People have been declaring print dead for decades now. Shows what they know. :b

 

Depending on the economy I guess, around here, at least form people I know who does plastisol screen printing, they are mostly being replaced by dtf due to high price despite requiring MOQ.

 

By "economy", I assume you mean the "business model".
As for DTF replacing plastisol... unless you are talking about specific low volume business models, I don't see how.

I don't see DTF shirts sold in theshops.
Most of the $8 rubbish on SHEIN are screen-printed as well.

 

All none screen printed apparel is always compared to screen printing for the quality and feel of the print. Therefore, if you're a quality screen printer...your business will always have customers!

Happy 2024.

 

For one or two color designs, I have been using DTF for one-off design samples to show the customer. For the production run, I work with a screen printer.

 

DTF is screen printing's outside child that wants to come back and take over the whole business (screen printed transfers have used the powdered glue for years). Now DTF transfers are marketed to as the next big thing in the business.

Marketing: DTF is popular because of the perceived value at a low price. A custom one off shirt with 18 colors is a click away and available 24/7 for your business...meaning unlimited profits!!!

Truth: The printers don't work most of the time. The heads on these unit can and likely will clog days after you purchase them. You have to fight temperature and humidity. That 18 color 24/7 one click design will turn into a 4 color design that you can only print on the third Wednesday of the month when the moon is half full and you are too!

If you believe this statement is incorrect, go look at the used market and see how many of these units are available in new or like new condition. The larger companies that use them have 5-10 units in most cases just trying to keep something running correctly 24/7. That invest is just too much for the small businesses. Be careful folks is all I'm saying.

Oh and the print quality...!?!

 

Truth: The printers don't work most of the time. The heads on these unit can and likely will clog days after you purchase them. You have to fight temperature and humidity. That 18 color 24/7 one click design will turn into a 4 color design that you can only print on the third Wednesday of the month when the moon is half full and you are too!

This is why most companies should outsource their DTF printing. Get all of the benefits of DTF with none of the problems.

 

I was referring to the purchasing power of people. Around here price is almost always the number 1 factor.
They want plastisol quality but do not want to deal with high price

They are not getting plastisol quality though.
It may look good at the beginning, but it will not last.
For comparison, I just happen to find one of my 15 year old "test garments" today... Take a look.

Printed around 15 years ago, and has been washed over 200 times.
The elbows and the sleeve bands have been destroyed, but the print looks like new with no cracking or flaking whatsoever.
These are opaque plastisol inks by the way, and the red has no underbase.

I think plastisol can be as expensive or more than DTF depending on the color count etc

The hoodie print above cost something like 15 cents per print (screens, ink, etc).

I'm speaking about prints that we sell by order, not something that we design & create in bulk then sell it on our own online store.

Now we are getting somewhere...
The "print on demand" market is growing, but it is still a very small segment of the overall market.
A lot more money in the much larger but still very diverse fashion segment.

 

I’m a screen printer..! For life The only DTF I know is Down to fiesta ….

 

You're wrong!!! But I appreciate your comments EOSAGIE, It will keep competitors away.

 

Octavioost1, I would love to read where I got off track in your opinion?

 

DTF is a good solution for its purposes, but will not replace screenprinting. I won't buy the DTF equipment when I can use a source that's convenient and has already worked out the issues and that we've put probably 150 orders or so to. The customers that we've used DTF for are very happy with the results, and keep reordering without complaint about price. As far as lasting power, we tell every customer that they are rated at 50 washings or so (depending on the launderer, right).

 

I was a manual shop when I purchased a 24" commercial printer with the hopes of dragging the screen print machine out to the curb. But the fact is, while DTF can replace most screen print, it will never replace all. It doesn't make sense to spend several hours dtf printing a couple hundred full front or back prints then turn around and spend hours pressing them on when you could have screen printed them in the time you spent dtf printing. While DTF will turn any spare bedroom with a heat press into a garment decoration shop, and I've seen some cool dtf prints, dtf can't fade off like DTG or screen print. Screen printing will always be less expensive on the large logo, large quantity order for the end user. While I will continue to use dtf as much as possible, I also bought a 6 color auto press . Screen printing will never die.

 

while DTF can replace most screen print

Most?
It cannot even replace screen-printed transfers when printing volume. We all know those 15 cents transfers are unbeatable.
In addition to that, it cannot even replace the only plastisol transfers I actually like, the hot-split transfers.

Let's be realistic... DTF is basically vinyl.
It's just a fact, and decent DTF suppliers do admit it.

While DTF will turn any spare bedroom with a heat press into a garment decoration shop

Just like vinyl did for many years, and still does in many cases.

Screen printing will never die.

Never say never, but beating it on volume pricing and durability will not be easy.
Just look at offset or flexo printing for paper and packaging. Digital alternatives are at least 3 times more expensive when printing volume.

