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Originally Posted by A.T.O.I.S. |  | | | | | | | | | Awesome reply's guys... Thanks a million for the info and opinions, its truely appreciated...
After reading all that I guess I'm going Heat Transfer at first, I figure if later on things happen to pick up then i'll probably go with screening for basic couple color designs like logo shirts ect...
The next question would be about getting that Ratio between highest quality to wash durability (any tips rabid??) ... I mean obviously the shirt design doesn't have to GLOW and look like it was painted on but general resolution and definition of designs and colors is huge ... to start its mostly going to be photos transferred onto my shirts ...
Thanks again guys for your help and time and also apologies for posting in the wrong forum - i'll give myself a quick smack for that one ... | |  | |  | |
If you're going cheap cheap cheap and want max durability:
Good ink. Epson C86 printer or equivalent, you can get it for around $80 and sometimes $50 with rebates. The OEM Durabrite inks are some of the best OEM inks. If you think you'll be doing runs of more than 10 shirts frequently, consider a printer with a bulk ink system. You can probably find this stuff on ebay and I'd probably stay with Epson. As for the ink, Magic Mix has been mentioned here before, which also sells cartridges. Try both.
Good quality transfer paper, a little over a dollar per sheet for opaque transfers. You need one kind of paper to do lights, and one to do darks. I buy Double Green Line and Alpha Dark from Alpha Supply. Others say Transjet II is the best. Follow the directions that come with them but with variables like different humidity, inaccuracies in temp guages, and no pressure guidelines, you need to work out the optimal process for your setup.
If using 100% cotton, moisture is your enemy. Always press the shirt itself for about 5 seconds before doing anything, letting it cool before pressing a transfer. This has the added effect of flattening the layer underneath (back of the shirt) where the image will go and removing moisture. Wrinkles and seams can screw with your print on the front.
With ribbed shirts, right after pressing (in either process) stretch the shirt gently from every direction, only deflecting the shirt about 1", to allow the image to "settle" into the ribs and fabric. This helps prevent cracking when the garment is naturally stretched when worn, like over boobies.
Remember to adjust press pressure slightly for different weights of shirts.
Let the inks dry on the printed transfer before trying to cut around the image and press it.
I've heard of a tip to get the right pressure for shirts: place a dollar bill half-on the bottom platen and close the press. The pressure is optimal right when you can't pull it out by hand easily. Haven't tried this one yet...
If your images brown then too much heat, if the image is not completely coming off of the paper when peeling then not enough pressure or heat or press time.
Search this forum for many more informed opinions.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head from work. Hope it helps.
- Oh, forgot to add THE most important thing, and it's one you can't control! Following proper washing methods and instructions will be most important to the longevity of your product so the best you can do is include them with every order.