Home › Ask Buckets › How to print puff ink
Mix WM Plastics Puff Additive in at 10 to 15% by weight, or use a ready-made puff ink. Print through 60 to 110 mesh, cure at 270–325°F for 1 to 1½ minutes (or heat press at 390°F for 8 seconds), and always run a test first.
WM Plastics Puff Additive goes in at 10 to 15% by weight. A ready-to-use puff ink, like Puff White, is the same thing already prepared by the manufacturer, ready to put in the screen.
Use 60 to 110 mesh.
Tunnel dryer temperature and belt speed are a key factor. Do a test sample before you run production. Coming out of the tunnel, for example on a Vastex dryer:
One very unique trick: print a spider web, for example, underneath as a base, then print your colors on top. When it puffs, it puffs up through those colors. You can also foil the top, and the foil will grab onto the raised spider web.
For more height, print the puff, flash it lightly, and print it again.
Always test first before running full production.
WM Plastics Puff Additive goes in at 10 to 15% by weight.
60 to 110 mesh.
In a dryer, 270°F to 325°F (132–163°C) for 1 to 1½ minutes. On a heat press, 390°F for 8 seconds. Test first.
Flat and dark means it did not get hot enough. If it puffed and then dropped back flat, it was overheated.
WM Plastics warns that adding puff additive or other modifiers will affect the low-cure properties of its LC inks, so test carefully or use a standard plastisol.
Related: Puff ink for screen printing · Mesh count chart · Plastisol cure temperature chart · Vastex conveyor dryers
