the texture.

• Take benefit of clear ink. You can use treatable clear ink to forestall fibrillation in two different ways. Either set out a distinct under base or print a reasonable layer of ink over your print. A distinct layer on top will keep colors dynamic and forestall fibrillation, yet it can give prints a shiny look that you may not be longing.

• Print different lighter layers of ink. You could keep a milder print while controlling fibrillation with a print, streak fix, print, streak fix, print procedure. This can be a compelling strategy. However, it additionally can cause a production migraine if your shop isn’t set up for it.

Hope this article may help you in preventing fibrillation on your garments. Drop a comment below if you have any doubts or you can contact us directly.