[pewzie]

Within a week of looking for some t shirts online and either a) not being able to find what I was looking for or b) finding some of the prices a little OTT £15.99+ I had a brief look into own t shirt printing and stumbled on this forum.

So far I ordered some JPSS paper and a few fruit of the loom white T shirts and printed my first **** today with an iron. The results were better than expected and if it washes ok I am pretty happy. However I thought to myself if I am going to start printing my own and shirts for my immidiate family I might as well get a heat press. I have found the following on ebay and just wondered if someone could give me some advice on if it would be suitable?

heavy duty 15"x15" tshirt heat press machine sublimation ,vinyl,inkjet | eBay

If anyone has any others that would be better that are available in the UK, please let me know.

I am using a kodak ESP 5250 inkjet printer with standard kodak inks 10B and 10C. Do I need to tweak my inks or printer at all?

Many thanks in advance for any help offered.

I would just like to say I am not looking to sell any shirts at all, just print them for me and family which by my way of thinking after doing around 10-15 I will have paid for the heat press and I can then continue printing shirts for around £4.00 each.

 

[InnerLoop]

A heat press is a good way to start. There are certain name brands that are proven to be reliable, but they are expensive. You can sometimes find a good deal on one used but that could still cost you more than the cheap chinese made presses. I got lucky and found a Stahl used on craigslist that was listed an hour before I decided i was gonna buy one, and I got it that night before anyone else could snag it. People really like Hixx too i think. The problems i think people have with the Chinese made ones are things like the temperatures not being accurate etc. But I am no expert and I am sure some experts will speak up soon here.

I got started just like you. I wanted a t-shirt from an old 80s band named Camper Van Beethoven that I loved (great band). Anyway, I couldn't find any good t-shirts for them and there were other ideas i had for shirts so I decided I would try to make my own. I tried heat transfers thinking I would love it, but the heavy feel of the paper wasn't what I was looking for. SO then I came here and started reading about different ways of making shirts and that is how I stumbled onto Dye Sublimation. So I went ahead and got a Ricoh Dye Sublimation Printer from Conde. And with dye sublimation you use a heat press to press the design from very cheap (much cheaper than normal heat transfer paper at least) but very specific paper. I absolutely love it. There is no "hand" at all to the shirts since the dye is absorbed into the shirt, and even though it is most vibrant on 100% polyester (Vapor makes very nice soft 100% spun polyester shirts that are softer than cotton), I have been doing mostly dye sub on 50 cotton/50 polyester shirts. It gives it a slightly faded vintage vibe which in my opinion actually works better for the designs i am doing and the shirts are half the price. It wasn't too hard to pay for all the equipment by just selling shirts based on the interest i got from just wearing my own shirts and when people asked told them i made it. People will hit you up BIG Time at Christmas too because you can make them gifts that are one of a kind and they can't get for their loved ones anywhere else.

So that then led me to my next venture which is screen printing with water based inks. Through this forum i have now discovered Matsui inks and did my first test print with it yesterday. The ink is almost as if it is dyed into the shirt also. Almost No hand to it at all (this is their RC colors for lighter colored fabrics). It's just lovely. And, you can use a heat press to cure the ink (which is what you do to prevent the ink from washing out of the shirt).

Anyway, the point is I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself progressing past Heat transfers, but a heat press is something that you CAN use in these three different processes, so it is a good start. As to whether or not this cheaper press is a good investment, I cannot really testify. I imagine it is Chinese made and it might not last you as long as a good solid name brand like Hixx or Stahl, but I am sure it will get the job done long enough for you to grow and expand if you fall in love with making shirts like I have. Being in America I try to look for Made in the USA now for most tools or products that I use if I can, because the quality is better and I know I am helping my country's economy which I feel it needs in this age of cheap Chinese crap. But, I certainly wouldn't let that stop you from buying a Chinese made press to get started lol. So, good luck man. I hope everything turns out great for you.

 

[pewzie]

I understand what people are saying about machines made in China, but this is shipped from a company in the UK based in Manchester. So at least if there is an issue you are contacting a UK company rather than dealing with someone in China. They have very good feedback and I cant see them importing machines that they would have constant issues with.

If I could find a UK supplier with prices under £200 that dealt exclusively with printing and heal presses I would rather go down that route, but have not found anything so far.

 

[InnerLoop]

Yea, like I was saying, I wouldn't let it stop you from buying one. I didn't check out the feedback, but that is a good place to start and if its with a company that is based where you live and you can get them to replace parts that may go bad in the future like the thermostat then that helps. I would probably go for it if you've looked around and can't find any used name brands in your budget. I am sure you are anxious to get to making shirts. I just wanted to present the reason why a lot of people steer away from the Chinese made presses. Since you aren't doing high volume, I am sure its reliability will suit your needs.

 

[Badgers]

The first issue with cheap imports tends to be getting hold of replacement parts - Due to the build quality issues on a number of the Chinese presses we've seen, the question should be asked about if you can get spares if/when you need them. Apparently, a lot of the UK importers tend to ship another heat press out to replace a faulty one, as they don't have the parts and experience to fix the problem.

Secondly, I would get a qualified electrician to double-check the press before you use it - Almost every one that we've looked at has some dubious wiring to put it politely!

Sadly, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for - If you're only looking at printing a few, why not ask a local printer to apply them for you? This would be far cheaper and would give you a better result.


Hope this help!

Alan

 

[Heatpressinc]

You want to buy a press from a company that you can continue to get service from or service parts from. If you buy from a general ebay seller you're not going to get the same service as a reputable dealer. Heat presses are really simple, it's usually conssited of a Digital Controller to set the temp and time, a Solid State Relay, Transformer, a breaker, and a power switch. Yo can purchase a lot of those items at different places but you always want the same part to be replaced with the same part it came with. Good luck!