You can and they will look good until you do the first wash. Then half the ink will wash out and have a faded look. Test one and see.

 

Dye-sublimation will only work on polyester fibres in the blend: the higher % of cotton - the more washed out look you are going to get. With 50/50% you will, pretty much, lose 50% of vibrancy, clarity and depth of your image.
Poly/cotton blends are a good option for "vintage" and distressed look.

 

Dye sub is best on 100% polyester. Pigment heat transfer is best on 100%. Dye sub does work work on both 50/50 and 100% cotton although the 100% cotton requires special paper and the 50/50 will fade only where the cotton fibers are.

 

You'd be better off just going with 100 polyester.

I've heard of people using the Poly coating on 100% cotton tee's, but it doesn't last.

 

Thanx for all the help guys. What I'm gonna do is take pictures of girls and put them on shirts. I hear dye-sub is the best. What method should I use? Everyone has there own opinion I just want the best clarity on the shirt.

 

Man you are all over the place. I see 3 postings with the same questions. If you go to herwicks downtown and talk with scott he will get you going. He is a good source of info and where to get local supplies. I get mine from out of state cause it is cheaper.

Sent from my SGH-T679 using T-Shirt Forums

 

Well I want quick answers I wanna buy today but everyone keeps telling me different things and I already called that place and they don't sell polyester shirts at all and they only sell white and black cotten

 

Called who?

Sent from my SGH-T679 using T-Shirt Forums

 

Go to fillas and buy a few till tomarrow. They are still open i am sure. Then start looking in the morning.

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Anthony, there are 184.106 forum members. I don't know the statistics, but I'd guess, probably 2/3 of them are printers. We all use different printing methods (or combinations of them) for different purposes. Of course we all have our own opinions and favourite techniques. We also have different client pools, different markets we sell to, different marketing strategies and so on...

Do not rush into it - do some more research. Figure out what would work for you. Do some more reading. Have you had a chance to look through the threads like these ones?
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t37985.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t48532.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t178412.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/business-finance/t138187.html

The heat press you've bought is a good start. What I would suggest - get a few different blanks and order some different transfers form either local busineses or people on the forums - sublimation, ink jet, plastisol, rhinestone, vynil - anything you can get your hands on. Press them, try them, wash the shirts a few times, see what result you like best. When you have a heat press - you don't have to limit yourself to one printing method. You can do one thing "in house" and outsource other types of transfers/printing methods.

There is a lot of great advice on the forums, a lot of us have been doing it for years - take time to learn, than you will have more chances to succeed and to stick to it.

 

I just dot know what ink to by. That's why. I know the ink matters a lot.

 

Dye sub ink. Best option for heat transfer with high detail and photo realistic. When used on polyester are permanent. Any cotton or blends will only lat 10 washing before considered unsatisfactory. Pigment ink. Works well for 100% cotton same resolution as dye sub but no as vibrant color. Can last 25-30+ washings if done right. Plastisol transfers almost the same as screen printing. There are a few restrictions to artwork and last almost as long as direct screen printing.

 

I have pigment ink transfers on 50/50 that last many years and many more washes than you describe using Transjet 2. You should try it.

 

I usally get more than 25-30 that's why I put the plus. I have never tried the transjet2. Next job heat transfer job I will try. Some of the jobs I did 4 years ago I see people still wearing the shirts.

 

A good chance the paper you are using is a branded version of the same paper. Actually TJ2 is a private label brand of "Onestep for inkjet" so I think many of the vendors buy it and resell under other brand names.

25 washes is a good test point, my experience is that if you can get to 25 washes and still looks good then 50 washes you still get the same results.

What does happen over time is that the shirts get "piling" in the design area where the fibers bust and give a "fuzzy white" effect over the transfer area, but all tshirts do this.

50/50's are better in this respect than 100% cotton, and 100% poly fibers on sublimation tshirts are much more durable from "piling" although I see this to a small degree on my older sub shirts.

What eventually happens with my shirts is that the base shirt eventually get "dingy" or tears in the seams, stains from something, so the designs actually outlive the tshirts. I have even bleached tshirts with Transjet 2 and pigment inks.

 

Sben763 and mgparrish thanx a lot. yall really explained and cleared up a lot for me. Im just gonna go with the Pigment ink instead. Oh yeah whats Transjet 2? Is that the transfer/release paper?

 

As mentioned TJ2 is a rebranded inkjet transfer paper, unlike sublimation it does have hand (which is gone after a few washes) and leaves a slight "window" since it is a clear polymer that sits on top of the tshirt.

One Step Papers

"One Step" makes the "Transjet2" paper for Airwaves, and has been around a long time using other names.

Sublimation tshirts have no hand and no window, but instead of using a tshirt that costs $1.50 you have to use a $5 - $6 100% polyester tshirt.

JPSS (Jet Pro Soft Stretch) is a good paper, it loses it's hand after the 1st wash and leaves virtually no "window" on white. All inkjet polymer transfer papers have a "window" and will show up on light colors. For white tshirts some transfer paper brands have less "window" than others, JPSS is the best in that respect. JPSS is harder to apply and does not work as well on 100% cotton.

I use both papers, depends on what I need at the time. Both have me covered.

I don't offer light color tshirts except for sublimation due to the "window". Since JPSS came out I do a lot less white tshirt sublimation. If you have a design that has open white space then you need to either sublimate, use a cutter for the inkjet transfer, or on whites you can use JPSS if you have an design with open white space.

If your design is a solid shape then not sublimating and using a quality inkjet paper is a good option and much cheaper.

 

Mgparrish thanx for all the info. I really appreciate it, u really know a lot. Last question, I know for the transfer paper u have to use a certain one for lights and a certain for darks. Which should I use for both?

 

Darks are more of a problem, they have a lot more hand that never goes away and are based on a white polymer underneath, so you have to cut or have a solid shape design.

All single step opaque papers will crack with the exception of one paper which now appears to be off the market. Opaque papers that require 2 steps to apply are very durable, some of us joke about them being "bullet proof", as in very durable .. but like wearing a bullet proof vest.

I used "Inkflex Dark" but there is a problem with the manufacturer supplying them for some reason. It never cracks ... ever.. but did have more hand than light ink jet transfers, so I let the customer be the judge on the hand before I made them.

 

5 years ago I did 500-750 heat transfers a year and some plastisosol transfers. Over time it has gone to about 24-36 a year and 4.5 years ago I started screen printing. Now I screen print way too many to count but on occasion still do some and I have been doing some opaque pigment transfers

 

Yes, if the qnty is big enough then screen printing or having plastisol transfers made is the best dark solution.

 

Mike, You are a very kind person. Thanks. Dave

 

My transfer will take up the entire sheet. They will be box shaped so I should be ok with that.

 

Get a good rotary paper cutter that can handle up to 18 inches (such as a Carl brand) and you are good to go. Some hand trim but a PITA if you do a lot of shirts.

Also, on light color tshirts your art will color mix with the shirt, be aware of that.

 

Mgparrish for my picture some places want up to $11.10 for each sheet. So I guess I'll take my chances. And thanx for the info on the cutter. I appreciate it!

 

If you are printing on white or light color 50/50 you can get excellent results by spraying Cotton Trans Spray on the area you want to image then heat press it as per the instructions. Then put on the sublimation print and press again to add the image. It will look great. The first washing will only lose about 5-7% of the vibrancy. Further washing will not effect color. This process is perfect for party and event shirts where cost is the prevailing factor. It is available at some sub vendors or Google Cotton Trans Spray. Good Luck.

Jim