DTG Ink Storage and Handling

[lryerkerk]

There is a difference in how you store and treat DTG ink than your typical screen printing ink. Here are a couple of recommendations I have when it comes to DTG ink.

• STORAGE
  • Know the shelf life of your ink.
    • Typically is 6 months to one year depending on the manufacturer.
    • Polyprint ink has a shelf life of one year if handled correctly.
  • Make sure to turn or agitate your ink weekly.
    • This helps to make sure the ingredients in the DTG ink do not separate over time leading to poor ink performance.
    • Turning is simply rotating the ink so it is not sitting on the same side for more than a week preferably.
    • You can shake the ink weekly as you will do daily, but turning is sufficient.
  • Develop a stocking strategy to make sure you do not have too much ink on hand that some goes bad.
    • In our shop we always will have two extra sets of ink on hand per printer.
    • We then order a new set once we have to replace the ink currently in the printer to make sure that there is never any less than one extra full set of ink.
• DAILY HANDLING
  • You should always shake your white ink before you start the machine up or before you go to use the printer that day.
    • This helps to agitate the ink and make sure there are no particle separation leading to poor ink performance.
    • You can shake the white ink for about 10 seconds and that will be sufficient.
  • It's not necessary to shake CMYK ink daily or per use, but it's not a bad habit to have either.