Various modern methods of printing on fabrics allow you to create unique clothes. T-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball caps, bandanas, jackets, and raincoats with your chosen images or text will be unique. But each of the existing technologies has both advantages and disadvantages. How to choose exactly the one that is suitable for application to a specific item?
To ensure the highest quality printing on clothing, Dallas T-shirt Printing suggests a number of factors when choosing a technology:
- Type of material and its color.
- Surface geometry.
- Picture size.
- Order circulation.
- The desired color and durability of the image.
Let’s consider the possibilities of the most popular printing methods in the context of these factors.
SILK-SCREEN PRINTING (SCREEN PRINTING) FOR APPLYING IMAGES TO CLOTHING
If you are interested in economical methods of printing on T-shirts, then silk-screen printing is one of them, but only if you order large quantities (from 50 pieces). With this technology, the coloring matter covers the surface of the material through a stencil made for each paint color. And it is applied using so-called “carousel” machines.
Using this method, you can print complex shapes and apply images to small parts. This is probably why it is often used for branding textile products. If a company with a large number of employees needs clothing with a logo, then silk-screen printing is often chosen to print decals.
The advantages of this type of printing, in addition to those already listed, are also that it:
- Allows you to print on cotton and synthetic clothing.
- Used for both patterns and finished products.
- Forms an even layer of color on the fabric.
- Produces a sharp, colorful print that holds up to 60 washings.
- enables the incorporation of a wide range of styles (foiling, glitters, 3D graphics, etc.).
When figuring out which fabric printing is better, you should also know the disadvantages of different technologies. The costs of this method include:
- High cost when ordering one product. This is because of the time-consuming work involved in getting a print job ready to go.
- Limitation on the number of colors used. It is possible to apply 1-6 colors.
SUBLIMATION PRINTING ON CLOTHES
When the most popular printing on clothes in Dallas is called , then sublimation is definitely on this list. The essence of this method is the ability of liquid paint to transform into a gaseous state under the influence of high temperature and in this form enter the fabric fibers. Direct sublimation printing is carried out only on fabric, from which clothes are then sewn. Sublimation transfer from an intermediate carrier is performed onto finished items.
When determining which printing technology is better, they consider, first of all, their advantages. The popularity of sublimation is explained by the following:
- You can apply images both to fabric in a roll and on things.
- The pictures are multi-colored, with transitions and gradients (photographic quality).
- The print size can reach up to 40x50cm.
- It is possible to print on one product.
- The wear resistance of the resulting image is very high.
The disadvantage of this method is the need for the future application medium (on a T-shirt, baseball cap, vest, etc.) to be made of synthetic material. At the very least, the amount of polyester fibers in it should be at least 50-60%. The thing is that natural fabrics do not take paint well and cannot withstand temperatures up to 200 degrees. And besides this, sublimation is performed only on light-colored items.
THERMAL TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY FOR PRINTING ON CLOTHING
Printing prints on clothes using this method involves transferring pictures onto it from the media (special paper or film) on which they are previously printed. The transfer is carried out by a heat press heated to 130-160 0 C. Under the influence of temperature, the thermal transfer adhesive melts and penetrates the fibers of the fabric. The picture becomes permanent in the material after it has cooled.
If you’re figuring out which is best when planning to print T-shirts, this widely used technology is definitely something to consider. It, like the previous ones, also has numerous advantages. Small areas of fabric (pockets, cuffs), three-dimensional objects (baseball caps, caps, panama hats), and items with protruding features (buttons, zippers) are all good candidates for thermal transfer printing.
Besides this, this method:
- Can be used for application to any fabric (natural, synthetic and all possible combinations thereof).
- Allows you to get a bright picture with a lot of colors.
- Creates a durable image that survives numerous washes.
- It is a fairly short-term process.
- It is used for the smallest runs without increasing the cost of application per product.
AS A CONCLUSION
We looked at what kind of printing happens on T-shirts and other clothes. You can choose any of these technologies, but you need to keep in mind that:
- Screen-printed pictures are almost eternal. Images obtained using thermal transfers are less stable.
- It is advantageous to order silk-screen printing for large quantities. With thermal transfer, the cost of each product for any circulation is the same.
- For a circulation of more than 50 copies, a stencil will be more affordable; for a smaller quantity, a transfer will be more expensive.
