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T-shirt Iron On Transfers
Have any of you bought iron on transfers for t shirts?I was thinking of doing this and putting some of my art images on a couple of t shirts as well as some with just my logo and such on them. Any specific advice, transfer paper recommendations,etc? Mar 21 06 12:53 pm Link I have a cafepress account for this very reason GB... They let you buy items from them "at cost" which is typically about exactly as much as it would cost to buy a single t-shirt from a store, and the materials for the transfer. They have two options on printing - Thermal transfer and Dye sub. The dye sub or direct printing is great for long lasting print...it puts the inks directly in to the fibers of the fabric, but it is very VERY fuzzy printing, not sharp at all. If you have things that are detailed and include details that need to be printed that are less than an eighth of an inch wide, don't go that route. Thermal transfer is great for details, but there is very little lifespan for thermal transfer prints because they're fragile, and basically just glued on to the top of the fabric. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer more questions...just recently went through ordering some items for myself through them and the service was good, just wish I'd known then what I know now. -James Mar 21 06 01:04 pm Link Have you seen the t shirts in person though? I mean, I have heard nothing but bad about CP printing. Maybe they have gotten better over the years though. Mar 21 06 01:07 pm Link Well Is not that expensive is $8 dollars for the special paper at staples an it bring likes 10 sheets. Ive done it before and it works great. You can use any regular printer and is really easy to do. Mar 21 06 01:09 pm Link Intensity wrote: Yea, thats what I was thinkin about. I just have yet to do it and was wondering if anyone had any paper recommendations as I am sure some print better than others. Mar 21 06 01:10 pm Link Glamour Boulevard wrote: Yes...I have several of them right now. Mar 21 06 01:12 pm Link Wow I really don't remember what brand I used But I remember I got the cheapest one and when I iron on the pictures they looked perfect. Mar 21 06 01:13 pm Link For low cost, small volume things? What worked fairly well given budget constraints, was I used a local place that outputs those heat transfer deals. Note: There's a HUGE disparity in quality, you'll have to search your area thoroughly. Avoid Kinko's at all costs. They let me bring the shirts and then press them there. I got American Apparel blanks and washed them twice before pressing. Very important to do this. Then after they were pressed, I washed them by hand in warm water, NO DETERGENT, and hung dry. After they were dry, I made a quicky stencil of the image area and lightly clear coated the transfer with a spray Krylon clear acrylic. Let dry for a couple days. Another hand rinse and then distribute to your adoring fans. I also made a little hang tag that told the wearer to hand wash the shirt inside out and hang dry. All these steps are basically to give extra life to the image and it seems to help quite a bit. Unit cost came out to about $13.00, I think. Yes, there's ways to do it right and correct but it's cost prohibitive for us peons. Mar 21 06 01:28 pm Link Intensity wrote: The tranfer papers are not expensive. That is true. I have used them to create specialty wardrobe for my shoots. And you can do failry well with them if you keep one very important thing in mind: Iron-ons do not hold up well to wear, washing, etc. when compared to the better methods like screen printing. But it is inexpensive and depending on what you wish to use them for, it can work well. Mar 21 06 05:03 pm Link I like the transfers made for color shirts as opposed to the transfers made for white shirts. The color transfers have a solid white back, basically...but the end result is glossier. I've made a bunch of shirts with all kinds of transfers, and the biggest factor has been printer quality...not the quality of the actual transfers working. Follow the instructions and things will work out pretty well...but don't be surprised when the transfers start going to shit after washing + drying them a few times. Sometimes they crack and peel. But they always look a little worse for the wear each time you clean them. At 10-15 bucks a pack, it's a fairly cheap experiment. Cafepress, as mentioned, is also about as solid an option as any. Do a test if you can. See if it's up to your standards. Mar 21 06 05:15 pm Link Eric Polite wrote: very important! don't try to use just any old transfer paper on dark shirts - it will specifically say on the package if it is for non-white shirts. Mar 21 06 06:41 pm Link On dark colored shirts, I have used AVERY Dark T-Shirt Transfers and they seemed to work fine. The item # is 3279. David Mar 21 06 06:46 pm Link My old printer (HP) had instructions for iron-on tranfers in the manual but my Epson 1800 manual doesn't mention it so I don't know if the Ultrachrome inks are suitable for this use. Anyone know? Mar 21 06 06:54 pm Link Well being a professional t shirt prrinter myself, Direct screen printing is always the best way to go. Although much more expensive, the durability of the ink will outlast the t shirt itself. As for transfers i would recommend using laser printing. The ink jet will fade immediately and basically ruin the shirt. Any questions will gladly be answered. Mar 21 06 07:02 pm Link CAFEPRESS has 2 options of printing I say give them a try because I didn't know this before and some of my tees were a bit faded at first. If you create a tee, it gives you the option of printing types. Check em' both out and see which works best for you. Fuze Mar 21 06 07:03 pm Link I did the Iron on thing. Comes out well. Then i got into airbrushing and that is looking cool also. I get my shirts at the local craft store for like 4$. some of my Air Brush work at www.Dgrafix.net I am just starting out..hehe.. Dont get to detailed with the print bold basic colors and print work best. Mar 21 06 07:04 pm Link |
