Curing Ink With a Flash Dryer

Can I Cure Ink With a Flash Dryer or Spot Dryer? 

So…  You are getting into screen printing for the first time and you are spending the least amount of money possible, so you buy a cheep press, a couple of wood screens, a hand full of chemicals and inks, and some bright idea of burning your screens in the sun so you don’t have to even buy an exposure unit.  The last step on your agenda is how to cure your ink.  A conveyor dryer is too expensive, but you found this guy on Ebay selling flash units saying they will cure your ink, for WAY less than a dryer.  Will it work?

Does a Chicken Have Lips?

• NO!

This might be my shortest article in a while.  The answer is NO.  At least not if quality of your print has anything to do with your decision.  In my opinion, if you can’t afford the right equipment, then you are not ready to start your shop.  The introduction paragraph above has a scenario that has so many problems, we will have to tackle them in a later post, but for now, lets talk about curing ink. 

• Why?

Chickens DON'T have lips.

Here is why it wont work.  Your ink has to hit a specific temperature (around 300 degrees), and should stay in the heating chamber of a conveyor dryer for around a minute.  All ink is different, so check with your ink manufacturer for specific times and temperatures.  If you take a white shirt with a print on it and stick it under a flash unit to cure for a minute, chances are you will scorch the shirt or worse, catch it on fire.

A flash unit is designed to flash cure ink to where it is tacky, not cured.  There are several reasons to use a flash unit (once again another topic for a later post), but curing ink is not one of them.  They simply aren’t designed to do that.  Yes, you can cure it enough to where it “feels” dry, but wash it a few times and most likely the ink will wash out of it.

If you printed 100 shirts (would take you forever with a flash unit), some might actually cure correctly, but I could almost guarantee you that most of them would wash out.  You need to be consistent in your quality or you will never get anywhere in screen printing. 

Like I said, short post.  That is because the answer is short:  NO.  Don’t do it.  Cut corners everywhere else, but not in your curing equipment.  Don’t try to use a heat gun, hair dryer, or your kitchen oven to cure your ink either.  Don’t laugh, I have heard of people trying all three of those methods, just in my small town!  Some of those Ebay guys even tell you to do that in their equipment instructions!!!

Save your money, buy a used press, wood screens if you have to but preferably aluminum screens (retensionable ones would be even better), a used exposure unit (do NOT expect to use the sun no matter what you read), and a used 8 foot conveyor dryer.  You won’t regret the decision to spend money half as much as a decision to cut corners.  Go get a piggy bank and start saving nickles.  You will thank me later.