Specifications

44
11. Printing Non-Textile Items with the DTG Kiosk™
The DTG Kiosk™ can print on many different materials with different combinations of coatings
and print mode. Below are some of our common print combinations. We recommend finding
your own combination using this manual as a starting point.
Please note: if you wish to change your ink type from DTG TEX to DTG UNI for printing on non-
textile materials (or vice-versa), you will need to thoroughly flush the DTG Kiosk™ ink system of
the old ink before charging with the new ink. Whilst this process is relatively straight-forward,
it will take approximately ½ - 1 hour of your time, and does “waste” a fair amount of ink.
11.1 Basic Print Techniques –Preparing Water-Repellent Materials
Water-repellent materials are materials which won’t absorb water. Materials such as tiles,
metals, plastics, and resins are all water-repellent materials. If you are not sure whether your
material is water-repellent or not, drop a small amount of water on to the material and see if
the water penetrates the surface of the material. If water stays on the surface, it is “water-
repellent”.
Below are some of our ways of applying Undercoats.
 Spraying
 Use low-pressure, high volume spray for spraying undercoat materials.
 Surface and ambient temperatures should be at room temperature.
 All surfaces should be free from dirt, grease, fingerprints, oxidation and any other
foreign matter.
 Place media horizontally. Do not slant the media.
 Spray thick layers one or two times in both length and width directions. Try to reduce
small bubbles that might appear on coated surface.
 If the coated surface has many trapped air bubbles, spray a light mist of water (ideally
IPA) on coated surface to reduce the viscosity of the coats for smoothing the surface. Do
not over apply the water mist.
 For media with irregular surfaces, we recommend spraying thin, multiple coating after
the first coating becomes set to touch.
 Use low-pressure, high volume spray gun for the undercoat.
 If possible, wipe surface with static removal cloth before applying the undercoat.
 The coating viscosity increases when it is cold. In this case, warm the vessel containing
undercoat in hot water, or thin it with warm water up to 20 %. Apply multiple coating
when thinned.
 To clean the coating, wash it with warm water and soap.
 Coating by Washing Bottle (Shower Coating)
 Shower coating is recommended for small, water-repellent media with smooth surfaces
such as tiles, plastics and metals.
 Slant the media about 70 to 80 degrees, and let undercoat run the media surface evenly.
 Recycle the undercoat. Make sure to filter the coating with a strainer.