[metta]

Hello,

I'm just starting to do a little research on Direct To Garment machines and was wondering if there are any machine that are environmentally friendly/non-toxic?

- If so, what are the best machines for this?
- Do they produce durable goods?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Relaximapilot]

Lol they all are!!!! All DTG inks are water based and not plastisol. Hope that helps!

 

[Smalzstein]

No ink is 100% environment friendly, but yeah waterbased DTG inks are pretty good in that field.

 

[Mabuzi]

Water based inks but the manufacturing cannot be enviromentally friendly. I have yet to see ink manufacturers get a enviromental ceritificate. If there are any please let me know.

The pre-treatment contains formaldehyde. This should not be inhaled and avoid contact with skin!!!!!
Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions.
Formaldehyde | Indoor Air Quality | US EPA

I have been told its ok in small doses but long term exsposure is very dangerous. I read in the news recenlty of a screen printing getting a Formaldehyde overdose.

 

[metta]

Great information! Thank you!

Are low impact fiber-reactive dyes available for DTG?

 

[zoom_monster]

Hello,

I'm just starting to do a little research on Direct To Garment machines and was wondering if there are any machine that are environmentally friendly/non-toxic?

- If so, what are the best machines for this?
- Do they produce durable goods?

Thank you in advance for the help.

Metta, I too got into DTG to lower my waste signature. Some perspective:
In many small shops a single screen(say used to print 50 shirts) can create many gallons of waste that should be disposed of in a proper way. In a single day of printing a few hunrded shirts, you could easily foul 50+ gallons of water, fill up a 25 gallon trash bag with tape, wipes and uncured ink.
With DTG. you can expect to produce a small fraction of that over a entire year. formaldehyde is a component of pretreat and there are alcohols in the ink formulations, that if ingested could be toxic at a high enough concentration.

The beauty of the process is that with less being used in the make ready stage and little clean up, this is especially "green" for small runs. If you are interested in finding out more, contact the vendors and download the MSDS sheets for each product and show them to local experts. Also, if you have an idea of the volume the you think you will be producing (garments that is), have the vendor give you contact info so that you can find out how much waste is created from a similar shop

 

[metta]

Good to know. Thank you! I hope that they can eventually come up with inks that don't have the toxic chemicals.

It sounds like one has to be very careful when using the inks to not breathe them in, etc.

Do the (chemical) smells from the inks linger on the fabric for very long periods of time?

 

[selanac]

From what I was told over the years, the best way to make t-shirts or ink environmentally safe, is to cure it.

As Zoom said, the Tape, Rags, etc., have tons of ink on them. What we do is use Old t-shirts or rags to clean everything then run it through the dryer. Even the tape is clean while still on the screen.

Nothing is perfect though, we just do the best we can.

One thing not mentioned about the DTG is the Waste Ink container. Each time you do a head clean which is pretty often with DTG, you output your waste ink to a bottle sitting on the side. When that's filled you have to dispose of it some how.

One way is to poor it on rags, let it air dry some what, and then cure it with your Heat Press or Conveyor if you have one.

Many DTG users may not have conveyor dryers.

 

[zoom_monster]

Good to know. Thank you! I hope that they can eventually come up with inks that don't have the toxic chemicals.

It sounds like one has to be very careful when using the inks to not breathe them in, etc.

Do the (chemical) smells from the inks linger on the fabric for very long periods of time?

Metta, It's really not a problem.
In my case there is no smell other than hot cotton.
The chemicals are in there because they need to be in order to cause the pigments to stick to the cotton. If Brother can get an OKEO TEX certification to put this ink on childerens clothing, I'm confident it's pretty safe. "Chemicals" such as they are.... are metabolized, broken down or are neutralized into non-hazardous components. If you work in an embroidery shop with dust and lint, you still need to be protect workers from breathing fibers and protecting ears from noise damage. The idea of the modern printshop is in reducing all these real "costs" as well as making fabric decoration more affordable. DTG fits in with this strategy with small print runs.

One thing not mentioned about the DTG is the Waste Ink container. Each time you do a head clean which is pretty often with DTG

Good point. I've produced less waste ink in in 5 years printing DTG that I used to make in a couple days with a very small screenprint shop. The chemicals use were a lot more nasty. Good thing is that the more ink you put on shirts and the more often you print, the less you need to rely on auto cleans and times purges. The small amout of ink that is wasted can in most cases be evaporated/neutralized and cured faster that it will accumulate.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=219&tid=39

 

[JeridHill]

Water based inks but the manufacturing cannot be enviromentally friendly. I have yet to see ink manufacturers get a enviromental ceritificate. If there are any please let me know.

The pre-treatment contains formaldehyde. This should not be inhaled and avoid contact with skin!!!!!
Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions.
Formaldehyde | Indoor Air Quality | US EPA

I have been told its ok in small doses but long term exsposure is very dangerous. I read in the news recenlty of a screen printing getting a Formaldehyde overdose.

Small doses of Formaldehyde are found naturally in the human body. That being said, of course no one wants to have an excess amount!

Formaldehyde is not used in the manufacturing of the pretreatment, it is a by-product. In other words, different elements are used to produce the pretreatment and through the manufacturing process, Formaldehyde is formed. But how much?

2 parts per million, or 0.0002%. So even though it's there, it's such a minute amount, there's no need for alarm....