Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Hey everyone, I am about to start a website selling business cards and other types of cards. I was also looking to add a section to my site for selling t-shirts. I will not be mass producing enormous amounts of t-shirts, its just a little side hobby for my site and I will be printing them from home using my PC and ink-jet printer. What I would like to know is what would type or make of inkjet transfer paper would you guys recommend that I use?
I'd like to know the answer to this as well I'd really like to start out making some shirts just for myself and want to know what would work best since I dont have a heat press(I know many if not all will say heat press only but that's not an option right now) Thanks in advance for your replies.
from experience I kno that there are many good quality Heat press paper, as well as there ARE poor. I shop online at costalbusiness. If you give them a call they'll help you choose the right one for the job, and for your $$$. Of course even with the good paper, there are some that are much better than others. For darks I use the blue-grid backing...for lights I use the red-grid backing. I have had no complaints. Still, any time I'm going to use a new product, I first make a shirt, wash it a couple of times to test for durability, then I decide from there. THAT'S ALL FOLKS.
opaque paper is for white on darks. duracotton makes sweet stuff, I have only used their HT paper for laser, but I assume there ink-jet paper is pretty good as well, but it won't be as good as laser.
From what I've been able to gather, Jet-Pro SofStretch is the best available transfer for lights. It's a new paper, but people have had very good results with wash tests, and its hand is almost as good as IronAll, the previous standard.
For Darks, most people suggest IronAll for Darks opaque paper.
I have both, but haven't had the opportunity to test them yet.
A note about all papers, but opaques especially, you will NEED to trim your paper to fit your design unless it's the size of your paper. This can be done with scissors, an Exacto blade, or a Plotter (Vinyl Cutter) like the Graphtec CE5000-40 CraftROBO Pro or any plotter with Automatic Registration Mark Sensors.
Hello everyone.... so far coastal business supplies has been the supplier that I've been with the longest. They have many products, so are better than others, but if you give them a call and tell them what you're looking for and what you need it for, and what you do not want the paper to do, and what you would like the paper to be like...they will help you better. So far, they are the best.... I believe that's the reason why t-shirtforums use them as a Preferred Vendor. But I knew about costal way b4 I knew about this site.....so just call and don't be affraid to ask the right questions.
For inkjet transfers you want a printer that prints PIGMENT inks. There are a couple of HP's that print with pigment inks, but most of them print dye inks.
Most people recommend Epson printers, tho you will also need to be careful there, too. There are a few Epson printers that print dye inks, too, and you want the pigment inks.
Am I understanding you will not be using a heat press??? I think some paper will only work with a press. I could be wrong but an iron will not get long lasting results like a press. This has been my experience. Good luck!!
I think some vinyl can be applied with an iron but some cannot!
Best paper to use for business 
