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newbie still testing, still in the dark

I am printing a full color photo layout to shirts so realistic skin tones are desired. I have some access to several different printers at a pro photo lab and a hix 15 press for testing.

What I'd like to be able to do is print personalized T-shirts on demand, at event sites, so total beginning to end process time is a factor.

I chose to start with JetFlex Premium which I understand is rebranded Ironall.

My first test was done on an HP printer, which I later determined was loaded with dye-based inks. After the first image was printed, it looked a little pale so the tech went into saturation mode and made some adjustments to my image file.

The result looked good and I pressed both to some pre-worn, pre-washed t-shirts. This was a rush job and I didn't have time to do any wash tests ... i know.. dumb newbie mistake...

Anyway.. I went ahead and started printing and pressing on new Gildan blanks. So far so good.. until the first wash.. the deep dark, near black areas washed/flaked? off, leaving them a medium gray. Adjacent dark brown or dark blue areas didn't washout. It almost looks like the darkest area 'flaked' off, perhaps from too much ink buildup that interfered with the transfer bonding?

After I washed this Gildan shirt again, as well as my test shirt, I found that the image on my old pre-warn shirt hadn't faded. It kept its color even in the dark area. Both shirts were 100% cotton.

I am quite happy with the image on the old FOTL t-shirt that has been washed a couple times so now I am curious as to why the same image, same JetFlex transfer sheets, didn't take on the new Gildan shirt.

What factors might be involved?

The differences seem to be:

1] Old, pre-worn, pre-washed shirt vs new pre-shrunk, unwashed Gildan blank.

2] Image was pressed into the old shirt soon after printing. The images pressed onto the new gildan shirt were misprints [same saturation, just not centered] that had sat around for several hours before I decided to use them for test purposes. Is the time from print to press a significant factor?

3] I pre-pressed both shirts and pressed the image for about the same time, using a teflon sheet [the hot plate has some residue so until that si cleaned, i wouldn't want to use it without the teflon]. I did not peel and repress. Is that recommended? Does it affect or change the colors? Does it affect image bonding?

Later, I printed a transfer on a canon printer loaded with pigment-based inks but the color wasn't balanced and didn't look very good after a wash. It may be when it is color adjusted for my image it will be OK. They seemed to be dark but somewhat muted. This image for this test print was not 'tweaked' or saturated.

I am also in the process of printing on JetPro SofStretch on both the HP and the canon for color-fast wash testing.

If the image I got from using JetFlex with HP on that old shirt holds up for many more washes, I would be happy if I could replicate that on new shirt blanks.

 

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deChez

I use an HP printer with their Vivera inks, and the soft paper from Dharma Trading (which may be re-branded ironall).

3 things I found out through trial and error are:

Don't print at Best quality -- that renders 600dpi ink, and it's too much for a transfer. Print at Normal quality to render 300 dpi ink. My printers are stuck on a wierd setting that has them printing Normal quality at 600dpi, so I go into the properties and change the inkflow to over come that.

Let your transfers dry for 15 to 30 minutes before pressing them.

Before I knew about teflon sheets, I used parchment paper. I still use parchment for the inkjet transfers (I use teflon on plastisol and vinyl). In reality, it may not make any difference but, I have it in my head that the parchment works better for the inkjet transfers.

Keep us posted...I'm always interested in hearing about what works (and what doesn't).

 

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