# Pls help My Brain hurts - Dye Sublimation vs Plastisol etc... etc....



## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

I really need some help. 

I am ready to get going with this little project I have in mind.
I've been reading all kinds of forums and supplier websites, I'm ready to buy my equipment BUT need to clarify what kind of ink I should be getting. 

Heat transfers for sure.....
What I want to do is to be able to print and transfer onto 100% cotton & blended T-shirts(white & dark) , mouse pads , cups etc.... 

I was planning planning on ordering the Dye Sub inks for the epson I will be buying ... 
Will I be able to transfer onto the the things I have listed above? 
What restrictions will I have if I use Dye Sub inks? 
What is the difference between dye sub and plastisol transfers ? 

Please help me


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

rookie905 said:


> Please help me


if transfers is the direction you are going and not a screen print set up, you can start off by making digital transfers, not a big investment. 

For screen printed type transfers using plastisol inks and for plotter cut or die-cut transfers etc... you can start off by using a manufacturer of such.

Heck, even if you start doing digital transfers only, you can still offer clients other transfer types etc... just take orders and pass it along to a manufacturer. 

As your biz grows... start investing in whatever equip. you feel is needed.

If you need some contacts in your area for transfers and screen printers PM me.

hope this helps you out some.


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## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

Thanks Lucy,

I am looking into just a starter screen package too. But things seem to be easier to find for the screen prinitng info ...and heat press seems to be confusing me 

just wanna be clear ...so digital transfers = print + transfer paper + garment + heat press ? 

whatabout for darker shirts ? do the opaque transfers really work alot better ? bright colors ? is there a film that is transfered to the T or is it just the colors? ..what happens with areas in the image that are white ? 

How long have u been in the biz ? 

I'll take u up on yr offer and PM u for people sellers in my area.


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## PrintMonkey (Jul 15, 2006)

For your dye sublimation questions go here: www.dyesub.org.
On the top left of the page click on "Articles". 

Mark


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

rookie905 said:


> Heat transfers for sure.....
> What I want to do is to be able to print and transfer onto 100% cotton & blended T-shirts(white & dark) , mouse pads , cups etc....
> 
> I was planning planning on ordering the Dye Sub inks for the epson I will be buying ...
> ...


 
With dye sub inks you won't be able to print directly onto cotton or dark t-shirts, blends should be at least 65% poly, but for best results 100% poly is recommened.
Mouse pads would look great - I believe most of them have synthetic surface. Cups, tiles and other substrates should be coated for sublimation.

Dye sublimation permiates the substrate - colours of your design are permanently dyed into it and you can't feel anything on the surface. 
You can print full colour graphics. 
The design will not crack, peel or fade.


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## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

D.Evo. said:


> With dye sub inks you won't be able to print directly onto cotton or dark t-shirts


Thanks D.Evo 

So what is going to allow me to print onto 100% cotton and darks using this Heat Transfer method ?


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

rookie905 said:


> Thanks D.Evo
> 
> So what is going to allow me to print onto 100% cotton and darks using this Heat Transfer method ?


basically with jet or lazer transfers etc... to print on dark shirts you need to use opaque transfers or do a 2 step where you print the transfer/design on to an opaque backing material, hand cut or plotter cut around the design and then heat press it on to the shirt.

im not an expert with digital transfers, but i think thats how it works.

Mind you that doing it this way to print on darks involves a lot more work/time etc... i guess it's cool when you make samples. one offs, photo shoots, tv etc.... since they feel and wear different from screen printed type process.

BTW, im impressed of how much research you are doing.... good job.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> So what is going to allow me to print onto 100% cotton and darks using this Heat Transfer method ?


Sounds like either opaque transfers or plastisol transfers would be what you're looking for.


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## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Sounds like either opaque transfers or plastisol transfers would be what you're looking for.


Hey Rodney,

Thanks for yr input.

So I could use the Sub Dye inks in my epson + opaque/plastisol transfers for 100% cotton ? 

Lucy (bless her soul for helping me so much ) has said that the plastisol transfers are done by screen printing and then transfering to the T-shirt when needed. What is their shelf life? 

