Tagger

A while back I compared shirts that I got from SFW and Flexi-Jet. It was not a fair comparison, as I stated back then, because the DTG had been washed and the Flexi had not. Well, I finally got aroung to washing the Flexi shirt (normal wash, warm water, dry on permanenet press setting). The attached picture is of the two shirts, side by side. The DTG has an overall facded look. Compared to the unwashed Flexi, the Flexi won hands down. Not so after the Flexi was washed. I think they both suck.

I'm not sure if you can see from the photo but the Flexi shirt has both color peeling off the white layer and white peeling off the shirt. I don't blame the Flexi-Jet printer. I guess the problem is either bad pretreatment or improper time/temp on the heat press.

I am dismayed by the bad result. If the distributer can't make a shirt that looks good after a wash, how can I expect him to teach me to do it? Are my expectations too high? Is direct-to-garment printing just not "there" yet?

Attached Images

DTGflexi.jpg (109.1 KB, 97 views)

 

Reply With Quote

csquared

well you bring up a good point but both printer use the same ink so you must assume that they both will wash the same if cured the same. Not sure who you got your shirts from but I can print a white shirt without any peel on the first wash with the same ink so I am guessing it is the pre treatment

__________________

 

Reply With Quote

treadhead

Yep...it's got to be the pretreatment. You make a very valid point though. You would expect shirts received from the distributors of the product to be "good" product. It certainly makes one wonder when they can't get it right.

After alot of trial and error...and reading this and other DTG forums....I haven't had any problems with ink peeling or fading after washings. We've made quite a few black shirts for our church and get to look a them every week after many washing and they still look great!

John

__________________
Home of Southern Sweeties novelty t-shirts
www.southernsweetiestore.com

 

Reply With Quote

Mistewoods

Quote: Originally Posted by treadhead Yep...it's got to be the pretreatment. You make a very valid point though. You would expect shirts received from the distributors of the product to be "good" product. It certainly makes one wonder when they can't get it right. John

Good point. I think the basic problem is that the machine owners focus on selling shirts- they perfect the process and are really concerned with the shirt quality to their final customer.

The machine distributors are focused on selling the machine- they aren't printing shirts all day-and they don't think through the effect on their potential customers of poor prints going out. They don't have near the practice with daily printing that machine owners have and therefore- the owners are simply better at it.

Therefore if you really want to know what your final product will look like you will get a better picture if you spend the $20 to buy one from a person of good reputation who is actually making money selling them.

I am not defending this practiceof the distributors- as I think it is a mistake- I think it is just what happens.

__________________
www.supertprinting.com

 

Reply With Quote

zhenjie

Were the samples printed with the old or new white ink? If they were the old white ink (anything older then a month ago) then you may want to get a sample with the new white ink.

 

Reply With Quote

treadhead

Quote: Originally Posted by zhenjie Were the samples printed with the old or new white ink? If they were the old white ink (anything older then a month ago) then you may want to get a sample with the new white ink.

I have noticed a BIG difference betwee the "old" white ink and the "new" white ink. Not in washability / fade but in brightness and coverage on darks.

__________________
Home of Southern Sweeties novelty t-shirts
www.southernsweetiestore.com

 

Reply With Quote

tujisnochi

i think mistewood's post is very on point. ultimately, the skill of operator will decide the quality of the print. those users who print shirt after for shirt for their livelihood will have an advantage over some intern that may be printing sample shirts out for lunch money. all things being equal (taking out the variability of the human aspect), if the ink is the same, then the curability should be consistent across the board. thefore, it is the quality of the printer's output is what should be taken into highest consideration when comparing machines.

 

Reply With Quote