Which To Go With: heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening
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Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Which To Go With: heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening
Which To Go With: heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening
My husband and I have a small home based business. So far all we have is a vinyl plotter and we do signs and etc. We are wanting to expand our business and get into doing t-shirts. We have called a few places and cannot seem to figure out what would be the best route to go. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether or not heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening is the best way to go. Heat transfers seem to be the most cost efficient but at the same time we do not want a box around our pictures and text from the transfer paper. If anyone has any suggestions please let us know, we are looking to buy soon but just don't want to make a wrong move. Thanks.
My husband and I have a small home based business. So far all we have is a vinyl plotter and we do signs and etc. We are wanting to expand our business and get into doing t-shirts. We have called a few places and cannot seem to figure out what would be the best route to go. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether or not heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening is the best way to go. Heat transfers seem to be the most cost efficient but at the same time we do not want a box around our pictures and text from the transfer paper. If anyone has any suggestions please let us know, we are looking to buy soon but just don't want to make a wrong move. Thanks.
I guess it really boils down to what size orders you expect from your customer Base...
If your primamry Market is Businesses and organizations, as mine is, Screen Printing is definately the way to go... It is much more suitable to larger orders... Theres no comparison in the the amount of shirts printed per Labor hour... It is normal here for small business to order 40 to 50 shirts at a time...larger businesses order 300 or 400 at a time... Some Local Govt. orders are 1000+ theres no way we could fill these orders timely using a Heat press... However the investment for a Heat Press is minimul and I see no reason you cant cover both Bases...you already have the plotter so for a very minimal investment you can setup for the One offs and small manageable orders using Vinyl... I do the same thing here....This is a screen printing shop however we have transfers and a heat press for walk ins wanting a single shirt or two.... Good Luck with your expansion..... Chuck
Chuck nailed it......all depends on your volume and what exactly you want to sell t-shirt wise. Thermoflex plus cad-cut materials are great for lettering and simple one and two color graphics. Screen Printing is the way to go for unlimited options...I say unlimited printing options because your space, available cash, learning curve etc will be a part of which direction you head. Heatpress transfers are another option and can be as economical or expensive as you want...all depending on what market you seek, what volume within that market, custom designs or stock images. Read through the forum....there is a wealth of info here and probably a hundred other folks thinking as you are and looking for info. I came from the graphics end myself and moved into custom t-shirts with cad-cut. I am now doing stock and custom plastisol transfers. Eventually I will have some sort of screen press but that will be in due time.
This is a discussion about Which To Go With: heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening that was posted in the Heat Press and Heat Transfers section of the forums.
Which To Go With: heat transfers, vinyl transfers or silk screening 
