Discuss the various aspects of direct to garment printing. DTG printers include Brother, T-Jet, Flexi-Jet, DTG Kiosk, Kornit, Mimaki, Tex-Jet and others! Discuss and learn about this up and coming printing technology.
Hey all,
So I've been finding out a few little hints about what specifics in blanks work best for DTG. An obvious is that it works better on natural fabrics so 100% cotton, and has problems bonding to synthetic fabrics like poly. I also learned from ImpressionsMag that using ringspun cotton can be a problem because the tiny fibers that make the shirt soft stick out and leave specks of undyed fabric visible. They advised to use open-ended yarn or yarn that is card spun.
Does anyone else have any small hints for balnk issues that might affect DTG prints?
You are correct about the softer ringspun shirts but it just requires a little more pressure and time after the pre-treat to get the fibers to lay down flat.
Gildan, Hanes, Alstyle Apparel all work great, but it's still possible to get the same great prints on any 100% cotton shirt as long as you are comfortable with the pre-treat process.
If you are still getting fibers standing up or showing through, then the shirt has not been pre-treated and pressed properly.
always put the shirt under the heat press for a few seconds before you print.
But won't it still come up after it's washed and such and leave blank spots?
Last night we were up all night printing a job of canvas totes. I was pretty frustrated. I don't think I will use the SAN MAR $.99 totes anymore. There were so many will pulls in them, big old knots, and black marks. We ironed them by hand (because they are really wrinkly. Then shake them good to get everything off. Then press them, then print. But there would be pill-y parts. And I would LIGHTLY scratch it to test it (if it hits your leg while carrying it or such) and yup, the material would come loose and expose the canvas below. Yea, it was a long night. We didn't go to bed until 7am and I had about 40 bags out of 144 that we didn't use, bummer.
But won't it still come up after it's washed and such and leave blank spots?
Last night we were up all night printing a job of canvas totes. I was pretty frustrated. I don't think I will use the SAN MAR $.99 totes anymore. There were so many will pulls in them, big old knots, and black marks. We ironed them by hand (because they are really wrinkly. Then shake them good to get everything off. Then press them, then print. But there would be pill-y parts. And I would LIGHTLY scratch it to test it (if it hits your leg while carrying it or such) and yup, the material would come loose and expose the canvas below. Yea, it was a long night. We didn't go to bed until 7am and I had about 40 bags out of 144 that we didn't use, bummer.
Wow sorry to hear that, those are the only bags we use and have done tons of them no problems. Not even one bad one. We did 150 recently with a photo of a wedding chapel and they turned out great. Not sure what the problem could be because we have used them for years and never had a problem. I never even order extras because I know I won't need to. (knock on wood)
We do press ours for a couple of second before printing
Maybe it was a bad batch.
Hints for DTG blanks 
