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      TexJet Echo 2 How to apply Pretreatment Manually

      • Pretreatment liquids are used to create a bond between the fibres and the ink, by filling in the spaces between the weave of the fabric. When the fabric is cured, an invisible film is created that provides a smooth surface, ideal for the inks to be adhered to and result in high-quality prints.

      To achieve the best print quality possible when applying pretreatment manually (By hand/Spray Gun), follow the steps below:


      1.  Make sure you are using a well-ventilated area.

      2.  Make sure where needed you are using protective gloves and mask.

      3.  Check that the spraying area is least 3 meters away from a working printer. To prevent any dust/ particles from impacting the print quality.
      • Make sure to pre-press the garments prior to pre-treating. Doing this will help to remove any excess moisture from the garment and will also flatten the fibres of the garment, smoothing the surface.

      4.  Before adding the pretreatment to the spray gun's container, agitate the pretreatment before use, if not mixed regularly it's possible that you could be spraying garments with an unwanted percentage of water, resulting in faded prints and/ or weak white layers as well as poor wash resistance. Shaking the pretreatment will prevent any separation from occurring.  If there is sediment build up in the spray gun shaking the solution will integrate the sediment back into the liquid.

      5.  Make sure that the spray guns nozzles are not clogged.

      6.  Try to apply the pretreatment as equally as possible. Spraying in the same direction and trying not to overlap, the already sprayed areas, too many times. As this could lead to some areas being overly pretreated and others having less pretreatment than required, which would cause an uneven print with patches.

      7.  Check the amount of the pretreatment liquid applied has been based on the solution itself, the type, and the thickness of the fabric. (The recommended pretreatment amount for a 40cm x 60cm area, when Pretreating dark cotton with the TexJet Inks - pretreatment for Darks, is about 21 to 25 ml. When printing on light cotton is 14 ml and on light polyester about 20 ml of the TexJet Inks - pretreatment for lights).

      8.  Use a foam roller of some kind. A foam roller can help spread the pretreatment equally onto the fabric and improve uniformity. Using gentle strokes and not harsh scrubbing as this would take away some of the pretreatment and create wrinkles on the surface of the fabric.

      9.  Cure the pretreatment by using a heat press or an oven dryer, with the correct times and temperatures based on the equipment being used.