[Tshirtcrib]

I have bought various t-shirts from various on-line companies, and most come out wonderfully and I have no problems. But on an off-shot once or twice i buy a t-shirt that bleeds it's colors, it seems as iff the ink just rubs off in the washing machine and gets all over the t-shirt. How and why does that happen?

 

[Solmu]

The most likely explanation is that it's a digital heat transfer printed with dye based inks, which have a tendency to wash out a bit on the first wash.

 

[Twinge]

...Which really should NOT be happening with a company selling them professionally. It wouldn't be so bad if it's just like a webcomic selling them on the side or something, but if you bought those shirts from a company only selling t-shirts I'd get complainin'.

 

[m4nti]

...Which really should NOT be happening with a company selling them professionally. It wouldn't be so bad if it's just like a webcomic selling them on the side or something, but if you bought those shirts from a company only selling t-shirts I'd get complainin'.

on the other hand -- and I'm not saying this to degrade the company itself because they sell some pretty cool stuff -- but tom tailor's tees (slightly desaturated, vintage ones) almost always bleed the first/second time they're washed. in fact they have a tag on the inside of their shirts that says something along the lines of "these shirts are dyed with ~whatever~ and because of technical restrictions they will bleed on the first wash".

apparently, a small disclaimer like that would mean the company is covered with an "i told you so" excuse.

 

[qcumber]

Is it the imprint that bleeds or the T-shirt itself?

 

[Solmu]

It wouldn't be so bad if it's just like a webcomic selling them on the side or something

Given that the vast majority of successful webcomics get their shirts screenprinted at the same company, I'd accept it even less from that industry (i.e. the "if Webcomic A can manage it, why can't you, Webcomic B?" argument )

 

[Twinge]

...almost always bleed the first/second time they're washed. in fact they have a tag on the inside of their shirts that says something along the lines of "these shirts are dyed with ~whatever~ and because of technical restrictions they will bleed on the first wash".

apparently, a small disclaimer like that would mean the company is covered with an "i told you so" excuse.

Aye, it's not as bad if they warn you (on the website too that is; not just on the shirt). Still doesn't exactly scream 'professional', but at least you're not getting smacked with a nasty surprise.

Given that the vast majority of successful webcomics get their shirts screenprinted at the same company, I'd accept it even less from that industry (i.e. the "if Webcomic A can manage it, why can't you, Webcomic B?" argument )

Hehe, well... to a point. Some of them started pretty small and couldn't afford to do screen prints when they were small, and the same could well be true for some newer comics.

A real life example of this was when Sluggy Freelance, now one of the more popular webcomics around, was first doing shirts. They did have a heat press, but they had mediocre transfer paper and were using dye-based ink. I still have my Quatrix shirt; looks fine, but feels like wearing plastic, hehe. (But yes, they did throughly warn about bleeding possibilites and the like.)

Nowadays they've gone on to screen printed shirts I think; I haven't checked in a while.