[shiftsupplygroup]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[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.

 

[Ghoster32111]

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]

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]

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

 

[tusa]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[bobo920]

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]

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!

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.

 

[Tshirts2go209]

Hello I’m new to this forum and also the GTX machine. A lot of people have told me brothers pre treat is not all that great however we have a whole bunch of it so we have to use it until it’s gone. But one of the problems I am having is the stains on the shirt after pretreat and printing. Is anyone else having this problem and if so how do you remove that? Without effecting the shirt?

 

[tusa]

We didn't like the Brother pretreat as well, so we switched to Firebird.

Firebird has been working great for us, but like you we had (2) 5L bottles of Brother pretreat left.

YMMV but we been doing 2-1-1 ratio of (50/25/25%) ratio of Firebird, Brother, Distilled water for our pretreat and it has actually been working so well that we might keep doing it that way even if we run out of Brother pretreat.

If you're getting stains, try lowering the amount of pretreat and then pressure and/or temperature on the press.

 

[ajessa]

I have been using the Brother Pretreat for the past 2 months (when i got my GTX) and am about to try out the firebird pretreatment because of all the comments on here...will comment my findings!

I have to say (i sound like a broken record) but everyone in this industry sharing info, best practices etc on this forum is so awesome!

 

[ajessa]

Brother pretreat 50:50 (pretreat:distilled water) - lots of staining and good results
Firebird pretreat not watered down, applied directly, cured etc - minimal staining and great results!

Firebird > Brother

 

[TABOB]

Brother pretreat 50:50 (pretreat:distilled water) - lots of staining and good results
Firebird pretreat not watered down, applied directly, cured etc - minimal staining and great results!

Firebird > Brother

Don't forget the washability test .

Also try 25% Brother pretreat (75% water) applied in 2 thin coats on a pre-pressed shirt, and while it is still on the heat press.