What is the best cheaper printing method for t-shirts

bogabhai said:

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.

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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.

bogabhai said:

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.

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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.

bogabhai said:

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.

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

bogabhai said:

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.

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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

bogabhai said:

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

Many thanks mo

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

Hope this helps.

IYFGraphics said:

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.

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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.

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..