[knownfelon]

Hey Everyone!

So me and my partner are at a bit of standstill here with our clothing line. We have done everything we can think of to produce a quality piece.

We are noobs when it comes to the t-shirt printing industry. We are slowly learning but we just cant seem to get anything right. We have a high demand for our product but cannot produce the proper quality for our customers.

So at first we got one of the local shops to press vinyl onto our tees...but the tees shrunk and the vinyl didn't. There goes that idea!

Next, we tried screenprinting....ugh....another headache! The prints were cracking and crumbling in the wash and were not consistent throughout the tees and hoodies.

Now we are on plastisol transfers! They look beautiful and they are consistent but........when we wash them they are starting to come up off the tee. We thought we had enough pressure and proper temps when we were pressing them.

I just pressed 72 tees which we thought were good enough to sell. They are not. We have tried repressing with a teflon sheet (failed), we have tried reressing with parchment sheets (failed), I would like to possibly save these tees and sell them...even at a cheaper cost to recoup some of the money, but it doesnt look like we are gonna be able to from what I gather.

If anyone has any insight into a possibly better method of printing that will last in the washer besides plastisol transfers, vinyl or screenprinting, it would be greatly appreciated!

That or any ideas on how to save these tees!

CALLING ALL VETERANS! PLEASE HELP!

Thanks!!!!!

P.S. The tees are are proclub, and the plastisol transfers are being pressed at 380 on high pressure, ranging from 8-12 seconds! Repressing for the same amount of time and temp pulls some of the plastisol up, and destroys the print!!!!!

 

[larry]

knownfelon
If the transfers are from a major company, I think it is your press. Is your press air or manual?? Send me or someone else to do a test print and the will help answer your question.

[email protected]

Hey Everyone!

So me and my partner are at a bit of standstill here with our clothing line. We have done everything we can think of to produce a quality piece.

We are noobs when it comes to the t-shirt printing industry. We are slowly learning but we just cant seem to get anything right. We have a high demand for our product but cannot produce the proper quality for our customers.

So at first we got one of the local shops to press vinyl onto our tees...but the tees shrunk and the vinyl didn't. There goes that idea!

Next, we tried screenprinting....ugh....another headache! The prints were cracking and crumbling in the wash and were not consistent throughout the tees and hoodies.

Now we are on plastisol transfers! They look beautiful and they are consistent but........when we wash them they are starting to come up off the tee. We thought we had enough pressure and proper temps when we were pressing them.

I just pressed 72 tees which we thought were good enough to sell. They are not. We have tried repressing with a teflon sheet (failed), we have tried reressing with parchment sheets (failed), I would like to possibly save these tees and sell them...even at a cheaper cost to recoup some of the money, but it doesnt look like we are gonna be able to from what I gather.

If anyone has any insight into a possibly better method of printing that will last in the washer besides plastisol transfers, vinyl or screenprinting, it would be greatly appreciated!

That or any ideas on how to save these tees!

CALLING ALL VETERANS! PLEASE HELP!

Thanks!!!!!

P.S. The tees are are proclub, and the plastisol transfers are being pressed at 380 on high pressure, ranging from 8-12 seconds! Repressing for the same amount of time and temp pulls some of the plastisol up, and destroys the print!!!!!

 

[joey1320]

You can't repress plastisol transfers cause the heat will melt the ink. So don't do that.

As far as the quality of the transfer, what company are you getting them from? Different companies use different chemicals, which change the pressing time and pressure.

Are you following the directions for pressing and washing properlly?

Screenprinting would be the best but it seems like you got a bad printer your first time around. I would suggest looking for another printer, preferably one with a good reputation. There are many good printers here, so I'm sure you can get the results you want from one of them.

Sent from my HTC One X using T-Shirt Forums

 

[knownfelon]

Thanks for the help! I really wish I could find someone here who can accommodate our sizes. We are doin big prints. Our largest is 17 X 21! Trying to find a decent heat press that's not an outrageous amount of money, is getting annoying already! I really wish I could find a screenprinter who is willing to work with us!

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[knownfelon]

Larry,

I might take you up on that offer! Maybe I'll send you a tee and a transfer and see if you can press it and maybe get the results I want! Thanks!

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[royster13]

Are you trying to press a transfer larger than your press?...

 

[Red Leaf]

Screen printing is the way to go. If you got some printing done and it cracked and washed off, your printer did not cure properly. In my opinion the print should outlast the shirt if it is done correctly.

 

[Sunjoa]

Is there any possibility it is the shirts? It seems that is the constant throughout this ordeal.

