# DTG on Soccer Uniforms



## STNOTMWR (Feb 10, 2010)

Hi, 

I work for a soccer uniform company. We are looking into getting into the decorating side of selling our products instead of outsourcing. We don't want to get into actual screen printing and were looking into just heat pressing numbers and logos. I saw the DTG printers and was wondering if they work on Climatec Jerseys and shorts? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, 

Tommy


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

While DTG Printing can work on these types of jerseys, you really have to be careful of the content. Unlike many types of screen printing and heat transfers, direct to garment printing uses water based ink that is absorbed into the fibers of the garments. Most jersey materials tend to repel the inks and require a pretreatment/underbase. When you start mixing in these additional processes with a mixed fiber material, you start to run into durability issues.

So, if you want to DTG your own shirts, the easiest way is to look for 100% cotton content (the higher the better). Also, keep in mind that dark garments require an underbase, too. The additional process is expensive. 

Not to talk you out of it, but we been doing direct to garment printing at Great Apparel For You) for a while, and we haven't been too successful on these new specialty fabrics.

What is nice, though, is that with DTG, it's relatively simple to change names and numbers.


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

you'll need a machine that can use the poly-inksets. direct to garment printing is primarily done with water-based inks which need a natural fiber like cotton or bamboo. these water-based inks won't penetrate polyester. the only direct to garmet poly inks that i know of are only for light colored garments.

heatpress materials and sublimation might be of interest to you if your uniforms are primarily polyester.


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

23spiderman said:


> the only direct to garmet poly inks that i know of are only for light colored garments.


Just to throw this in, direct to garment printing can print on dark garments. It's just an extra step and you need a capable dtg printer.


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

dmfelder said:


> Just to throw this in, direct to garment printing can print on dark garments. It's just an extra step and you need a capable dtg printer.


i was only referring to the polyester inksets. we use white ink with our printer, but i haven't seen where the POLY inks stick to the white ink with any reliability.


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## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

The other consideration when decorating soccer uniforms is dye migration. Although some DTG inks will work on polyester, I don't believe there is a low bleed ink for printing sublimated uniforms. 

The most common applications for soccer jerseys are:
1. Fully sublimated with customization done prior to the jersey being sewn together.
2. Heat Transfer Names/Numbers via plastisol transfers
3. Heat Transfer Names/Numbers via cad-cut materials for 1-2 colors.
4. Heat Transfer Names/Numbers via print/cut technology for multiple colors and special effects.

Often the logo or badges are done with a four color process transfer or print/cut materials due to the many colors.


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

Are you aware of anything other than water-based inks for your DTG?


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

dmfelder said:


> Are you aware of anything other than water-based inks for your DTG?


yes. AnaJet has poly inks that, while carried by water, are usable on polyester, nylon, and other synthetics. the process is somewhat similar to sublimation except you don't use any transfer paper, and the carrier is water instead of a solvent. the quantity of ink used is also much less than if printing on cotton. it's also difficult to tell the difference between a washed print and a new print. the polyester fiber opens and encapsulates the dye at a certain temperature, and then closes when cooled which "protects" the dye.

however, this is currently only available for white and light garments. the poly inksets don't stick well to the white ink that's used for cotton.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

It's fair to note that even in the screenprint world, printing on dark poly can be problematic. You will notice that on many brands, they will prefer applique because of dye migration. even with low bleed plastisol, if you are not exact with your temp and ink modification, you can have a batch of shirts go bad...weeks after they've been printed. I picked brains at the ISS show to see if there were any poly white inks coming out, and the word is not for a long time. The ink film is just too thin. There could be nylon ink, but probably not water based.

Ian


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