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shiftsupplygroup · April 4th, 2018

Hey guys!

Been using the forum as a great resource for research. We've done alot of garment manufacturing, but are new to DTG printing.

We are acquiring a brother GTX & Viper XPT-1000 later this month. For one of our apparel lines.

I wanted to know for those with the GTX printer, what pretreatment do you guys use that gives the cost efficiency & quality?

Also do you guys typically pretreat a bunch before hand? If so how long can we have them sitting pretreated?

Also if you guys have any tips for newbies, they would be very much appreciated

Thanks so much!

tusa · April 5th, 2018

Using the GTX pretreatment from Brother is probably the best option.

Over night is the longest I've let it sit before printing, but I'm sure you can do longer. I press for 5 sec before printing tho.

Your install tech should be able to provide all the answers. Good luck!

Ghoster32111 · May 7th, 2018

I have had the GTX for over 6 months now and I have found that the Brother Pretreat is kinda trash you have to spray so much of it to get a passable white. Not to mention all the sticky, oily mess it makes. I have found the pretreat from firebird is far better. I get a better white print and spray almost half and it is cheaper. So I get a better print, and savings using Firebird for the GTX.

Asunto · May 11th, 2018

Really? I'll have to try it then. Thanks!

gatorGRAFIX · May 25th, 2018

Well, I have a curious question. Brother recommends their pretreatment as well as Epson that recommends their brand of pretreatment (as expected).

If the Firebird pretreatment can be used on both machines (which is way cool) I wonder what the real differences are between the two manufacture's pretreatment (Brother & Epson)?

It'd be pretty cool for someone who had both machines if they didn't have to swap out pretreatment jugs every time they switched or used both printers at the same time.

Ghoster32111 · May 25th, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatorGRAFIX


	Well, I have a curious question. Brother recommends their pretreatment as well as Epson that recommends their brand of pretreatment (as expected). If the Firebird pretreatment can be used on both machines (which is way cool) I wonder what the real differences are between the two manufacture's pretreatment (Brother & Epson)? It'd be pretty cool for someone who had both machines if they didn't have to swap out pretreatment jugs every time they switched or used both printers at the same time.

Honestly I have both GTX and F2000 and I just use Firebird pretreat for both machines. I'm not trying to sound like the poster boy for Firebird but It is very forgiving in pretreatment terms I get to use less of it (with a better result) and it is cheaper than either Epson or Brother pretreat. I am also able to pretreat a wide variety of blanks that the OEM pretreats stain on. Just to save you some time too it also works better than other third party pretreats. I switched from image armor to firebird because on my first test it did not stain a charcoal gray shirt.

tusa · May 26th, 2018

I just tried Firebird pretreat and I have concluded that James aka Ghost32111 is...

absolutely right!

I still have (2) 5L bottles of Brother Pretreat left and once that is done, I will be switching over to Firebird pretreat.

The Brother pretreat not only requires a lot of spray, but it's also very sticky and inconsistent.

Firebird seems to require a little bit less and it feels nice on the shirt. It's also cheaper!

aidensnd · May 29th, 2018

Are you guys diluting it? I tried the Firebird Brother Optimized version and it stained worse than Brother's does for me.

tusa · May 29th, 2018

That's weird. From my initial testing, the Firebird had less stain and less residue.

I tested on black, red and gray shirts.

Maybe you're spraying too much?

TedC · May 30th, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by aidensnd


	Are you guys diluting it? I tried the Firebird Brother Optimized version and it stained worse than Brother's does for me.

Can you let us know what brand and color of shirt stained for you from the Firebird Brother pretreat? Also, how many grams were you using for that shirt, and what was your method for drying the pretreat? Like how many seconds...did you lift the press to let steam off while pressing, and so on? That would help us know what to do differently to try to get a result that does not stain.
Thanks

tusa · June 23rd, 2018

Also, try less pressure.

Sometimes with really light weight garments I saw staining. I did lower pressure with it, and the stains were gone right away.

Now I do less pressure on all the shirts and it seems to work great.

orbisbrand · June 24th, 2018

I use bother pretreatment 50/50 with distilled water, it works fine for me, I have a 3k pretreat machine that I ended up not using if anyone needs it I can sell it really really cheap, I went with manual spray bottle it works fine, i can control how much and where i sprayit.

They way I do it works great depending on the graphic I will spray one tiem or twice, also not to brag buy may area amazed of how well my prints come out. I've been wanting to post a video online just have no time.

I spray right on the heat press pallet, saves a step then press right away...

hybridtrendz · July 6th, 2018

Where are you located, in regards to the pre-treat machine?
Thanks!

bobo920 · August 9th, 2018

Man I just got a brother 381 , and I was planning on using imagearmor but after reading this post might use firebird now!! Can't decide!

TABOB · August 9th, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by orbisbrand


	I use bother pretreatment 50/50 with distilled water, it works fine for me

I know some people who were using purified water, thinking it is the same LOL!

Quote:


	I spray right on the heat press pallet, saves a step then press right away...

You've made a discovery here... but obviously you don't realize it. This does more than just saving a step.

Brother Vs Firebird:

Unlike most people... I do read the DSD sheets, as knowing how they work does help produce petter results.

The gelling agent (which is what matters) in both Firebird and Brother is "Calcium nitrate tetrahydrate". The brother pretreatment contains twice as much, but when diluted 50/50 with distilled water, they become the same.

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