 

If your shop is optimized for DTF you can do it effectively. Last year we did 38,000 shirts printed with DTF and it worked out easily. To do this you need a professional DTF printer that is optimized for DTF inks. I've had epson conversions and they don't have the cleaning cycles setup for DTF. Also I feel you need a dual station heat press to do it effectively. It sucks and is slow on a single platen heat press. The main complaint I hear from everyone is the plastic feel. But if you are printing a big circle of white on the front chest of any tshirt, that's got a similar feel, and is generally thicker. Yes, you can optimize to limit that feel in screen printing as well as DTF, but basically I call it a wipe, even full front DTG can have a plastic feel. Yes you can get around this by printing with water based, but most commercial shops don't use it because of the extra labor and time it takes to print with waterbased inks. Interestingly DTF when you wear it gets softer because of your own body heat, and at 90 degrees it's quite flexible.

Longevity, is pretty good. 50 industrial launderings is the standard, and DTF meets that. Also most people don't keep a shirt that long, and don't expect it to be perfect after the that much time anyway. Generally I feel if it's perfect for the first 6 months of washing and wearing that's all the customer was looking for.

From a customers point of view, generally they don't know or care about screen printing. They generally come to us the professionals and just want "logo on Shirt." They don't want to hear about colors, screens, or setups. And with DTF I can quote things without seeing the art because it's not color dependent. If you want a photograph it's the same price as if you want me to match last years screen printing that you got from a printer. So it's a lot easier to quote over the phone or through email.

Yes there are some customers that DEMAND screen printing or water based and they are the minority, and also there's no local competition that prints with water based (and probably isn't any in your area either) due to it's scalability so they are probably not going to be happy anywhere.

Lastly when a good customer comes back and need one more set of shirts for a new employee I can just print one or a few and keep it at the same cost as the last run of shirts because again, there's little to no setup and no real labor cost. And screen printing a single shirt is not worth it to any one.

 

Longevity, is pretty good. 50 industrial launderings is the standard, and DTF meets that.

50 industrial launderings?
Let's see what a reputable source is saying...
"HTV commonly lasts somewhere between 25 and 30 washes, whereas DTF is known for being slightly more durable and has tested positively on upwards of 35 washes."
Not too bad, but then we have the wash instructions...
"The basic recommendations for HTV and DTF are: wash at a maximum of 30°C with the garment inside out on a short wash programme and don’t use fabric softener."
Source: rolanddg.eu

Also most people don't keep a shirt that long, and don't expect it to be perfect after the that much time anyway. Generally I feel if it's perfect for the first 6 months of washing and wearing that's all the customer was looking for.

These are called throw-away shirts.
If that's what you are selling, then DTF and as well as HTV and pretty much all other transfers methods are all good options.

Yes there are some customers that DEMAND screen printing or water based and they are the minority

This is a perfect example of a half-truth.
People ordering 300 shirts will likely insist for screen-printing, but people wanting just a single shirt will have to accept DTF.

 

I have washed shirts with a 10" circle (full coverage of ink) and with minimal DTF ink and they both have gone through more than 50 washes flawlessly. Those were from Transfer Express. I just recently bought the Mimaki TxF 150-75, let's see how those wash. I'm just getting set up as we speak. The quality is incredible.

 

I have washed shirts with a 10" circle (full coverage of ink) and with minimal DTF ink and they both have gone through more than 50 washes flawlessly.

a) I'll believe this when I see it.
b) Even if true, in screen-printing the "number of washes" is never used as a selling point. Because the expectation is that the print will normally outlast the fabric.

The quality is incredible.

Incredible... compared to what?
The examples I've seen so far don't look "incredible" at all. At least not for the type of prints I do.
I sell my shirts for around $15 wholesale, and my clients are re-selling these for $30-$40.
Would you buy a DTF printed t-shirt for $40? Be honest.

 

Once I started looking into doing content creation myself I quickly realized the problem with YouTube these days... Basically, person A makes a video that does decently well so person B and C each copy it and change it a little bit. Then person D and E copy B and C and eventually you have 100 videos all copied from one version of the same video/idea. But wait, what happens when person A who made the first video just BSed it and didn't actually know what they were talking about from the start? Or more commonly, people started trying to change the content a little bit by adding their own BS that eventually gets copied down the line.

And in the end you have the irony which is the 'making money online' niche where the REAL way to make money online is to make videos about making money online... lol

 

DTF prints will never even come close to the quality of a screen print. At first they look beautiful, but wash them a few times and you'll see the decline in quality. I'd rather not have to give my client 100 disclaimers on how they should wash their garment. Nobody is going to wash inside out on cold and hang dry a gildan tshirt. I've tried countless dtf companies and some aren't terrible but if I had bought them retail, they'd be returned in a week.