White ink for all direct to garment printers uses a very heavy pigment, as does any ink or paint because white needs to be a strong color. If you have ever opened a can of white house paint you will see how it has separated and needs to be stirred. White ink in direct to garment machines will do the same thing and needs to move from time to time to get a nice white.
If your printer has been sitting for around 3 days you may notice the white ink looks a little transparent at the bend down to the print head. This is not a bad thing but you will not get a strong white print until all of the pigment has moved forward. You may also notice that the nozzle check looks good but is not a solid looking white.
If you have not used your machine for a few days you will want to get the white ink primed and ready for action. The first step as always is to shake your white ink bottles. Give them a good shake to get the white ink nice and solid, it will start to separate in the bottles also. The next step is to run the pump to move the pigment in your tubes. With the pump running watch for the white in all lines to turn solid and then stop the pump. Once this is done do two cleans and a nozzle check, things should now look great and ready to go. This is all to do with the nature of white ink and even paint. Just keep this in mind if you have not printed for a few days and you will have great prints all the time.
