However, it does not work on other kinds of fabric with all-natural fibers, like cotton. Tyndales managed apparel services are tailored to take the hassle out administering a flame resistant (FR) clothing program that supports compliance with industry standards. Also as the bar is raised on standards you can benefit by investing more now to stay ahead of it. First, it creates vibrant, very durable designs. 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. If this is a RUSH, please call 216-338-3635. 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. Screen printing takes forever to set up, but you can quickly roll out duplicates of the same design once you finish getting everything ready! The key difference is that the artist applies the ink onto a plastisol transfer sheet instead of directly onto the fabric. Obviously anyone working in low visibility conditions can benefit from high-visibility workwear. Likewise, processes like DTG can be operated quite simply, but require a lot of complex technology. print on polyester at home using screen printing, 17 Different Types of Silk Fabric [With Names and Pictures]. Several printing methods offer very durable designs, including sublimation and screen printing. Vinyl (PVC) and plastisol inks are for the most part additive free so alone they are very stable against chemical deterioration. Under the right circumstances, you could create a high-quality t-shirt design using any of the methods explained in this article. Another thing to keep in mind is that some methods work better on specific fabric types, like polyester vs cotton. Layer items from your closet or catalog for proven arc flash protection. 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! 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. 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. 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. You then apply dye over the stencil, creating a logo or design on the shirt! Pros of this method include high quality, durable designs. 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. High-visibility apparel is often transferable between employees in the workplace so think durability as well. 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! Many of the methods described in this article do need expensive equipment. 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! Cotton can handle high heat, so any method that uses a heat press or an iron does well on this kind of shirt. This process works by removing color instead of applying color! Professionals often used more advanced forms of stenciling in methods such as screen printing. 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! Tyndale is your single point of contact for all questions, changes, and issues, allowing you to focus on your professional responsibilities. Anything that is ANSI/ISEA will almost always be more expensive and maybe not always necessary. You may be thinking dude, if Im in a fire the last I care about is if my embroidered logo gets ruined. 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. DTG stands for direct to garment printing. 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. 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! Thank you submitting your SHIRT/JERSEY DESIGN request -- KBK GraphX will be in touch with you as promptly as possible. The easiest way for beginners to print on t-shirts at home is to try the heat transfer printing method. You may enjoy trying this technique at home with a group of friends to create stylish vintage-looking tees. You do not need too many supplies, and you dont need any experience at all! You can print on t-shirts using different techniques such as applying ink directly onto the fabric, applying ink to a paper or transfer that then attaches to fabric, or even cutting out vinyl to attach to the fabric of the shirt. The gallery below shows examples of the exciting looks and styles designed by KBK GraphX. 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. It is not usually the method chosen by professionals for that reason. The transfer sheet then gets heat pressed onto the t-shirt, creating a durable, raised design on the fabrics surface. Sublimation, screen printing, and airbrushing require a pretty high level of skill to complete the complex processes. Enhanced visibility and reflective garment. All rights reserved. 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. That said, some professionals or small business owners do successfully offer heat press printed shirts for sale. 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. You need space to work and pretty large equipment like the screens and the press to align the screen with the shirt. 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. 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. From plastics to pigments to perfume, we rely on the chemical industry to supply products that make our lives better and our economy hum. Plus, HTV designs have better durability than almost any printed design. For a retro look, the best quality designs usually come from the HTV method or using a discharge printing method. (non ANSI/ISEA compliant). This method combines some of the basics of screen printing and uses the kind of plastisol inks used in screen printing. In this article, you will find out how the ten most popular types of t-shirt printing work. I'm passionate about custom apparel and creative problem solving. 