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Trying to figure out what to use

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S

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
So a while back I bought this fishing shirt and it looked awesome. I got to thinking maybe I should start making while already having Illistrator and photoshop experience and this guy didn't have a wide market. So I found out his shirts were made by vapor apparel. Now knowing that they are 100% polyester what should I use to heat press them on? Vinyl, sublimation, or just the regular heat transfer paper? I think the shirt I bought from this other guy is a vinyl because it has a rubbery feel. I'm looking for something thats decent quality but won't break the bank.

Also, what should I use to print koozies?
 
F

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#2 ·
My opinion on producing multiple items for sale that you want to be of good lasting quality, should be screen printed and not iron on. For what you will pay to get transfers, printer ink, you'll obviously be buying a heat press (hope youre not just using an iron, haha), you should really just look into what your local screen printer will charge you, and use a diff. shirt if need be, your not stuck to just poly. Dont pay $20 a shirt online for one! Find you a local screen printer and go in. Good Luck!
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
I live in a College town and they have two screen printers here that run the market everything is super high. Just for 100 koozies it was going to cost me $140 and thats of just one design. I can't even imagine how much they will charge me to print shirts. I can start my own business and I can write off the heat press and all that stuff in Taxes.
 
lben

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#4 ·
If you're going to go the route to print, then I suggest sublimation for the shirts and the koozies. The sublimation in is expensive, though that will be changing this fall when Sawgrass's patent expires. In the meantime it's expensive. The blanks aren't all that cheap either. Go check out Conde's website and see what they have for sublimation. They sell the shirts and the koozies along with a lot of other products.

I do sublimation and I love the feel. You can't feel it at all because the ink becomes a part of the fabric or surface. Just remember, if you are trying to sell things to the college students with the school's name on them, you'd better have permission from the school to use their name and/or logo and/or mascot. Don't forget to get your business licenses and vendor's (or reseller's) license.
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
I really appreciate the input! I don't plan on doing anything with the college logo on it. Yeah my biggest issue is I heard its expensive or at least the printers are. Are there any services where I can get my design sub printed by someone else?

How does sublimation compare to vinyl durability wise? I'm not too worried about texture.


Basically I'm creating my own outdoor sporting shirts for fishing and hunting. I go to Texas A&M so those shirts will be easy to sell here.
 
lben

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#6 ·
My granddaughter starts there next fall.

Sublimation only works on white or very light pastels. It becomes a part of the fabric and should never wash out or wear off. Vinyl eventually peels off the fabric. Conde has a lot of different shirts available. Shirts and blanks for sublimation are expensive. But the ink is the most expensive part.
 
lben

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There are different kinds of koozies. Conde has them made from neoprene that are for sublimation. You can screen print them. I have a couple that I picked up a the fair last year that were screen printed. I think you'd have to do 2 prints for front and back unless they just want one side printed. I guess you could screen print some transfers for her. Shouldn't be any different than any other kind of screen printed transfer. You might even be able to gang them on a sheet for her.
 
A

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#12 ·
selanac said:
Would I have to use a different ink?
Click to expand...
Sublimation requires high temperature ink. You can run it through an Epson or buy a Ricoh with Sawgrass inks from a company like Conde Systems. Vapor Apparel is specifically made for sublimation and is a favorite around here. The shirts are long lasting, comfortable and dry incredibly fast. The sublimated images never fade, crack or peel and they breathe. We do a lot of earth tone colored shirts from the Vapor line called American BackCountry. People absolutely love them and are willing to pay the extra 4 dollars for them.
 
A

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#15 ·
selanac said:
Sorry Akar, we're actually talking about Screen Printing. Sorry for Bumping the thread.

Thanks Lben, I should probably contact a Koozie wholesaler.
Click to expand...
No problem. When I read "Vapor Apparel" I just thought I'd explain that it's made for sublimation. Then I read the "ink" part and it didn't click that the conversation had moved specifically to koozies, which will also last longer if sublimated. Right?
 
M

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#17 ·
lben said:
If you're going to go the route to print, then I suggest sublimation for the shirts and the koozies. The sublimation in is expensive, though that will be changing this fall when Sawgrass's patent expires. In the meantime it's expensive. The blanks aren't all that cheap either. Go check out Conde's website and see what they have for sublimation. They sell the shirts and the koozies along with a lot of other products.

I do sublimation and I love the feel. You can't feel it at all because the ink becomes a part of the fabric or surface. Just remember, if you are trying to sell things to the college students with the school's name on them, you'd better have permission from the school to use their name and/or logo and/or mascot. Don't forget to get your business licenses and vendor's (or reseller's) license.
Click to expand...
A client asked me about can Koozies the other day and I found some cheaper and better looking stuff from Coastal business. They had a 4"x10" velcro koozie that looks really good. I like that I can press it as one image without having to flip it over.
 
lben

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selanac
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