[bigbang]

Hi all,

Which machines and inks have the best results on white shirts in terms of washability, vivid colors and file preparations, (with no pretreatment for the Brother and Epson)?
Is it as good as waterbased screen printing?

Thanks

 

[HPS]

Hi all,

Which machines and inks have the best results on white shirts in terms of washability, vivid colors and file preparations, (with no pretreatment for the Brother and Epson)?
Is it as good as waterbased screen printing?

Thanks

I can not address the epson question yet as we do not own an epson based machine yet but are getting close to purchasing one to do white inks and dark tees. I got the brother gt-541 about 3-4 weeks ago. Had my kids (under 17) trained as well as my employees. It has been a very easy machine to use. The prints on the brother on all the tees we have done have been very soft to the feel and touch and have washed very well and seem to get even softer. I have side by side a screen printed 3 color job on a gildan 2000 ash shirt and the same design printed on my gt-541. They look identical from a distance but the brother print seems to have a better color and a softer feel. I am planning on cannabilizing as much screen print (which I broker) as possible with my brother. I have printed 3 designs I did through my screen printer on my brother so far and I am happier with the look and feel of my brother prints versus the screen prints. Especially where I have halftones and shadows, the brother seems to give better depth and detail than screen printing in my opinion.

Hope this helps. After my epson based unit arrives i plan to do same tests and will report back.

 

[Justin Walker]

I have side by side a screen printed 3 color job on a gildan 2000 ash shirt and the same design printed on my gt-541. They look identical from a distance but the brother print seems to have a better color and a softer feel.

Better color from a Brother GT-541 printer, versus screen printing? hmmm....... Well, if you like that, you will LOVE the results you get from the Epson printer!

 

[Rodney]

(with no pretreatment for the Brother and Epson)?

I don't think you can print white t-shirts without pretreatment.

Is it as good as waterbased screen printing?

I don't think white ink printing on a DTG will be as good as white ink done with waterbased/discharged screen printing. By "good", I'm assuming that you mean a very soft hand/feel when you run your hand over the design.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Hi all,

Which machines and inks have the best results on white shirts in terms of washability, vivid colors and file preparations, (with no pretreatment for the Brother and Epson)?
Is it as good as waterbased screen printing?

Thanks

Ease of use probably the Brother, you can print without a RIP directly from Photoshop, Illustrator, or Corel. Most vivid colors, really is in the eye of the beholder because they all have the ability to produce vivid prints. Same goes with wash ability/fading all have about the same results given the print is cured correctly.

The only thing I'd add is that it has been pointed out that the Epson based machines are capable of creating a higher quality - more detailed print because of the print head.

Hope this helps.

 

[PPop]

I've been researching this for 2-3 years.

In my conclusion:

The Brother 782 is the most reliable. It is definitely the easiest and fastest to print 100+ quantities. Downside is the 2x Ink Cost and the 3x Machine cost over the Epson.

The Epson is a close second in it's higher print resolution and detail in the prints, cheaper machine cost, cheaper ink costs. Reliability with the Epson DTG's is a problem especially compared to the Brother. Degassed Ink Systems seem to solve a lot of the logistical problems with the Epson Machines.

The Kornit offers automated pretreatment, and the cheapest inks. The samples I have washed did not hold up well, and there is a gamut and detail issue, not to mention I think seriously expensive heads...

The bottom line for me, is that I would buy the Brother 782 if I had the cash and cash flow, but the Belquette Mod1 at around $15-16k looks promising as it has degassed and filtered inks like the Brother and Kornit...

Meanwhile, I've used an outside company to contract print 2,500 shirts so far on their Brother 782, and the shirts are really, really good, and the shirts I wear have held up to 16 - 20 washes so far really, really good!

 

[Stitch-Up]

I don't think you can print white t-shirts without pretreatment.

Is this true? My understanding is tha white Ts DON'T need pretreatment. I have read that pretreatment on whites can enhance the colour.

 

[spiderx1]

Pretreat on whites is not required but it does help the colors a bit and enhance washability. The pretreat for whites is a thinner version of dark shirt pretreat and cost considerably less. But not required like the dark pretreat for white ink. Which will yeild horrible results if not utilized.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Is this true? My understanding is tha white Ts DON'T need pretreatment. I have read that pretreatment on whites can enhance the colour.

