So, what are the disadvantages of the DTG method? The downside to airbrushing is, first and foremost, the time involved. You may enjoy trying this technique at home with a group of friends to create stylish vintage-looking tees. The ink soaks into the fabric of the shirt somewhat, meaning that the design feels soft to the touch instead of forming a stiff layer on top of the fabric. Please sign in to view account pricing and product availability. That said, well-made HTV designs should last for many years, so they have pretty excellent durability, too! Which Type of Printing is Best for Polyester T-Shirts? On the other hand, you also have to consider whether or not a method can create more than one shirt. Knowing this will determine what garments and print systems are available for your project. Their bright colors add a layer of safety and lend to the promotional side of company apparel. Tyndale has the flexibility to provide one uniform look for all your employees or offer employee choice from a selection of company approved garments. Some need expensive commercial technology, while others can work with basic craft supplies. HTV vinyl is a special type of vinyl that has one decorative side and one side coated in a heat-activated adhesive. Some kinds of shirt printing like DTG and sublimation printing do need expensive professional equipment. The easiest way for beginners to print on t-shirts at home is to try the heat transfer printing method. There are also some great options for fire resistant apparel and we have a selection of fire resistant embroidery threads that will hold up against high temps. The downside to using HTV is that it does not work well for mass orders because you have to cut out the HTV repeatedly for each shirt. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog posts. Discharge printing does not get used a lot, but it creates a unique t-shirt. There are also many options for applique applications using fire resistant fabrics and threads as well as flame retardant heat transfer vinyls That can also be reflective.. Dang. Tyndales managed apparel services are tailored to take the hassle out administering a flame resistant (FR) clothing program that supports compliance with industry standards. A design that rests on the surface of the fabric usually will not last quite as long, as you face the danger of the raised design cracking or peeling away eventually. The other thing you usually want when you print on t-shirts at home is a low start-up cost. Or looking to launch your own line of apparel or t-shirts? For easy DIY shirt printing, you may want to try HTV or heat transfer designs. Sublimation, screen printing, and airbrushing require a pretty high level of skill to complete the complex processes. That said, this method does take more time than lots of other processes. It is also one of the oldest printing methods in the world! Outstanding vapor, aerosol, and fire protection, Electrophoresis, Western Blotting and ELISA, Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Reagents, Laboratory Syringe Needles and Accessories, Lab Coats, Aprons, and Other Safety Apparel, Sharps Disposal Containers and Accessories, Applied Biosystems TaqMan Assay and Arrays Search Tool, Applied Biosystems TaqMan Custom Assay Design Tools, Applied Biosystems Custom qPCR Primers and TaqMan Probes Tool, Chemical Storage and Management Resource Center. But once you have that equipment, you can create each shirt for a very low cost! Obviously anyone working in low visibility conditions can benefit from high-visibility workwear. If safety is a must use certified reflective vinyls and tapes, maybe its not something youd wear to bed but its more comfortable than getting hit by a forklift. HTV designs will hold up quite well for a long time, but they may eventually begin to crack, as well. Affordable and easy to apply. Both of these methods can work well in a home studio without a lot of specialized equipment. Certain printing methods only work on some fabric types, such as sublimation printing that only works on polyester. This process works by removing color instead of applying color! One of the pros of heat transfer printing with an inkjet printer is that you can easily try this at home. Finally, you will find tips for how to print your own t-shirt at home! That said, design quality depends on a huge number of factors like the skill of the artist, and even on the quality of the fabric in the shirt! Well, buying a good DTG printer will set you back by anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000. If you have ever seen an airbrush artist work on painting a caricature in a public park, or perhaps a chef use a food-safe airbrush to decorate a cake, you know how elaborately they can paint with this tool! Check out our managed FR apparel services to discover how you can reduce stress and save money, all while maximizing worker safety, compliance, and comfort. Likewise, if you have a Cricut or even if you want to cut out a vinyl shape with a knife or scissors, you can easily seal the heat-activated adhesive onto a cotton shirt at home. Heat press printing uses an inkjet or laser printer to print a design off of a computer. Vinyl (PVC) and plastisol inks are for the most part additive free so alone they are very stable against chemical deterioration. This is why we recommend using vinyl for your reflective logo customization. We have both die cut and digitally printable reflective vinyls that look great and have ANSI approved reflectivity. However, you can replicate this at home with really simple tools if you just want to