craftgrrl | screenprinting -- curing ink (Reply)

I searched through memories and found some info on curing Speedball water-based inks used to screenprint on fabric, but I'm looking for more detail, if anyone can help.

It takes so long to iron each shirt; about 10 minutes if you count moving the shirt around and turning it inside out to get both sides etc. Is there a faster way? I'm ironing 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other, which is actually a minute less than the minimum suggested on the bottle (I'm using the Opaque inks). But it seems to be okay; I've washed them several times and they're fine.

But would a heat gun be faster? Or putting them in the dryer? I'd like to find a way to do a whole bunch in a shorter amount of time. I'm new at this and I'm thinking that others here have figured out better ways of doing it. I'd be willing to spend a few hundred dollars on some kind of heater, if it would do the job. Does the ink need to reach a certain temperature, and for a certain amount of time?

Thank you very much for any advice you can offer! Ironing gets sooooooooo boring!! (plus takes valuable time away from designing & printing!)