[AGELLC]

Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering what everybody's learning curve was when they first started printing with the MOD1. How long did it take to perfect the whole printing process to the point that they started producing well-printed shirts that survive the wash tests consistently? Are we talking a couple of weeks? A couple of months? Six months? A year? How many T-Shirts did you guys go through before you got it right? I have probably spent 3 to 4 weeks of time (on and off, maybe 1 and a half week straight of mostly printing and testing and then on and off for the rest of the time) and gone through 30 shirts and 750 mL of white ink trying to perfect this process. I feel like we are very close to getting it nailed down but we are still having wash test issues. I was wondering if we are on track or if this is taking way too long? How long did it take you guys and how many shirts did you destroy before you started printing a sellable product consistently? How many bags of ink did you go through before you got it right?

 

[4C Print Shop]

The key is always to go and get training. I went from the DTG Kiosk to the Mod 1 and was immediately producing quality shirts.

 

[JeridHill]

Hi Dean, thanks for replying! I did want to mention Hannah did come in for training. It appears everything she is doing is correct in her pretreating and curing process, so I'm not actually sure what is happening on the wash. My only guess is in the shirt itself, but hopefully I can get my hands on her sample prints and do some tests of our own.

 

[AGELLC]

Yes, I did go to BQ and picked poor Jerid's brain all day! They have great customer service and support and have put up with a lot of questions from me I am wondering if something is wrong with our heat press. I am stumped about our wash tests right now because I have followed all of their guidance. Thank you, Jerid, for looking into it for me! I am going into our shop tomorrow to do a bunch of print tests curing the inks at different temps and times to see if I can narrow it down.

 

[Printzilla]

Have you had issues on shirts other than Gildans? I would start with that. Do a search on this forum for Gildan dtg, not the best reputation.

 

[AGELLC]

We have only done a little bit of printing on Hanes Nano Ts and Sanmar PCs. I will print some more on other shirts today and see what we get. I just did a bit experiment yesterday with curing at different temps/times/white ink control settings and did two wash tests on the swatches. I may go ahead and order some more Nano Ts and do the same testing.

 

[danslave]

I own a different brand of DTG machine, but I can say I settled in on the Nano after trying a variety of different shirts. My customers like the fit and feel of the Nano and it takes to being treated and printed on quite well.

The black shirt is maybe not as black as it could be, but they have a wide range of sort of vintagey looking colors that people seem to dig,

We have only done a little bit of printing on Hanes Nano Ts and Sanmar PCs. I will print some more on other shirts today and see what we get. I just did a bit experiment yesterday with curing at different temps/times/white ink control settings and did two wash tests on the swatches. I may go ahead and order some more Nano Ts and do the same testing.

 

[BQMatt]

Hi Hannah. The learning curve can fluctuate depending on the experience of the user. Tell us a little about your background. Is this your first venture into garment decoration? Do you have previous digital output experience? Some people catch right on, some take a little longer.

 

[AGELLC]

Matt, are you the same Matt that I have been talking to over the phone at BelQuette? If so, you know we are pretty new to this

 

[BQMatt]

Yep its me. I know you are new to DTG printing but what I was asking was if you have any experience in any other type of garment decoration field i.e. screenprinting, dye sublimation, heat transfers etc... or any experience with digital printer used for other applications besides garment printing. Both areas would give a user certain advantages when first starting out with a DTG printer.

 

[AGELLC]

Nope, no experience with any apparel related other than the minimal DTG experience and some embroidery experience.