[eruffini]

Hello all,

Recently I have started a company focusing on selling microfiber towels, and they've been a huge hit with the community. However, as I've increased the number of sales, I've run into two problems:

1. Lead time for proofs and printing of towels is 7 to 10 days (not bad, but weekends bump that up to 12 - 14 days sometimes).
2. Printing requires an order of 50 minimum pieces, and I am getting smaller orders that require batching or creative purchasing to get done.

So I've been looking at getting the equipment to do it myself and I have everything picked out that I want after doing tons of research. The only problem is that I don't know what the exact process is for the particular fabric.

Each microfiber towel is 75/25 Polyester and Polyamide blend, with one side being plush (360gsm) and the other side with no pile. Logos and designs are printed on the flat side. I can't seem to come up with a consensus on the heat transfer process...

* Do I use paper larger than the towel (16" x 24" and 16" x 16" towels) to avoid paper marks?
* What temperature have people found success with for 75/25 microfiber?
* Timing?
* Any other tips and tricks? I did read that people used lint rollers to restore the piles (if printed on pile).

Appreciate everyone's time and advice, thanks!

 

[customprinted]

Ive done my share.of printing and the baseline for me.is.

Use a bigger paper size, you are.correct on the fact that if you use a smaller paper size you will leave a.mark.

If your towel is thick, start with 60 seconds at 200 degrees celcius, then do variations in time more.than in temperature. There is no standard but that is a good starting point. Good Luck

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[customprinted]

In regard to the lint rollers, use them they will help you avoid transfer problems regarding loose fabric, it takes one small thread to ruin your investment

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[splathead]

start with 60 seconds at 200 degrees celcius

Interesting someone from San Diego is quoting celcius. 200 is 390 in the Farenheit world.

The lint roller is mainly used before you press to remove lint and fuzz. You can do it after the press too but i don't imagine it will help much. A lint roller is no match for 400 degrees under high pressure.

If you can afford a heat press and printer printing larger than 24 inches, go for it. We can't so instead we try to hide the press lines by creating a solid block of ink the size of our paper and using a different color ink for our design.

Not sure if polymide is sublimatable. If it's not, know your image will fade a bit when washed.

We use this towel from Sanmar. https://www.sanmar.com/p/6243_White Relatively inexpensive and sublimation holds well at 85% polyester.

 

[eruffini]

Interesting someone from San Diego is quoting celcius. 200 is 390 in the Farenheit world.

The lint roller is mainly used before you press to remove lint and fuzz. You can do it after the press too but i don't imagine it will help much. A lint roller is no match for 400 degrees under high pressure.

If you can afford a heat press and printer printing larger than 24 inches, go for it. We can't so instead we try to hide the press lines by creating a solid block of ink the size of our paper and using a different color ink for our design.

Not sure if polymide is sublimatable. If it's not, know your image will fade a bit when washed.

We use this towel from Sanmar. https://www.sanmar.com/p/6243_White Relatively inexpensive and sublimation holds well.

I believe "Polyamide" is actually the same (or close to) Nylon. My understanding that Nylon is just a brand name of certain Polyamide materials.

Had my eyes on a 15" x 15" press but can only print 13" x 19" or 11" x 17" depending on the printer. Since the area of print is a lot smaller than the size of the towel, I might try folding them to fit the paper - though that may make it uneven (with enough pressure maybe it's not a concern?).

I guess I will just have to experiment with the results and see what happens with the paper being smaller than the towels!

 

[customprinted]

I use celcius instead of F because my metalnox heat press is in celcius and my ****ty chinese roller is also in C.

I have succesfully sublimated the TW59 and the tw540 towel from sanmar and yes the polymide edges do sublimate with J teck inks on both towels. Make sure you use tacky paper it will help evade ghosting

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[eruffini]

I use celcius instead of F because my metalnox heat press is in celcius and my ****ty chinese roller is also in C.