make a few fun shirts for your family! Well put die cut reflective vinyl bars or simple logos on apparel and print the detailed information with screen printing. ANSI/ISEA 107 and ANSI/ISEA 207 and firefighter standards. Every printing technique has its own style and level of complexity. Tyndales active involvement in the industry organizations that establish safety standards and test methods lends us an unmatched ability to lead compliance with changing industry standards. Also, any printing process that requires high heat, such as heat press or transfer printing, will only work on sturdy fabrics that can resist high temperatures, such as cotton. Seattle WA EST 2010 Screenprinting Embroidery Labeling Sewing #Screenprinting #embroidery #customapparel #customheadwear. Generally speaking, you will get the best quality designs on polyester shirts using a sublimation method, while screen printing offers the best quality designs for cotton. Professionals often used more advanced forms of stenciling in methods such as screen printing. Layer items from your closet or catalog for proven arc flash protection. To screen print, you create a negative of the design you want on a screen. With that said, shouldn't your company shirt be more than just a logo and a phone number? Another thing to keep in mind is that some methods work better on specific fabric types, like polyester vs cotton. That said, you can use a simpler version of screen printing and airbrushing at home, too. The artist then uses heat to apply the plastisol sheet to a shirt. This method combines some of the basics of screen printing and uses the kind of plastisol inks used in screen printing. Thank you submitting your SHIRT/JERSEY DESIGN request -- KBK GraphX will be in touch with you as promptly as possible. High-visibility apparel is often transferable between employees in the workplace so think durability as well. What is the Most Durable Kind of T-Shirt Printing? So on any garment that is disposable like many chem-resistant pieces are we recommend a basic decal. However, it does not work on other kinds of fabric with all-natural fibers, like cotton. @2022 by SilverBobbin.com About Us | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | DMCA Policy | Contact Us SilverBobbin.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The most popular types of printing on t-shirts include direct to garment, sublimation, and screen printing. Plus, you will have much less mess and set-up time than you would for regular screen printing. I've worked in the apparel business for over 20 years. As a retail buyer, sales representative and as the co-founder of The Foundry Print Shop. Tyndale offers the ideal FR clothing to provide comfort and peace-of-mind so that workers can focus on keeping operations running safely and efficiently. This forces the ink through the negative-space stencil on the design and creates an image on the shirt! The best professional-level printing on polyester shirts uses the sublimation printing process, but you can also print on polyester at home using screen printing or other methods. Finally, you can screen print on pretty much any fabric, from silk to cotton to polyester. In this article, you will find out how the ten most popular types of t-shirt printing work. The process does exactly what it sounds likea special printer applies a thin ink right onto the fabric of the t-shirt! Screen printing has a lot of advantages that make it a popular choice for high-quality professional t-shirt designers, as well as for home artists. It is important to know though that as these standards evolve they will continue to go in the direction of increased safety for the worker. There is also the digitally printed vinyl option for reflective vinyl, this is a great solution of complex logos and logos with high color counts. Different Types of T-Shirt Printing Methods: Comparison, Best Way to Print Cotton T-Shirts at Home. Commercial printing methods like DTG and sublimation printing require advanced technology. You then roll a special ink called plastisol ink over the screen and press the screen onto the t-shirt. You can also use this method as a unique substitute for screen printing by airbrushing over stencils, one color layer at a time. Check out these best of categories to find out which printing method will give you the best design options, the highest quality, the greatest durability, and so on! Plastisol or indirect screen printing has a growing popularity among t-shirt designers these days. This also means that sublimation designs wont crack or peel. Heat transfer designs can tend to crack or peel eventually. Copyright The Foundry Clothing Co 2021 Overall, the DIY t-shirt printing methods like stenciling usually cost the least, while commercial-grade production methods like discharge printing or DTG cost the most. Unauthorized image copying or distribution strictly prohibited. Second, screen printing offers a cost-effective way to make bulk orders of the same shirt because you can reuse the ink screen you laboriously set up for the first shirt. T-shirt printing methods like DTG or the heat transfer method that use a printer to print a design out usually take the least amount of time. Any printing process that works one color layer at a time, like HTV or screen printing, is often limited to one, two, or three-color designs. You need space to work and pretty large equipment like the screens and the press to align the screen with the shirt. That said, some professionals or small business owners do successfully offer heat press printed shirts for sale. The cons of