ImagesMagUK_October_2020

www.images-magazine.com OCTOBER 2020 images 67 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Tony Palmer has been in the garment decoration industry for over 30 years and is now an independent print consultant working closely with print shops to get the most from existing processes and techniques. Tony is passionate about keeping and enhancing production skill levels within the industry. He is the owner and consultant at Palmprint Consultants, offering practical help and assistance to garment decorators all over the globe. www.palmprintuk.com adhesive directly onto the garment and then, in a separate process using a heat press, adhere a thin sheet of foil to the adhesive. For the foil adhesive, I recommend Metatran from Sericol, along with any foil from Foilco. The first step when applying foil to a print is to print an adhesive through an open mesh – my preferred option is a 43T, and a 65 durometer blade works great with lots of pressure and a slow stroke. The whole point is to lay down enough glue for the foil to stick to; fine detail is not advisable as we need as much open area as possible. Next, you heat press the foil onto the adhesive. I have seen foil applied in-line on a printing press, both mechanically and manually. In my opinion this is a risky process – if you make it work, please feel free to let Stepping it up a level with foil ■ Foil adhesive used straight from the tub has a clear appearance, which can make it difficult to spot any print issues. For this reason, I would always recommend adding a small amount of yellow ink to the adhesive when using a gold foil or a little grey ink when applying a silver foil. This will colour the clear adhesive and allow you to spot potential issues that may occur on the press. Be careful when doing this, though, because there is a danger that if you add too much colour then the adhesive qualities of the ink could be compromised. ■ Printing the adhesive through a high-density screen of around 200 microns and then lightly press- ing just the surface allows you to highlight 3D portions of a design, giving some fantastic creative em- bellishment effects. ■ Flat foil is now available in every colour imaginable and I would highly recommend that you try colours which are outside the usu- al gold and silver. I have had some spectacular results when combin- ing a black foil on a black garment. ■ Taking a silver foil sheet and scrunching it up can create a fan- tastic cracked metal effect. ■ Foil is supplied on a roll, which can call for some creative ways to cut the pieces to size. One of the best ideas I have seen is to make a square from stiff cardboard that is half the size of the area needed. Then, fold the foil around it. When enough pieces have been folded, simply slice along one side and you will have perfectly sized pieces ready to press. Scrunching up a sheet of foil can create a fantastic cracked metal effect. [Photo: Foilco] me know how you did it! The most reliable way to apply foil is to control the heat, pressure and time on a heat press away from the printing machine. Sticky issues Just a simple gold foil on a dark shirt can stand out from the crowd and make a simple one-colour print into something really special, but the real magic of a foil print happens when it is printed with other colours in the background. The main issue with this process, however, is that the foil loves to stick to anything solvent-based, in the same way that plastisol sticks to the car seat or the underside of your shoe. The solution is to print the background colours in water-based ink, as foil does not stick to this. It should be noted that there are additives available which claim to give plastisol a superhuman resistance to foil, but in my experience they are to be trusted about as much as the emails which tell me I have a long-lost brother who wants to share his fortune with me. Discharge is the optimum option here, as long as the substrate allows, because the heat and pressure of the press also brings out the best of these colours – the bright whites and reds that can be achieved work especially well with a good quality, rich gold foil. High-solid acrylic water-based inks also now offer a good opaque option if the garment is not dischargeable. Charge As the process of applying the foil is a secondary process, any mistakes made can be very costly if not spotted quickly. It is important to apply an even amount of adhesive and ensure this stays constant throughout the run. Frequent sampling of the print is essential to ensure nothing has changed. Finally, you must remember that as well as being a great fashion effect, foil is another process and therefore the client must be charged accordingly. Tony recommends trying colours that are outside the usual gold and silver, such as this red foil from Foilco