Yes that is correct....no pretreatment, that said there are cases that because of the artwork it's beneficial to pretreat a white shirt instead of making more than one color pass when printing, doesn't mean you'd use a underbase just pretreatment to give the colors some pop!

Hope this helps.

 

[More Shirts Plea]

Can you use the same dark shirt pre-treatment on the light colored shirts? Or is there a special light shirt pre-treatment necessary.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Can you use the same dark shirt pre-treatment on the light colored shirts? Or is there a special light shirt pre-treatment necessary.

For Dupont ink there is 2 different pretreatments one for darks and one for lights, not interchangeable, there is a third pretreatment for Dupont ink on the market that will let you print on 100% polyester also.

Hope this helps.

 

[FatKat Printz]

Can you use the same dark shirt pre-treatment on the light colored shirts? Or is there a special light shirt pre-treatment necessary.

We use the same dark shirt pre-treatment.. we just use less.. a light mist

we found its easier since we would have to switch out the container or purchase another gun. 85% of our orders are colors so the 15% of whites that we do , do wasn't enough for us to buy separate pretreat.

Honestly, we don't pretreat our shirts if the art is good then the print will be good. if the art is bad we will pretreat.

 

[HPS]

For Dupont ink there is 2 different pretreatments one for darks and one for lights, not interchangeable, there is a third pretreatment for Dupont ink on the market that will let you print on 100% polyester also.

Hope this helps.

will this treatment work on the under armour and performace products to your knowledge?

thanks

 

[IYFGraphics]

will this treatment work on the under armour and performace products to your knowledge?

thanks

Never used it as far as the polyester pretreatment so I really couldn't say for sure but if the outer shell on the garment is cotton or polyester I see no reason why one or the other wouldn't, to clarify what Fatkat was saying you can use dark pretreatment on light garments, but it could and normally does leave a gray stain in the area of the pretreatment that washes out, since most of us don't wash the printed garments prior to selling we use the light pretreatment on light garments.

Hope this helps.

 

[HPS]

Never used it as far as the polyester pretreatment so I really couldn't say for sure but if the outer shell on the garment is cotton or polyester I see no reason why one or the other wouldn't, to clarify what Fatkat was saying you can use dark pretreatment on light garments, but it could and normally does leave a gray stain in the area of the pretreatment that washes out, since most of us don't wash the printed garments prior to selling we use the light pretreatment on light garments.

Hope this helps.

Thanks , I am a under armour dealer and I have a lot of nike and brand x performance fabrics we sell and have not tried yet. With the brother we have been doing 50/50 jerzee polo shirts and not used the pretreatment brother supplied as we did not need to, have also done so white 50/50 tees and no pretreatment and they look great.
I hope they wash and wear well.

We are zero-ing in on an epson based printer and pretreatment machine very soon , waiting on some custom files we sent for testing for our biggest account. If the unit hits the mark and the ink and time costs are what I am guesstimating than I will be adding this new unit to our line up and doing my more expensive brother prints on the epson based unit and the cheaper sides on the brother to get more output and save some cake. Plus I am really pumped to do dark tees without using transfer material.

I too have heard no pretreat is required for white tees but read that it can give better colors. I have never pretreated a white 100% cotton or 50/50 thus far but have only been in business with the unit for 30 days. Time will tell.

 

[JeridHill]

As a side note, you can't use this pretreatment with white ink.

 

[Shirt Bistro]

On the 50/50 you do need to pretreat or you will not get the washability that you do with 100%. We have had a brother 541 for 2 years and found out the hard way. It can get expensive if you don't with the 5050's

Just my opinion.

 

[Printwizard]

Hi,

Just curious as to the most they wash. Sorry but i am a screenprinter and my mindset is my customers get maybe 200 washes a shirt not 20. Do they get to 30 washes and is it the darks the ink fails first with rather than white shirts. thanks, mike.

 

[equipmentzone]

Hi,

Just curious as to the most they wash. Sorry but i am a screenprinter and my mindset is my customers get maybe 200 washes a shirt not 20. Do they get to 30 washes and is it the darks the ink fails first with rather than white shirts. thanks, mike.

This is a very old thread you replied to. With the current generation of dtg inks, the washability and durability of the prints can be similar to screen printing.

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