[bogabhai]

OK

so i am planning to enter the personalisation t-shirt industry.

However I need to know what is the best option for me. I intend to buy fruit of the loom t-shirts and want to know what the best option of printing will be best for me.

Sublimation i believe is printed out the laser printer which is good as i can mix my colours and have crazy designs for my customers it also is cheaper from what i have read. However I am still unclear of dark color printing with sublimation printing.

On the other hand there is Vinyl printing which is more likly to waste a lot of material depending on the design and is more costly and on the other hand i also need a vinyl cutter.

Can some one please explain to me what will be better for fruit of the loom t-shirts and what is the cheaper option and where i can buy the printers from for cheap.

Would appreciate if some one does send me a link with detailed information for both the ink types.

Many thanks mo

 

[IYFGraphics]

OK

so i am planning to enter the personalisation t-shirt industry.

However I need to know what is the best option for me. I intend to buy fruit of the loom t-shirts and want to know what the best option of printing will be best for me.

Depends on the printing process, the brand of the shirt has little to do with the process, but the cotton content has everything to do with the type of process used to print your artwork.

Sublimation i believe is printed out the laser printer which is good as i can mix my colours and have crazy designs for my customers it also is cheaper from what i have read. However I am still unclear of dark color printing with sublimation printing.

This is not correct.....sublimation is done with a dye-sub paper and sublimation ink in either a Epson ink jet or Ricoh printers on high polyester content shirts (100% polyester works best), it does not work on 100% cotton shirts or dark shirts regardless of the cotton content.

This link might help you learn more about sublimation.

DyeSub.org - An educational site for dye sublimation and digital transfer printing.

On the other hand there is Vinyl printing which is more likly to waste a lot of material depending on the design and is more costly and on the other hand i also need a vinyl cutter.

True....but the waste cost in very minimal and figured into the cost of the design.

Can some one please explain to me what will be better for fruit of the loom t-shirts and what is the cheaper option and where i can buy the printers from for cheap.

Hate to say it but "cheap" and "best" don't fit into the equation, for transfers printed on a ink jet or laser printer you will need the printer, correct ink, correct transfer paper, the shirt should have a high cotton content for this to work although it will work on 50/50 shirts.

You really need to read this thread to get a better handle on the different printing processes.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t37985.html

Would appreciate if some one does send me a link with detailed information for both the ink types.

Many thanks mo

Check out the two links I posted above, both will give you some insight and probably more questions.

Hope this helps.

 

[AaronM]

Jon - Great info!!!

Mo - I saw some heat transfers the other day and was amazed. It gets you into the business for real cheap and allows you a lot of freedom.

For example I was flipping through the list of preferred vendors on the right of this site and came across this start-up package from Coastal Business. Less than $500 and your in business with both light and dark transfer paper, a heat press and inkjet printer.

 

[BroJames]

. . .
This is not correct.....sublimation is done with a dye-sub paper and sublimation ink in either a Epson ink jet or Ricoh printers on high polyester content shirts (100% polyester works best), it does not work on 100% cotton shirts or dark shirts regardless of the cotton content.
. . .

Are we talking about transfer printing?

Anyway, transjet paper claims to have the only transfer paper that can be used with dye sub ink and can be printed on 100% cotton shirts. I have the papers but don;t have dye sub inks though.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Are we talking about transfer printing?

Anyway, transjet paper claims to have the only transfer paper that can be used with dye sub ink and can be printed on 100% cotton shirts. I have the papers but don;t have dye sub inks though.

Angel,

I don't see how that could be correct since sublimation ink bonds with the polyester fibers not cotton, at least that's what I've always been told, in fact sublimation ink will wash out of the cotton fibers if used on a 50/50 shirt leaving a very muted image, kind of a vintage/worn look.

I'm not saying there's not something new on the market that I'm not aware of, but it doesn't sound like sublimation and sounds more like an ink jet transfer using pigment inks.

Hope this helps.

 

[BroJames]

Angel,

I don't see how that could be correct since sublimation ink bonds with the polyester fibers not cotton, at least that's what I've always been told, in fact sublimation ink will wash out of the cotton fibers if used on a 50/50 shirt leaving a very muted image, kind of a vintage/worn look.

I'm not saying there's not something new on the market that I'm not aware of, but it doesn't sound like sublimation and sounds more like an ink jet transfer using pigment inks.

Hope this helps.

I know that or at least I think I know. But it says here in the instructions, I quote "This is the only transfer paper that will work with dye-sub inks on cotton". I even called up the shop and one of their staff confirmed it. That you can print on them using dye-dub inks, however, they have tried it and photorealistic images won't look good. But spot colors looks great.

I wouldn't want to put myself in an awkward position talking about(or defending) something I have not tried myself. I have been put in embarrassing situations before when the person I talked to later said "she" was talking about something else which is a sudden deviation from(the flow of) our conversation. In this case, to reconfirm, I asked if they have actually tried printing on this paper using dye sub inks and the reply is yes.

I have no dye sub inks so cannot try it myself. I am posting the info here for whatever it is worth (or not worth). I do appreciate other views though.

 

[Mabuzi]

Transfers of course. You best stick to white t-shirts and not darks if you use this process.
Sublimation is mianly used for polyester but I dont sell poly for retail fashion, only sports teams.
I would get my transfers screen printed or litho printed and then the colour of the shirt does not matter. You only apply what when the order is made. Secondly you can get larger sized prints too.
The main outlay will be a heat press and stock.

"crazy designs for my customers" cannot really be achieved with the print and cut nor laser transfers.

Please note cheap can be a problem when buying second hand.

 

[bornover]

Jon gave lots of very good answers and links. Here are my two cents.

The cheapest way to get started is with a pigment ink heat transfer setup. (1st cent)

The cheapest printing method per piece is screen printing once you have the equipment. (2nd cent)

 

[cthulhu93]

I am just starting out. But I will give you my current setup info (selling about 200 shirts a week at "fleamarkets" in my area). I have a epson 1400 with heat press refillable carts from Inkjetcarts loaded with heat transfer inks, I am currently using JPSS 8.5x11 paper on 6.1oz Cotton Gildan White Tees. I have a simple 15x15 press from Proworld.

Currently I have about 250 designs, that I designed myself, those run through a lot of interest groups. From geeks to cat owners to teenagers to retired folks and golfers. I run off 1 lg and 1 xl of each design for about 400 shirts a week. When I hit the tables I have what looks like a massive inventory, this attracts attention. 200 shirts, sell 200, make another 200, it allows me to compete with the hardcore folks at these events selling shirts for 3$ each with sports teams names on them on a 50/50 shirt that you can see through. I specialize in humor, if you can make a person smile they are more likely to look at more of your stock and actually lay down the cash. Stay away from political items and offensive items/designs.

Just my 2 cents..