this method include the fact that applying plastisol transfers can get tricky. You need a lot of commercial equipment for this process, making it more cost-effective for a large business than for home use or a small business. You will get decent quality in your design and can use a complex image such as a photo if you want. If you want to custom-order t-shirts for your bridal party or a family event, you will need to decide what type of printing to use. DTG stands for direct to garment printing. That said, lots of methods work best if you can operate a graphic design program to create your own unique designs, so you can end up using advanced technology with almost any printing method! Anything that is ANSI/ISEA will almost always be more expensive and maybe not always necessary. Or you can keep things basic with just one screen and/or a Cricut at home, depending on how much technology you want to use! If you want to start a small business, you can use little more than a Cricut and a heat press to get off the ground, too. But a process such as screen printing requires a lot of fancy equipment to replicate a photo, while the DTG process prints it directly onto the fabric. Now we do have hoodie, tee and hat styles that have reflective taping on them for a certified reflective but I wouldnt really recommend them for your basic promo wear. Will it help with visibility in a low light situation? KBK GraphX designs branded apparel for companies across the country that are sure to make a memorableimpression, while reinforcing the quality and professionalism of your business. Screen printing and processes that layer colors one by one often take the most time. Several printing methods offer very durable designs, including sublimation and screen printing. Several printing methods allow you to create highly complex designs, including DTG, sublimation, and heat press printing. Many of the methods described in this article do need expensive equipment. The first thing we should look at here is the safety requirements for your garments. You have to master graphic design software if you want to create original artwork, but you can also just use images you find online or photos you snapped on your cell phone! Our programs include the following customizable, value-added services to help provide convenienceandprotection: Custom catalog and online ordering for Company-approved FR clothing, Extensive FR clothing selection for men and women - including American-man options - with warranty, Industry expertise and compliance resources. In fact, Tyndale proactively communicates product developments, new technologies, industry news, and safety topics through our account management teams, regular newsletters, in our online comprehensive FRC Safety Library and on our blog. But most methods do not need super expensive gear, including HTV designs, heat transfer printing, stenciling, and even airbrushing. Screen Printing | Embroidery | Custom Decals | DTG Printing, Custom Printed and Embroidered Safety Gear, File Resolution for Screen-Printing and Embroidery, Printing and Embroidery on Pockets, Hoods and Pantlegs, Tips for Designing Custom Hats and Beanies. So the big factors here are class requirements and cost. Do your garments need to be fire or chemical resistant? I'm passionate about custom apparel and creative problem solving. You do not need too many supplies, and you dont need any experience at all! Our staff of experienced safety professionals stays educated on all the latest standards, regulations, and products, so you can trust us to not only provide you with the best products, but the most current safety information. In such an event, the clothes on your back represent your last line of defense, when all other safety measures and precautions have been unsuccessful in preventing an incident. KBK GraphX offers standard and custom illustrated shirt design services, too! Thats why you want to put your trust in a Tyndale managed flame resistant (FR) clothing program. That is not to say that you cant create more elaborate or complex designs with other methods, of course! Under the right circumstances, you could create a high-quality t-shirt design using any of the methods explained in this article. Using heat transfer vinyl is one of the most popular shirt decoration methods for professionals and home artists. Because every quality project starts with the garment knowing these things will help guide our recommendations in both apparel and art application. You also cant use HTV on a heat-sensitive fabric because you need to use a heat press to activate the adhesive on the vinyl. Want a more standard take on your company shirts? If youre just going for the high-vis look keep it cozy. It allows you to create complex designs or photos just as easily as you would on paper. You then apply dye over the stencil, creating a logo or design on the shirt! Other options include indirect screen printing, discharge printing, and airbrushing. If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all those pros and cons, take a look at this at-a-glance comparison of the most popular t-shirt printing methods. When done incorrectly, the designs will crack and peel away later on. Screen printing takes forever to set up, but you can quickly roll out duplicates of the same design once you finish getting everything ready! We manufacture a full line of arc-rated flame resistant garments - including a American-made options for both men and women - and distribute a variety of all-weather FR protective apparel from leading brands. Does your staff need to meet a national standard