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. What is the Most Durable Kind of T-Shirt Printing? But most methods do not need super expensive gear, including HTV designs, heat transfer printing, stenciling, and even airbrushing. 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. HTV vinyl is a special type of vinyl that has one decorative side and one side coated in a heat-activated adhesive. Finally, though DTG designs look very cool, they do not hold up long-term and some other kinds of designs. Want a more standard take on your company shirts? We have both die cut and digitally printable reflective vinyls that look great and have ANSI approved reflectivity. It is also one of the oldest printing methods in the world! You can also use this method as a unique substitute for screen printing by airbrushing over stencils, one color layer at a time. 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! Because every quality project starts with the garment knowing these things will help guide our recommendations in both apparel and art application. Heat press printing is a good option for a beginner or at-home artist, though it typically does not offer the high quality of some other methods. Plastisol or indirect screen printing has a growing popularity among t-shirt designers these days. So firefighting, aeronautics and motorsports its a must. On more valuable items vinyl transfers, screen printing and embroidery are good options. To screen print, you create a negative of the design you want on a screen. 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. 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. Please sign in to view account pricing and product availability. Finally, this method does require high heat, so you cant use it on heat-sensitive fabric. 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. Large-scale professional operations will probably use enormous commercial cutting machines to create vinyl designs. There are some decorating recommendations for chemical resistant apparel. Different Types of T-Shirt Printing Methods: Comparison, Best Way to Print Cotton T-Shirts at Home. This means that you can easily create any design that you could print onto paper. 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. The disadvantage of this technique is its cost. 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. The thing to keep in mind with polyester is that it is sensitive to heat. It allows you to create complex designs or photos just as easily as you would on paper. Some of the most popular ways to print on t-shirts include DTG, sublimation, and screen printing. 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. Tyndale has the flexibility to provide one uniform look for all your employees or offer employee choice from a selection of company approved garments. With embroidery we recommend sealing the backing and applying a hydrophobic treatment to the top stitches. It also creates a stiff layer on top of the fabric that may not feel comfortable, and designs will only show up on white or light-colored shirts. Plus, you will have much less mess and set-up time than you would for regular screen printing. Nothing says Were a construction company, check us out! like a safety orange hoodie with your company logo on it. Probably my favorite solution is going to be mixed media. So here you are wanting reflective on your logo company wear, what are the options? 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. Like I mentioned above reflective screen-printing ink while economical and capable of detailed art its only really a fashion look for reflectability. Sublimation printing is the best professional way to print on polyester material. Commercial printing methods like DTG and sublimation printing require advanced technology. Which Type of Printing is Best for Polyester T-Shirts? With so many different types of printing on t-shirts available, how do you know which one to choose? The advantages of this method include its versatility. You can use a heat press on it if you watch the temperature and timings, but it presents far more challenges than working with the more durable cotton. The process does exactly what it sounds likea special printer applies a thin ink right onto the fabric of the t-shirt! 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. The Tyndale Womens AR / FR Clothing Experience. Safety color hoodies, tees and headwear are good options for what I like to call high-vis aesthetic. 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. Consider though that a show of enhanced safety for your staff is good look if your branding high-vis apparel. Their bright colors add a layer of safety and lend to the promotional side of company apparel. If you want to make complex designs, you also need special chemicals to work with. You can use many colors, create complex graphics, or even use photos. 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. Contact KBK GraphX! PRESSURE WASHING - POWER WASHING - SOFT WASHING - ROOF CLEANING - WOOD CARE & RESTORATION - FLEET WASHING - KITCHEN HOOD & EXHAUST SYSTEM CLEANING -HOME REMODELING - HOME IMPROVEMENT - ROOFERS/ROOFING - CONSTRUCTION - CONTRACTORS - REPLACEMENT WINDOWS - LANDSCAPING/LAWN CARE - PAINTERS/PAINTING - WINDOW CLEANING - MOLD REMEDIATION - WATER & FIRE RESTORATION -REAL ESTATE/REALTORS - CARPET CLEANING - FLOORING - JANITORIAL - ATTORNEYS/LAW OFFICES - CATERING - FARMING- SEALCOATING - ELECTRICIANS& more! 