 

[msiok]

I agree with Red Leaf. Sounds like the screen print was not cured properly. It should not crack and peel off. We have customers with shirts that have lasted over 10 years. The shirt finally gives way before the print.

 

[2020 PrintWorks]

I know it can be exasperating when things don't work out, but this really isn't a major problem that your facing. Your ink isn't cured. Which mean your press wasn't hot enough to get the ink up to 320 or your not pressing for long enough. I don't see why you couldn't press the shirts again to cure them. I press mine at 375 for around 40 seconds at medium pressure. Another option is to call some local screen printing shops and ask if you can run your shirts through they're dryer just to save this batch. If it's in your budget you could also look into buying a flash dryer. That way you could screen print the shirts and cure them with the flash and not have to heat press them. Heat pressing works but imo opinion it gives the ink a crappy look and feel compared to just printing and curing the ink. You just need to experiment more. Try overkill on some test shirts. Maybe press one for two full minutes, one for a minute and a half, one for a minute, and one for 45 seconds. Then wash em and see what happens.

 

[knownfelon]

Yeah I'll give it a shot! But it seems the longer I press, the more of the transfer comes off! Is there suppose to be any ink left on the transfer sheet?

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[drdoct]

I've never heard of proclub but I checked them out. If that price on the website is what you're paying then you aren't only losing your mind. You're losing $$$ too. I don't know where you're located but I'll offer to test them too on your shirt AND a normal gildan or sanmar shirt. I think Dane may be on to something by saying that the shirts seem like the only constant and it does happen where they get coated with some type of non stick (easy clean) teflon scotchguard type thing. It's rare, but there have been times when it's the problem. My location is in my info and if you're close to me you can either mail or drop it if you need to save on shipping. Have you tried a different shirt?

I also agree with the others that screen printing SHOULD be the way to go, but only when you're looking for higher numbers in qty. PM me if you want me to test out and I'll give you my mailing address.

 

[djque]

the problem is im about 98% sure its the pro club I hate to press on them T-shirts there the thickest t-shirts ever. you have to pre press for like 15 to 20 seconds before pressing the plastisol transfer on but regardless its still going to crack and breakup that's what silkscreen does using plastisol.

Plastisol transfer is the same thing as silk-screening except its printed on transfer paper and not directly on the shirt.

You said you had someone try and do vinyl or are you talking about inkjet transfer paper? cause HTV Vinyl out last the garment and wont shrink, crack or peel if applied right.

 

[djque]

I've never heard of proclub but I checked them out. If that price on the website is what you're paying then you aren't only losing your mind. You're losing $$$ too. I don't know where you're located but I'll offer to test them too on your shirt AND a normal gildan or sanmar shirt. I think Dane may be on to something by saying that the shirts seem like the only constant and it does happen where they get coated with some type of non stick (easy clean) teflon scotchguard type thing. It's rare, but there have been times when it's the problem. My location is in my info and if you're close to me you can either mail or drop it if you need to save on shipping. Have you tried a different shirt?

I also agree with the others that screen printing SHOULD be the way to go, but only when you're looking for higher numbers in qty. PM me if you want me to test out and I'll give you my mailing address.

You never hear of pro club that the #1 Cali and Vegas T-Shirt for thickness. its like 10oz lol hella thick. you could wear it with no under shirt and be warm all day and night. but wholesale is like $55 for 1/2 Dozen White lol.

 

[2020 PrintWorks]

Try acetransfersupply. They're paper is awesome Are you using the adhesive powder and also is it cold peel?

 

[selanac]

The Adhesive powder is put on by the Plastisol Transfers company, not the end user.

You mentioned t-shirts, but did you mention 100% cotton or a blend? What about the model of t-shirt?

 

[dbarry55]

You have to start with a good pre-shrunk T-shirt, in my shop we used 100% cotton Gilden for most of our work. We did screen printing, heat transfers and vinyl. Make sure your heat press is the right temp so check the heating surface with a gage. With the exception of heat transfers that began to fade after about a dozen washing everything we did out lasted the shirts. If you're thinking about doing you own screen printing youtube has dozens of videos showing you how to get started, be sure to look at the video "screening with vinyl". Wished I had seen it while I was still running my shop, before I retired and got out, it would have saved me hundreds of dollars and many hours with preparing screens. Hope this helps.

 

[2020 PrintWorks]

I was under the impression that they were printing they're own transfers.

 

[selanac]

I thought they said they used transfers. Meaning, they started with Transfers, then moved on to screen printing. I.E. they had someone screen print for them.

 

[2020 PrintWorks]

I just re-read they're original post. I'm really not sure. In any case I hope they figured it out.