I have succesfully sublimated the TW59 and the tw540 towel from sanmar and yes the polymide edges do sublimate with J teck inks on both towels. Make sure you use tacky paper it will help evade ghosting

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Recommendations on tacky paper?

 

[customprinted]

For those I did use leftover Beaver paper i had, altho it is really expensive if you do high production, if you dont yo will probably be fine, I do have.another paper from Sweeden or switzerland that I bought from axiom america but dont remember the exact name, look them up and have them send you samples of the paper they are less expensive and work about the same.

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[JYA]

Recommendations on tacky paper?

SIHL via Coastal, ask for Darci. Best paper you'll use!

 

[splathead]

For me it's not worth double the cost to get sticky paper. The rougher the polyester, the less likely you'll get ghosting if the paper shifts on press opening. Never had an issue with towels. or jersey polyester for that matter.

Also, don't let your auto-open open on its own. Hold it down when the timer hits 0 and lift it slowly by hand.

 

[JYA]

For me it's not worth double the cost to get sticky paper. The rougher the polyester, the less likely you'll get ghosting if the paper shifts on press opening. Never had an issue with towels. or jersey polyester for that matter.

Also, don't let your auto-open open on its own. Hold it down when the timer hits 0 and lift it slowly by hand.

Joe, if you're paying double the cost for tacky paper, you're buying from the wrong place!

 

[splathead]

Joe, if you're paying double the cost for tacky paper, you're buying from the wrong place!

You say you use Coastal. Their 13X19 tacky paper is 54 cents each. Non-tacky is 30 cents.

 

[customprinted]

You say you use Coastal. Their 13X19 tacky paper is 54 cents each. Non-tacky is 30 cents.

A linear yard of 62" tacky paper has to.cost around $1.20 at the most if your printing daily. So 13x19" @54 cents is highway robbery

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[splathead]

A linear yard of 62" tacky paper has to.cost around $1.20 at the most if your printing daily. So 13x19" @54 cents is highway robbery

All sublimation paper is highway robbery., includng your $1.20 one.

 

[customprinted]

Thats what I used to pay, no more.

All sublimation paper is highway robbery., includng your $1.20 one.

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[JYA]

You say you use Coastal. Their 13X19 tacky paper is 54 cents each. Non-tacky is 30 cents.

And there's the difference between me paying $.063/sf for tacky paper on a 64" wide roll and you buying it in sheet form.

 

[splathead]

Any other tips and tricks? I did read that people used lint rollers to restore the piles (if printed on pile)

The lint roller is mainly used before you press to remove lint and fuzz. You can do it after the press too but i don't imagine it will help much. A lint roller is no match for 400 degrees under high pressure.

Boy was I wrong. I am sorry I kinda mocked you Cesar.

Doing a towel order today. Just for the heck of it, decided to try this harebrained lint roller idea.

Dang if it didn't work. Eliminated about 99% of the towel compression.

Who woulda thunk?

 

[JYA]

Boy was I wrong. I am sorry I kinda mocked you Cesar.

Doing a towel order today. Just for the heck of it, decided to try this harebrained lint roller idea.

Dang if it didn't work. Eliminated about 99% of the towel compression.

Who woulda thunk?

Hey Joe, don't tell anyone, but we also do it on fleece!

 

[eruffini]

Just a quick update:

Got the heat press and dye sublimation printer (WF-7210 from Cobra Ink) this week. Initially had some issues with the towels - the material does not like high heat, and would leave the heat marks where the platen was.

Couldn't get a good outcome with lower heat, so I tested the towels by pre-pressing them - the towels are bigger than the press so I had to do it a few times per towel. Once pre-pressed, I then pressed the artwork onto the towel and it came out uniform.

I've purchased the Stahl's application pad, and some teflon cover sheets to see if I can get away with not pre-pressing the towels. If all goes well perhaps I'll get a larger press to do the standard sizes I have. Didn't think it would be a problem to use a smaller press.

Lessons learned!

 

[DrivingZiggy]

to see if I can get away with not pre-pressing the towels.

You should give them a pre-press anyhow to eliminate moisture.