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. Some kinds of shirt printing like DTG and sublimation printing do need expensive professional equipment. Affordable and easy to apply. This cool but very costly method uses heat to turn dye into a gas that bonds with the fabric. Sorry for the sick humor there but its really about safety. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog posts. There are some fashion reflective inks on the market for casual wear but the lumens reflected are not high enough to be considered safety reflective. Now is your chance to get caught up, before. KBK GraphX offers standard and custom illustrated shirt design services, too! Basic and aesthetic high visibility garments. So, what are the disadvantages of the DTG method? Finally, you will find tips for how to print your own t-shirt at home! 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. Full Coverage Dye Sublimation company shirts & jerseys make a bold, unique statement that's sure to separate you from the competition. This method works great for at-home designers because of the easy setup and low start-up cost. The other thing you usually want when you print on t-shirts at home is a low start-up cost. If you want to get simple, you can use stencil and fabric dye or paint at home on a cotton shirt. Or looking to launch your own line of apparel or t-shirts? Now what weve talked all about the garments lets get some print and embroidery information going. Also, this method works great for small orders but not as well for bulk orders. You may also occasionally see this method called DTF, or direct to fabric printing. Instead, focus on more artistic and small-scale processes, like using vinyl cutouts or even airbrushing onto t-shirts. One of the pros of heat transfer printing with an inkjet printer is that you can easily try this at home. Using Heat Transfer Vinyl gives you a lot of flexibility for small=scale orders or even just for at-home use. When done incorrectly, the designs will crack and peel away later on. Traditionally embroidery thread is made from rayon, a natural fiber that ignites relatively easily. Do your garments need to be fire or chemical resistant? Simple tools like a heat press make heat transfer or inkjet printing possible and make using heat transfer vinyl quite easy as well. The artist then uses heat to apply the plastisol sheet to a shirt. While not technically a printing method, many artists use vinyl basically in place of ink to create raised, durable designs on t-shirts. The downside to airbrushing is, first and foremost, the time involved. Reflective taping on apparel can be a little uncomfortable because of its weight and lack of breathability. Some need expensive commercial technology, while others can work with basic craft supplies. 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. You must print onto a special kind of paper called iron-on transfer. The big advantage of this technique is its one-of-a-kind appearance. The most popular types of printing on t-shirts include direct to garment, sublimation, and screen printing. Seattle WA EST 2010 Screenprinting Embroidery Labeling Sewing #Screenprinting #embroidery #customapparel #customheadwear. You really find varying levels of complexity in every different technique, depending on whether or not you plan to work on a commercial scale. Thats not really funny, lets take safety serious people. Fluoro color apparel pops on its own and there are also floro color inks that give a high-vis fashion look. As a retail buyer, sales representative and as the co-founder of The Foundry Print Shop. Another advantage of this method is that you can quickly run off one design after another without any complex setup. You do not need an expensive printer or lots of special supplies. 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! The cons of this method include the fact that applying plastisol transfers can get tricky. @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. So on any garment that is disposable like many chem-resistant pieces are we recommend a basic decal. Also, if you want to get more elaborate and complex, you can use more advanced technology with screen printing and HTV designs. 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. 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. Unauthorized image copying or distribution strictly prohibited. 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. Also, you cannot use the sublimation method on cotton t-shirts. 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. This forces the ink through the negative-space stencil on the design and creates an image on the shirt! All artwork, graphic designs and images displayed on this website Copyright 2003-2016KBK GraphX and their respective owners. Heat transfer designs can tend to crack or peel eventually. We get asked this question all the time and the answer is no. On the other hand, heat press printing may not hold up quite as well as screen printing or HTV designs. With that said, shouldn't your company shirt be more than just a logo and a phone number? On the other side of that coin, you may find that DTG designs start to fade over time. More artistic processes like HTV require smaller-scale supplies you could buy and use at home, like a Cricut. Transform your branded apparel into amobile billboard that catches eyes, turns heads and gets people interested in what you do, and what you can do for them! This also means that sublimation designs wont crack or peel.