for reflective visibility? Enhanced visibility and reflective garment. Cotton can handle high heat, so any method that uses a heat press or an iron does well on this kind of shirt. (non ANSI/ISEA compliant). You will learn which t-shirt printing methods last the longest and cost the least. With so many different types of printing on t-shirts available, how do you know which one to choose? Safety color hoodies, tees and headwear are good options for what I like to call high-vis aesthetic. You can use many colors, create complex graphics, or even use photos. All artwork, graphic designs and images displayed on this website Copyright 2003-2016KBK GraphX and their respective owners. If you want to get simple, you can use stencil and fabric dye or paint at home on a cotton shirt. While you can pretty easily set up and operate a DTG printer once you master the basics of the technology, you will need some understanding of graphic design to set up the designs on a computer first. print on polyester at home using screen printing, 17 Different Types of Silk Fabric [With Names and Pictures]. But while this process does create unique, vintage-style tees, it is time-consuming and costly, making it unpopular with professionals. Likewise, processes like DTG can be operated quite simply, but require a lot of complex technology. So if you plan to launch a t-shirt business, this start-up cost is probably worth it, but obviously, this is not the best choice for a home artist! The best t-shirt printing method for you depends on your particular needs, such as how many shirts you want, whether you plan to work with polyester or cotton, and how durable you want your design to remain long term. Instead, focus on more artistic and small-scale processes, like using vinyl cutouts or even airbrushing onto t-shirts. Nothing says Were a construction company, check us out! like a safety orange hoodie with your company logo on it. KBK GraphX provides Shirt & Jersey Design to a wide range of companiesand industries: Ready to take your Company Shirts to the next level? The thing to keep in mind with polyester is that it is sensitive to heat. You must print onto a special kind of paper called iron-on transfer. You can use it in the same way as the heat press method described earlier. Every method requires some specialized equipment and supplies. Every printing method requires specialized supplies, ranging from a whole array of unique dyes, rollers, squeegees, and screens for screen printing to a roll of HTV vinyl and a pair of scissors for the simplest at-home designs. Finally, this method does require high heat, so you cant use it on heat-sensitive fabric. The first thing I want to address is that there is no ANSI approved reflective screen printing ink. Check out this overview of how all the major types of t-shirt printing work! You have to consider both start-up cost and cost per shirt as you select a method, though. Because of the unique way the dye sticks to the fabric, it leaves the cloth feeling breathable instead of creating a thick coating on the material. You may also occasionally see this method called DTF, or direct to fabric printing. Of course, you may also encounter some potential downsides to this popular method. If you want to make complex designs, you also need special chemicals to work with. Alright these are a pretty narrow category so were not going to spend a lot of time here but there are a few things to touch on. This means that some types of printing may require pretty high start-up costs. Also, you cannot use the sublimation method on cotton t-shirts. Using Heat Transfer Vinyl gives you a lot of flexibility for small=scale orders or even just for at-home use. Sublimation printing is the best professional way to print on polyester material. When it comes to safety youre never going to regret doing it the right way. You will find many variations on the basic plasticky vinyl you can use as well, including glitter vinyl, flocked or velvety vinyl, and metallic vinyl. From plastics to pigments to perfume, we rely on the chemical industry to supply products that make our lives better and our economy hum. Chemical resistant apparel can be any garment that is designed to have an anert reaction and create a barrier against chemicals that would otherwise be harmful to organics. Techniques such as vinyl cutouts, heat transfers, and stenciling work well for small-scale printing jobs. We get asked this question all the time and the answer is no. Probably my favorite solution is going to be mixed media. With embroidery we recommend sealing the backing and applying a hydrophobic treatment to the top stitches. You then use an iron or a heat press to glue the design onto your shirt! It also does not usually work on dark-colored shirts because the designs will not show up well without a light background. Finally, though DTG designs look very cool, they do not hold up long-term and some other kinds of designs. Die cut vinyl can be economical as long as its cut shape is relatively basic. This method of t-shirt design allows for incredibly complex and artistic designs. It may also prove challenging to replicate shirts exactly if you want more than one of the same design. The disadvantage of this technique is its cost. If you outsource the plastisol transfer sheet printing, you really only need to do the digital graphic design and then have a heat press on hand to finish the shirt! However, at-home artists also love this method because you can also make your vinyl cut-outs using a simple electronic cutting machine like a Cricut. Reflective taping on apparel