Thanks !!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Lucy (bless her soul for helping me so much ) has said that the plastisol transfers are done by screen printing and then transfering to the T-shirt when needed. What is their shelf life?


That's a good question, I'm not sure. You might try contacting one of the many plastisol transfer printers and asking them what the shelf life of their transfers is.

I'm guessing it's pretty long since they are often bought in bulk and pressed at different times.



> So I could use the Sub Dye inks in my epson + opaque/plastisol transfers for 100% cotton ?


I'm not sure if dye-sub inks are the same as the pigment based inks needed for quality printed transfers. Maybe another member could clarify that.

Dye sublimation and regular heat transfers are a bit different.


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

rookie905 said:


> Lucy (bless her soul for helping me so much ) has said that the plastisol transfers are done by screen printing and then transfering to the T-shirt when needed. What is their shelf life?
> 
> Thanks !!


ah-shukz, your nice.  

the idea is to sell them and not store them...LOL

I would not store them in a trunk of a car in the desert tho. 

long shelf life....

even with the old type inks like the X-IT or Airwaves transfers from 25 years ago they still work.... mind you that the inks our days are a lot better.


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## kim turner (Jul 28, 2006)

Depending on what Epson printer you have...there is a special sublimation ink called chromablast and a certain transfer paper that will let you transfer onto 100% cotton white shirts. Regular inkjet transfer and opaque transfer paper would also transfer onto the cotton shirts.


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## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

If your printing onto opaque transfer paper, there is no need to use the sublimation inks. Reason being, these inks are a lot more expensive per square inch than regular ink. If you want to transfer to 100% cotton you might just use regular inkjet transfer paper rather than sublimation. You will need to trim around your design with regukar transfer paper, but you can do that either by scissors/exacto knife or optic eye cutter.


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## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

Thanks for your input guys.....

So if I wanted to do sublimation on things like mousepads clockfaces mugs etc AND T-shirts(dark and 100% cotton) would the best thing to do is have 2 printers with separate ink types( regular inkjet and one with Sub Dye) ? 

What say you ? 

Would I have to trim around the image on the transfer for both opaque and regular transfer papers? 

thanks


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

You don't do sublimation on dark t-shirts, you would do regular ink jet printed transfers (pigment ink).

You could do sublimation on mugs/mousepads with dye sub inks, but from what I understand it would be "overkill" to use dye sub ink to print out designs on opaque transfers. It can be done, but it would be more expensive than regular pigment ink.



> Would I have to trim around the image on the transfer for both opaque and regular transfer papers?


Yes, in order to avoid the residue that shows after you press a heat transferred shirt, you would need to trim around the edges of the design (either using scissors, an xacto knife, or an optical cutter machine).

Plastisol Transfers do not need to be trimmed and leave no residue.


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## rookie905 (Aug 15, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Plastisol Transfers do not need to be trimmed and leave no residue.


Thanks Rodney

I've read and read but i gotta ask what is a Plastisol transfer? 
My understanding (thanks Lucy) is that u screen print yr image onto the transfer sheet using plastisol ink, then heat press onto the garment.

Is this correct? 
What is the beneft of this procedure? 

Thanks!!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Is this correct?
> What is the beneft of this procedure?


Yes, that's it exactly. Instead of screen printing directly onto a garment, the screen printing screen prints the design onto a special kind of transfer paper and gives the transfer paper to you for you to press to the garment with a heat press.

The benefits of this type of transfer is that it allows you to print your design on any color garment with a finished product quality that rivals screen printing. It also is cheaper than screen printing in "up front costs" because you can print the orders on demand once you have the transfers preprinted (in a retail selling environment).

There are all types of other benefits and information you can learn in the Plastisol Transfers thread that's linked to on the main page of this site (at the top in the Six Super Threads area).


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## wodan8 (Aug 21, 2006)

kim turner said:


> Depending on what Epson printer you have...there is a special sublimation ink called chromablast and a certain transfer paper that will let you transfer onto 100% cotton white shirts. Regular inkjet transfer and opaque transfer paper would also transfer onto the cotton shirts.


 
Just curious how the ChromaBlast process worked. Do you find its cheaper than current DTG printing? Pros Vs. Cons?

Thanks


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