The new inks are installed. Can you start printing
production?
Once you have successfully loaded Artistri
®
Xite P1500 inks on
your printer, there are a couple of steps you should follow before
starting to print your customers’ production to ensure the best
print quality.
a. You will need to select the best waveform for Artistri
®
Xite
P1500 inks among those available on your printer. Your ink
distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing Specialist can assist
you (where available) in this task.
b. You will need to create color profiles for the Artistri
®
Xite
P1500 inks on your system so that colors are rendered
correctly on the fabrics you are printing for your customers.
If the fabric selection changes significantly seasonally or
by customer, create an Artistri
®
Xite P1500 color profile
for each fabric type. For more details on color profile
generation, consult your printer OEM’s Operations Manual,
or contact your ink distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing
Specialist to assist you.
c. Especially in the first few days of running Artistri
®
Xite
P1500 inks on your printer, it is advised that you monitor
closely the nozzle plate cleanliness during long runs to
establish a nozzle plate cleaning procedure and frequency
that is suitable for your production schedule and fabric mix.
Maintaining excellent print quality
Improper maintenance can negatively affect print quality
and shorten the life of the print heads. Pigment inks typically
contain higher amounts of solids than dye inks and may require
more frequent print head maintenance than dye inks. Frequent
nozzle checks are recommended to monitor the status of the
print heads and to maintain an in-control printing process.
Misdirected or missing nozzles should be cleared with a cleaning
cycle as soon as possible. If they are allowed to persist, they
will eventually become permanent missing nozzles and will
eventually lead to poor print quality. Never store the print head
in the capping station without thoroughly cleaning the nozzle
plate. Deposits of binder pigment inks left on the nozzle plate to
dry may be difficult to remove.
It is important to consider the effect production volumes or
new fabrics will have on print head maintenance and adjust
the frequency of print head cleaning appropriately to maintain
excellent print quality. When you are printing on fabrics with
a lot of lint or loose fibers, it may be necessary to increase the
cleaning frequency or perform manual cleaning with a lint-
free cloth soaked in deionized water or a compatible flush.
Monitor the condition of the nozzle plate and adjust auto-clean
frequency as necessary. Perform the daily, weekly and monthly
maintenance procedures for the capping station, wiper and
print head maintenance as recommended by your equipment’s
OEM. If there are any concerns on maintaining print quality,
please contact your ink distributor or a DuPont Field Marketing
Specialist to assist you.
Optimizing process parameters for great color and
fastness with DuPont
™
Artistri
®
Xite P1500 inks
Excellent fastness can be achieved with Artistri
®
Xite P1500 inks
and many commercial pretreatments. Some users also find
that the inks perform satisfactorily with their own proprietary
pretreatments. Keep in mind that acceptable print quality and
fastness (depending on end user requirements) may also be
possible on untreated fabrics. Pretreatment wet pickup on
the padder, pretreatment drying conditions and print fixation
conditions should be optimized with your pretreatment supplier
for your fabric selection. Your Ink distributor or DuPont Field
Service Specialist may also be able to recommend suitable
pretreatments for Artistri
®
Xite P1500 inks. Fixation in tenter
frames (dry heat forced air dryers) and calender dryers is
typically recommended. Adequate fixation can also be achieved
in systems using IR heaters. Pressing is not recommended as it
may yield lower fastness properties.
It is advised that you test your fabrics and optimize the
pretreatment application and print cure conditions for each
fabric type on your fixation unit. For medium weight (~150gsm)
cotton and cotton blends, you can start with fixation at 160-170°C
for 3 minutes. General guidance is to prolong fixation at lower
temperatures and shorten the time at higher temperatures.
The general rule of thumb is to add one minute of fixation time
when you decrease the temperature by 10°C. Please consult your
DuPont Technical Representation for pretreatment advice.
Removing Artistri
®
Xite P1500 Inks from your printer
When removing an ink from a printer/print head, it is a good practice
to print a last nozzle check on paper (if possible) before initiating
the flushing process. Retain that nozzle check as proof of print head
status. DuPont
™
F700 and DuPont
™
KF200 Flushing Solutions are
compatible with all Artistri
®
Xite P1500 inks. Your distributor can help
you select the best flushing solution for your printer.
After flushing the lines with DuPont flushing solution, introduce
deionized water to minimize any compatibility issues with a
subsequent ink. For more information on the procedure for
removing the Artistri
®
inks from your printer, please consult
DuPont’s Artistri Ink Conversion Procedure and your printer
OEM’s Operations Manual.
Printer/Print-head Storage with DuPont
™
Artistri
®
Ink
DuPont
™
F700 and KF200 are NOT storage solutions.
They are intended for use as a system flush only. DuPont
recommendations for head storage when using Artistri
®
inks are
as follows:
a. In cases where the idle time is less than 7 days, it is
suggested that the user simply leave the ink in the system.
The head should be cleaned thoroughly and be fully
capped (sealed) when stored to prevent dripping from
nozzles or drying out. In addition, capping stations with
standing DI water or ink tend to maintain higher humidity
levels near the nozzles and have been shown to improve
nozzle re-start after the idle period.
b. In cases where the idle time is longer than 7 days, it is
suggested to flush the print head with a suitable DuPont
flushing solution and immediately load a cleaning or
storage solution (recommendation from the printer OEM)
for longer term storage. After loading the storage solution,
follow steps listed above in “less than 7 days idle”.
Always consult your specific print-head/printer OEM’s technical
documentation for the best practices for their individual products.