can be a little uncomfortable because of its weight and lack of breathability. Finally, some methods can work on almost any kind of fabric. The Tyndale Womens AR / FR Clothing Experience. You can cut out lettering, logos, or even complex images from the vinyl, and then use heat to seal the cut out onto the fabric. On the other hand, heat press printing may not hold up quite as well as screen printing or HTV designs. First, it creates vibrant, very durable designs. Do your garments need D-ring pass through for safety harnesses? Like I mentioned above reflective screen-printing ink while economical and capable of detailed art its only really a fashion look for reflectability. Besides the low start-up cost, making an HTV design generally does not take much time or work compared to many other methods. Another cool thing about airbrushing is that it does not cost much to get started, and you can also mix and use several different kinds of paints or dyes. If this is a RUSH, please call 216-338-3635. On the other side of that coin, you may find that DTG designs start to fade over time. For a retro look, the best quality designs usually come from the HTV method or using a discharge printing method. You can cut out a stencil by hand or use a more advanced tool like a Cricut to electronically cut out digital designs. More artistic processes like HTV require smaller-scale supplies you could buy and use at home, like a Cricut. Now rayon its certified safe for childrens apparel so you know its tested thoroughly but if youre in any situations where youre exposed to open flame its a good idea to have flame resistant thread. You dont even have to use a heat press, though you usually get more permanent results if you heat set a fabric design in some way. All rights reserved. However, it does take a considerable amount of time to set up each transfer and then heat press it to the shirt. Stenciling is the most basic method you can use on t-shirts at home. You may be thinking dude, if Im in a fire the last I care about is if my embroidered logo gets ruined. The printer uses a stencil to protect the design portion of the shirt and then bleaches away the rest of the dye, leaving only the design left in color. Our turnkey service allows employees to shop from a custom catalog of company-approved items and eliminates costly back-and-forth with multiple suppliers and employees who are often distributed across several locations. You can also print your design onto vinyl and then use a heat press to seal the vinyl onto the shirt. The Tyndale 360 Experience presents on-site training and selected FR clothing for employees to inspect. But its easy to forget that the processes involved in manufacturing those chemicals can subject workers to many hazards, including chemical and flash fire explosions. Simple tools like a heat press make heat transfer or inkjet printing possible and make using heat transfer vinyl quite easy as well. Sorry for the sick humor there but its really about safety. Finally, certain methods of printing work well for just one or two shirts, while others require so much setup work that you will see a much better return on your investment if you can handle large batches of shirts at one time. If you want to make t-shirts for your childs basketball team, you can get up and running with nothing but a cutting machine and an iron! Now, if you want to launch a home business selling t-shirts, you may want to consider learning more about screen printing or using HTV. This cool but very costly method uses heat to turn dye into a gas that bonds with the fabric. If its a federal roadway where its the law or its the parking lot at the pumpkin patch. Plus, HTV designs have better durability than almost any printed design. The cons are that this simple method works better for personal use and will not give you the professional design you need if you want to sell shirts. Another advantage of this method is that you can quickly run off one design after another without any complex setup. Now what weve talked all about the garments lets get some print and embroidery information going. Heat transfer printing can work in several different ways. If you have a regular inkjet or laser printer in your home office, you can easily create any design and then use an iron or a small heat press to seal the transfer paper to your shirt. Finally, screen print designs usually work best when they involve one to three colors because you have to layer on each color one screen at a time. Full Coverage Dye Sublimation company shirts & jerseys make a bold, unique statement that's sure to separate you from the competition. Here will put high-visibility garments into three categories: Were not going to go too deep into the way class requirements work, as in how some are enforced and some can be voluntary. The best way to print cotton shirts at home is to use the heat transfer method with an inkjet printer or to cut out and use an HTV design. Either way, using an inkjet printer to put a design on some type of transfer makes for a pretty easy process. The gallery below shows examples of the exciting looks and styles designed by KBK GraphX. Some of the most popular ways to print on t-shirts include DTG, sublimation, and screen printing. Pros of this method include high quality, durable designs. So firefighting, aeronautics and motorsports its a must. Fluoro color apparel pops on its own and there are also floro color inks that give a high-vis fashion look. The key difference is that the artist applies the ink onto a plastisol transfer sheet instead of directly onto the fabric.