ImagesMagUK_November_2020

TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 28 images NOVEMBER 2020 Seeing the light Tony Palmer reflects on the skills needed to print on hi-vis vests, as well as the changes in reflective inks E very place I visit, I follow a similar routine: I sign the visitors book, I’m presented with an ill-fitting bright yellow polyester vest that smells of someone else, the receptionist smiles as she notices how the Velcro faster has attached itself to my collar, and I see she has a similar garment draped on the back of her chair that proudly announces to the world she has been bestowed with the high honour of FIRE MARSHALL. The humble little polyester high- visibility vest has become firmly embedded in our workplace, transforming over the years from a scrappy piece of fabric with a heat- sealed reflective band into an item in a rainbow of assorted colours (and even black, the least attention- drawing colour available), and with single bands or dual bands, plus logos on every available space. The name of these garments varies depending on where you are, but whether you call them vizzies, hi-vis, high-viz, safety vests or vizzyvests, they will benefit from branding. The majority are made from polyester so they can be direct printed, heat-seal transferred or embroidered, meaning they are a perfect item to include as an add-on sale. The back of a hi-vis garment is the easiest place to decorate with a screen print or heat seal transfer. However, these garments are made in lots of different places around the globe and as such they can lack a consistent size area to fit a print onto – always check the width between the ‘H’ of the reflective stripes that are sewn onto the garment as this can vary from 350mm wide on a 2XL down to only 200mm on a medium. The majority of printers can identify with the familiar complaint from the shopfloor that “this print won’t fit on the mediums”. After much stretching, pulling and laser precision placement, the art must be modified and screens remade and production plans torn up and binned for the third time that day. Take care When printing onto the back of a hi-vis I would always recommend checking the classification of the garment. Most are split into three classes that describe the amount of conspicuity needed, ie the amount of hi-vis fabric that should be visible. It’s never a good idea to block out all the visible area with lots of print. The reflective strips on the back of a hi-vis item can stand proud of the print area and cause problems on a print run. When screen printing them, I would recommend using a children’s or women’s pallet at around 280mm wide as this will allow the reflective strips to fall off the edge of the board and clear the screens. Printing onto shiny polyester can be tricky: it hates heat, so flashing is not recommended. If you must flash then use a low power setting and a short flash time to avoid shrinkage and damage to the garment. Using higher mesh counts on multi-colour designs will control the crispness of the image and allow for trouble-free wet-on-wet printing. Progressive squeegee hardness, pressure and angle are just as important as heat management when printing multiple colours onto hi-vis. Danger ahead Colour matching on hi-vis can be as challenging as the actual print. Plastisol works well as it has the opacity you are looking for, but when printing a blue onto yellow you’ll run the risk of the colour looking too green at the end of the dryer as the base colour of the hi-vis can bleed into the printed ink. This problem is especially prevalent when printing white onto hi-vis – I always try to dissuade a customer from having white in the design of a hi-vis print. Black or navy are the best colours to print as these give the greatest contrast against the yellow of the safety vest. Michelle Moxley, innovation director at M&R Companies, printed a water-based clear reflective on a 50/50 safety yellow hoodie using the M&R DS-4000 Digital Squeegee hybrid printing system