Cure log
Substrate Check
A quick floor note on checking garment, fabric or pack stock before heat hits the first piece.
Heat behaves differently on cotton, poly blends, cartons and other printed stock. Substrate Check covers the questions to ask before a flash unit is set over a garment line or a packaging application.
Substrate Check is a quick pre-heat routine for stock that does not behave like the previous run. Cotton tees, poly blends, coated cartons and dark pack stock all take infrared energy differently, so the first questions should cover fibre, coating and surface colour. For substrate questions, use the contact form and name the fabric or film you are curing.
First-piece stock questions
- Fabric or board grade recorded
- Photo shows stock surface and print area
- Dryer type noted, ceramic or quartz
- Buyer, printer or operator named clearly
Read this entry alongside the relevant product pages before changing heat settings. Substrate Check explains what to inspect on the stock itself, while the catalogue pages cover the flash unit, heater bank or spare fitted to the line. Used together, they help separate a material issue from a dryer setting issue.
Where Substrate Check matters in a working week
Substrate Check starts before heat reaches the first piece. Garment, fabric, or packaging stock can react differently under a flash dryer, especially when thickness, coating, or colour changes from the previous run. A quick check at the start helps prevent scorching, distortion, and wasted stock.
Begin with the actual substrate on the press, not the last approved job card. A white cotton knit, a 65 35 poly blend, and a coated folding carton can all react differently under the same flash head. In Johannesburg dry air, Durban humidity, and Cape Town seasonal swings, that first inspection can change dwell time, lamp height and whether a short test pass is safer than full production heat.
Check one sample before the first stack is committed. Look for curling, shine change, dye migration, adhesive lift or board warp after a short exposure. Keep that note near the press so the next operator sees what was tested and what was rejected.
What the check should show
A useful Substrate Check should identify the stock, the likely heat risk and the setting change worth testing first. That may mean raising the flash head over fleece, cutting dwell on thin cartons, or watching red polyester for migration under ceramic IR. The point is to leave with a measurable starting position instead of guessing from the previous run.
Pair Substrate Check with the matching Cure log entry when a recurring material issue needs tracking across shifts.
- Stock risk identified before full run
- Test sample marked and retained
- Operator notes kept with the job
Material issues seen in SA shops
South African print rooms often switch between garments and packaging stock within tight production windows. A flash setting that works on open-weave cotton can mark synthetic fleece, while a bank set for uncoated board may distort thinner laminated cartons. Stock from different suppliers, storage in humid coastal conditions, and dust on inland sites can all affect how the first heated sample presents.
Coastal moisture can lengthen the time needed before a clean reading is taken from a test piece. Inland dust makes routine wiping of reflectors and guards more important, especially where quartz banks are close to the print station. After load-shedding, run another sample rather than assuming the previous heat behaviour still applies.
Operated by Astros Marketing (Pty) Ltd from 2 Makro Place, Sunnyrock 1401.
Substrate checks
A quick floor note on checking garment, fabric or pack stock before heat hits the first piece.
Use this note when the stock changes, the season shifts, or the print shows heat marks sooner than expected. Add it to the job record with the relevant product page so the buyer, operator and production lead are all looking at the same material check. That keeps later setting changes tied to the actual substrate, not memory.