[Tabz]

hi all, well in a nutshell ive been sublimating for the last 3 years and dont have any issues, but .. i'd love to add cotton t shirts into the equation.

so what are the options besides screen printing ? (dont have the room and i know absolutely nothing about it) so thats a no go.

i then looked at the DTG printers.. really 8-13,000 for a printer ?
i only paid £19.000 for my house, ok it was 1986 but even so, what justifies this kinda money for a printer ? and then i read its around £150 a week to run one .. crazy

i then looked at the OKI printers with the white toner and 2 part paper/ film, i like this system, but is it viable in at least A3 size that wont cost the same as a family car

so basically im just wondering what the options are, if any worthy of the outlay ?

 

[webtrekker]

For me, it has to be htv or plastisol transfers. No good for photographic images, I know, but there's still a good business to be made out of these methods and they'll run well alongside your current sublimation setup. The htv, of course, will require buying a vinyl cutter, but the plastisols need no additional equipment.

 

[Tabz]

For me, it has to be htv or plastisol transfers. No good for photographic images, I know, but there's still a good business to be made out of these methods and they'll run well alongside your current sublimation setup. The htv, of course, will require buying a vinyl cutter, but the plastisols need no additional equipment.

thanks for the reply, these are totally new to me, i keep seeing the word plastisol, but i was under the impression it was screen printing, am i missing something and being a bit thick here ?

any input will be greated with open arms and a pint if your close enough

 

[webtrekker]

thanks for the reply, these are totally new to me, i keep seeing the word plastisol, but i was under the impression it was screen printing, am i missing something and being a bit thick here ?

any input will be greated with open arms and a pint if your close enough

Haha! I'll have to forgo the pint, my wife says I need to go on a diet.

Anyway, screen printing uses plastisol inks and, instead of them being printed directly to garments, they can be printed onto special transfer paper instead. So, the process is ...

1. Send the company a vector image file.

2. They will prepare screens and print the transfers which will be posted to you.

3. Simply cut around the required transfers with some scissors and heat press them onto your garment, or whatever.

Obviously, the screen printer has to prepare screens for your images so, in order to be cost effective, you need to order certain quantities of each of your designs. Also, the more colours in your design, the more expensive they are to produce.

I'm in the UK and have found this supplier able to fulfil my needs - https://www.graphiscreen.co.uk/

Contact them and they will send price lists and samples for you to press.

Note that, you can 'gang' as many images as you like to fill up the transfer as long as they all use the same colour(s). If you need to add lettering or numbers to your garments there's nothing stopping you having sheets of numbers or letters printed that you can cut out and align before pressing, useful for football shirts etc.

 

[Tabz]

Haha! I'll have to forgo the pint, my wife says I need to go on a diet.

Anyway, screen printing uses plastisol inks and, instead of them being printed directly to garments, they can be printed onto special transfer paper instead. So, the process is ...

1. Send the company a vector image file.

2. They will prepare screens and print the transfers which will be posted to you.

3. Simply cut around the required transfers with some scissors and heat press them onto your garment, or whatever.

Obviously, the screen printer has to prepare screens for your images so, in order to be cost effective, you need to order certain quantities of each of your designs. Also, the more colours in your design, the more expensive they are to produce.

I'm in the UK and have found this supplier able to fulfil my needs - https://www.graphiscreen.co.uk/

Contact them and they will send price lists and samples for you to press.

Note that, you can 'gang' as many images as you like to fill up the transfer as long as they all use the same colour(s). If you need to add lettering or numbers to your garments there's nothing stopping you having sheets of numbers or letters printed that you can cut out and align before pressing, useful for football shirts etc.

well you learn something new every day, thank you for this info, i'll go take a gander, nice one

 

[into the T]

where are you located?
if in the usa/canada, then versatrans for plastisol
i have just begun trialing them and been impressed with them the most
this is the thread i started

this is an interesting thread, full of interesting people


i hear you on the cost of things, but there are alternatives that can involve less money
they may be a little more time consuming, so it is a trade-off

also depends on your designs
how many colors?
how detailed?
what color shirts do you like?

 

[Tabz]

where are you located?
if in the usa/canada, then versatrans for plastisol
i have just begun trialing them and been impressed with them the most
this is the thread i started

this is an interesting thread, full of interesting people


i hear you on the cost of things, but there are alternatives that can involve less money
they may be a little more time consuming, so it is a trade-off

also depends on your designs
how many colors?
how detailed?
what color shirts do you like?

england edward .. i watched the youtube video you put up about the guy using the HP laser printer and swapping over the white cartridge and was blown away.. i think this may be a very good way forward

 

[into the T]

the supplier for the white cartridges is ghost toners in germany
here is their site

i don't know who would carry it in england, or if it is cost-prohibitive to ship from germany

they have white toner for a myriad of printers,
whether they would all work for heat transfers is another story (as some papers can be thick)

but if you get the same hp as in the uscutter vid, then at least you know you are starting from a workable point

 

[Tabz]

the supplier for the white cartridges is ghost toners in germany
here is their site

i don't know who would carry it in england, or if it is cost-prohibitive to ship from germany

they have white toner for a myriad of printers,
whether they would all work for heat transfers is another story (as some papers can be thick)

but if you get the same hp as in the uscutter vid, then at least you know you are starting from a workable point

its the best thing ive seen in a long time, thank you for popping it up,
i had a go with transfers years ago, but i thought they were crap at the time, on darks it was a thick plastic sheet, plus you had to trim all round the image, luckily i got rid and went into sublimation, which has been good to me and worked perfectly from the off

the only thing i hate about it is, the gildan shirts are sooooo see through its a joke, hence the need to print onto cotton, so im not even that bothered about printing with a white toner.. i'd be quite happy to print onto the forever A3 sheets and onto white cotton.. that would suit me down to a tee .. if you excuse the pun

 

[NoXid]

If white cotton is your target, you can keep it simple and go with JPSS (Jet Pro Soft Stretch) transfer paper printed with pigment ink and an inkjet printer. The OEM Epson shifts color a bit when heated (besides being expensive), so best to go with a third party ink made with heat pressing in mind, like Cobra.

JPSS has little to no hand after being washed once. It is durable, if printed with pigment inks. The process is simple and readily repeatable.

Search on here and you'll find comments about using it. One key is to give it a bit of a stretch after pressing and peeling; and then repressing with a cover sheet and giving it another stretch. On white you generally wouldn't need to weed it, as the polymer "window" doesn't show up much. Even on Ash Grey it is not really noticeable (but you are starting to shift colors a bit as Grey is not White). On Heather Grey, the polymer window is obvious, and the color shift due to the Grey would be too much for a photo, or the like, to bear.

For dark shirts ... the materials tend to be $$, and the printers $$$$, and the process a bit finicky, and the hand heavy, and the durability not so great. There are ways to cheat past some of those limits, but none of the options (at this point) get past them all.