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jollytee24 · August 8th, 2008

Hey guys,

I'm still a newbie but from the loads of research I've been doing I'm kind of getting interested in DTG. I wanted to ask if DTGs work well for 50 poly/50 cotton blends though because I've mostly read about this method with cotton. And does anyone know how well a DTG on 50/50 holds up after washes? Thanks

CoopersDesignCo · August 8th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollytee24


	Hey guys, I'm still a newbie but from the loads of research I've been doing I'm kind of getting interested in DTG. I wanted to ask if DTGs work well for 50 poly/50 cotton blends though because I've mostly read about this method with cotton. And does anyone know how well a DTG on 50/50 holds up after washes? Thanks

I think the majority of us are still "newbies" when it comes to DTG, but I think I might be able to help.
I've done several prints on 50/50, however, it's not the washing that has concerned me. I've found that the prints just aren't as vibrant. I believe it reacts much the same way that plastisol inks do with 50/50, in that, there is some "dye migration". This basically means that some of the dye in the garment tends to bleed into the inks that touch it.
Then again, my machine may have different results than other DTG machines, and users. I operate a T-Jet2.
Hope this helps...

jollytee24 · August 8th, 2008

Thanks Ann, I did read about other people having problems with the colors not being as vibrant so it might not simply be your machine.
Thanks for the explanation

sunnydayz · August 8th, 2008

I too have noticed that the images are not as vibrant with 50/50. This is caused by the fact that the binders in the ink only adhere to natural fibers. So with 100% cotton you are getting 100% binding of the ink. With 50/50 only 50% of the ink is binding. That is why the prints look less vibrant, because the inks dont bind to poly.

jollytee24 · August 8th, 2008

Thanks guys! If anyone has examples of 50/50 DTG work they've done I would love to see it so I could know what to expect.

tblitz25 · August 9th, 2008

The print is not as vibrant. I always use 100% cotton.

martinwoods · August 9th, 2008

I will try to remember to find the sample at the shop on Monday.
We always use cotton, but my local embroiderer always brings his own shirts and they are always 50/50 and he gets a lot of them for a landscape company.
They look pretty good and wash well, (I assume since he keeps coming back for more)

Mistewoods · August 10th, 2008

We have printed on 50/50 garments. Different inks do not perform the same.

The R&H inks we used to use did a decent job on most 50/50 garments- though depending on the shirt some looked more faded or muted than on 100% cotton. Especially touchy for some reason were the gray shirts. They washed pretty well but not as well as 100% cotton. We did lots of hoodies that were 80/20- they almost as good as 100% cotton prints. Higher poly content meant additional cure time- we usually cured them twice.

I have not used DuPont ink myself but I have wash tested a bunch of shirts from other people. The 50/50s I have seen in DuPont ink looked considerably worse than 100% cotton- and DuPont in general does not wash as good as the R & H did by a long way. However not having it in my own machine I have not experimented with it.

The DTGInks that I am using now do really well on shirts with poly content. So far I have not seen much loss in vibrancy of the intial print or loss in wash testing. If it is more than 80/20 we cure it twice (350 for 60 seconds lightest pressure, then repeat). For 100% poly, I have seen it done but have not yet tried it. It requires slightly different technique, but no pretreatment.

More 100% Polyester prints

Another alternative is to use one of the pretreatments available before printing on poly content shirts. I would suggest to everyone on any substrate- do your own wash tests so that you will be comfortable with the quality you are delivering to your customers.

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