So we've always gassed our prints (solvent) or 24 hours before laminating. I've been told by a couple people that general sings, like nothing over 3'x6', don't really need to be gassed for 24 hours. How true is this? Obviously there's a huge appeal in being able to laminate an hour or so off the printer just in case there's a rush job or I make a mistake and need to reprint. Thanks everyone!
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How Concerned should I be about Gassing Out a print?
- Thread starter Moseye
- Start date
equippaint
Active Member
I've never had any problems from it but I wouldn't make a habit out of it. We never wait 24 hours, usually just overnight or Ill laminate stuff in the afternoon that was printed in the morning.
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
I've been in the industry for almost 15 years now and I have never seen laminate fail on a solvent print whether it was laminated right after or 24 hours later.
Breezy85
New Member
Same here. We've never had any issues. I'll usually laminate same day if I printed before noon. If I print any time after 1 or 2pm, I'll just let it sit overnight and laminate it in the morning.
Same here. I've laminated right after printing if I need to for a rush job. Even so, never had any issues.
nickgreyink
New Member
We let ours sit for 48 hours. Otherwise when it's laminated sooner we see bubbles after a few days between the laminate and the print due to gasses from the solvent.
equippaint
Active Member
Considering we have all laminated right after printing at some point in time and nobody except you have had a problem, Id go out on a limb here and say that it is not the cause. How in the world can you run a business when you wait 48 hours before you even laminate? Id have to staple prints to the ceiling to keep them out of the way.
klingsdesigns
New Member
If its smaller and a lot of ink i let it sit on the printer heater for a while moving it up and down every so often. Then let hang out of printer or laminator. Usually wait an hour if i need it for the same day. Bigger stuff let dry over night.
DerbyCitySignGuy
New Member
We almost always wait 24 hours (obviously there are exceptions). We just keep stuff on the roll and loosen it a bit to let it outgas. Are you physically spreading prints all over the place?
RISEgraphics
New Member
My prints are typically only viewed for 3-4 days before they're peeled and replaced. Depending on the graphic, I'll wait at least 4 hours before laminating. If the image is heavy in blacks or reds, I'll wait till the next day. Haven't had issues with the laminate separating from the graphic, I just prefer to wait a little bit because it helps my guys during the install.
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equippaint
Active Member
50/50. A lot of our prints are smaller print/cut warning labels and individual stuff which is easier to just cut off the sheet and run through the laminator individually.
Breezy85
New Member
Same with us, it depends. Large jobs like a trailer wrap we recently did, we just left on the roll but loosened it up a bit. Smaller prints we'll cut off and lay them on the table. But our laminator is 60" and depending on the type of laminate we use for the job, we try to batch everything together to keep from wasting unused material.
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
There's lots of reasons for this but gasses from solvent isn't one of them. Solvent inks of any flavor dry via evaporation and when they're dry they're dry. The reason to wait a spell before attempting lamination is the the solvents effect changes in the vinyl rendering it rubbery and somewhat less than firm and dimensionally stable. This takes some time to settle down, depending on ink coverage, but out gassing is a myth, something you use to scare little children into going to sleep.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I had folding tables set up and I would lay the prints on them with a box fan blowing across the print to speed up drying. I'd laminate after an hour or so when they felt dry. I have laminated directly after printing and noticed VERY TINY SMALL bubbles appear on heavy ink areas. The bubbles would be too small to really effect any sign being viewed from a few feet away, but I wouldn't do it on a wrap or anything real close up
rydods
Member for quite some time.
I would figure there are a few other things to take into consideration as well like humidity and saturation of ink or an incorrect profile setting. We try to let prints sit overnight if possible. If a customer is really pressing for sooner, we usually make them aware of the process and that if they won't let us allow time to dry, there may be a possible failure (lifting, shrinking or peeling). At least that gets us off the hook. Most of the time it's race car decals anyway. If it has a decent white border around the print, I usually feel better about laminating same day.
jfiscus
Rap Master
We wait whenever possible, but I've also rushed many panels over the years. Especially replacement panels damaged by installers or emergency rush jobs. I've never seen a failure either, but always been worried that one day I'd see it happen. When we had full solvent printers (Mimaki JV3) we build a downdraft print drying booth (solvents are heavier than air) that reduced the drying time by half and really help speed up production. With the new eco solvents the prints come off mostly dry when you get the roll off the printer. We still let them sit and off-gass on a rack near the laminator, but hardly ever use the old drying booth unless we're worried and it is a rush job.
