jac8 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 (edited) Found out that 3 of the more common types of powder are TPU, PES and PA. I have only used PA and I don't know if it's the culprit but it seems that even with proper curing, printing etc it still has a very very limited stretch-ability which eventually causes cracks to appear on certain areas of the print specially on high cotton content fabric. Wondering what the differences and characteristics are among the three and which is best recommended for cotton fabric + high stretchability / durability. TIA! Edited February 15, 2021 by jac8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson4 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I recently just found this out as well. the stuff for screen printing, is plasticy and cracks. the stuff Andy sells, is softer and rubbery ( not really rubbery, but it stretches and is softer). As far as I know they are both referred as TPU. If you can source all 3, you’d have an easy answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac8 Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 8 minutes ago, johnson4 said: I recently just found this out as well. the stuff for screen printing, is plasticy and cracks. the stuff Andy sells, is softer and rubbery ( not really rubbery, but it stretches and is softer). As far as I know they are both referred as TPU. If you can source all 3, you’d have an easy answer. Awesome. Unfortunately I'm from a diff country and sourcing from him would only increase my costing. But I guess, what you said is enough to convince me, pa is inferior to TPU when it comes to it being less stretchable and more prone to cracks. Will look for a local supplier with TPU here. Thanks @johnson4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson4 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 27 minutes ago, jac8 said: Awesome. Unfortunately I'm from a diff country and sourcing from him would only increase my costing. But I guess, what you said is enough to convince me, pa is inferior to TPU when it comes to it being less stretchable and more prone to cracks. Will look for a local supplier with TPU here. Thanks @johnson4 I understand, I can look into it as well. I know all the powders I had ( I screenprint too) and the few I tried just aren’t the same as his. They don’t stretch well( TPU).Recently he added that his was stretchy, which it is to some degree. It doesn’t crack. All of them are referred to as TPU that I have tried aren’t stretchy, except Andy’s. If you’ve tried pa and I’ve tried TPU, I’d try PES. Polyurethane ( PES) seems to be stretchy but I don’t know for sure if that’s the type of powder it is. I’m able to just buy it from Andy so I never really looked into it. But, I’m willing to bet it’s probably PES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac8 Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 6 minutes ago, johnson4 said: I understand, I can look into it as well. I know all the powders I had ( I screenprint too) and the few I tried just aren’t the same as his. They don’t stretch well( TPU).Recently he added that his was stretchy, which it is to some degree. It doesn’t crack. All of them are referred to as TPU that I have tried aren’t stretchy, except Andy’s. If you’ve tried pa and I’ve tried TPU, I’d try PES. Polyurethane ( PES) seems to be stretchy but I don’t know for sure if that’s the type of powder it is. I’m able to just buy it from Andy so I never really looked into it. But, I’m willing to bet it’s probably PES. Yeah, cool. Process of elimination I guess. Been scouring online for answers too tho and I've been getting consistent favorable reviews about how TPU is preferred over the others. On my observation, the ranking is like this: TPU, PES (read somewhere that it isn't picky when it comes to material, but cracks easier), then PA with washability being its only strong point. That's right, let's try the other types and exchange notes soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson4 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 44 minutes ago, jac8 said: Yeah, cool. Process of elimination I guess. Been scouring online for answers too tho and I've been getting consistent favorable reviews about how TPU is preferred over the others. On my observation, the ranking is like this: TPU, PES (read somewhere that it isn't picky when it comes to material, but cracks easier), then PA with washability being its only strong point. That's right, let's try the other types and exchange notes soon. The TPU doesn’t crack like your photo, but it isn’t as stretchy as what Andy sells if that makes sense. I’m sure if you went with TPU you would be happy, just be sure not to get the fine powder, it needs to be like salt( course or medium TPU) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jac8 Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, johnson4 said: The TPU doesn’t crack like your photo, but it isn’t as stretchy as what Andy sells if that makes sense. I’m sure if you went with TPU you would be happy, just be sure not to get the fine powder, it needs to be like salt( course or medium TPU) Yes looks like it. I'll be more than happy to compromise a certain level of stretchability for durability / lessened tendency to crack. And also, noted regarding the powder's consistency. Will try it out soon and update here for everyone's reference. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toniainsc Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 On 2/15/2021 at 11:36 AM, johnson4 said: I understand, I can look into it as well. I know all the powders I had ( I screenprint too) and the few I tried just aren’t the same as his. They don’t stretch well( TPU).Recently he added that his was stretchy, which it is to some degree. It doesn’t crack. All of them are referred to as TPU that I have tried aren’t stretchy, except Andy’s. If you’ve tried pa and I’ve tried TPU, I’d try PES. Polyurethane ( PES) seems to be stretchy but I don’t know for sure if that’s the type of powder it is. I’m able to just buy it from Andy so I never really looked into it. But, I’m willing to bet it’s probably PES. where can i find his powder to order? i am a newbie and still reading through and researching everything.... i had pulled it up one time i think perhaps it was in one of the discussions ( a link ) but i cant find it now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson4 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 7 hours ago, toniainsc said: where can i find his powder to order? i am a newbie and still reading through and researching everything.... i had pulled it up one time i think perhaps it was in one of the discussions ( a link ) but i cant find it now... Www.dtFsuperstore.com and go to adhesives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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