# DTG printing on Polyester



## Macjaney

Hi - I would LIKE to print some hockey jerseys. They're for a PLAY not for people to PLAY hockey in, so they don't have to be tough, just look good. Has anyone had any luck printing on Polyester? Thanks for your input.


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## Rodney

Which DTG printer do you have?


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## Macjaney

We have a T-jet.


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## tomtv

no poly with these units and the water based inks. I have heard people have tried with the T-Jet inks but no real luck. We did it with our Flexi and had no luck either. for a play you could just to a heat transfer or cad cut vinyl depending on the complexity of what needs to be printed.

tom


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## Glenn

The only machine that can print on Polyester fabrics is the TEXMAC SOLO garment printer (as well as your cotton/poly-cottons of course)

check it out
www.happyemb.com


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## DAGuide

Glenn said:


> The only machine that can print on Polyester fabrics is the TEXMAC SOLO garment printer (as well as your cotton/poly-cottons of course)
> 
> check it out
> www.happyemb.com


That is a pretty strong statement that I think most knowledgable dtg users will disagree with. Being able to print on synthetic fabrics has very little to do with the printer - it has everything to do with the chemistry (i.e. pretreat and ink). Here is a video that shows the inaccuracy in your statement.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13RfTEGl-c[/media]

Mark


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## zoom_monster

Glenn said:


> The only machine that can print on Polyester fabrics is the TEXMAC SOLO garment printer (as well as your cotton/poly-cottons of course)
> 
> check it out
> [URL="http://www.happyemb.com"]www.happyemb.com[/URL]


 There are 2 different ways the other DTG machines will print on poly. One is a specific poly ink (Anajet sells it) or the pretreat such as what Mark demonstrated that is sold to allow CMYK to adhere to Polyester. I believe that Kornit also claims to print poly.


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## HPS

DAGuide said:


> That is a pretty strong statement that I think most knowledgable dtg users will disagree with. Being able to print on synthetic fabrics has very little to do with the printer - it has everything to do with the chemistry (i.e. pretreat and ink). Here is a video that shows the inaccuracy in your statement.
> 
> [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13RfTEGl-c[/media]
> 
> Mark


 
Can you tell me what was sprayed on the garment, is that sold by brother or a 3rd party. i have a brother poly treatment but I thought it was only to be used with 50/50 or blends. Where can you purchase that spray and what is it called. Thanks for that video. I just got an epson for sublimation, maybe I won't need to open that now. Thanks again


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## DAGuide

This is a 3rd party pretreat fluid that is sold by a lot of the Brother distributors and a few other companies. It has been released under several names as the distributors like to put their own logo on it. But the primary website is www.dtgpretreat.com. 

It is used to improve the fibrancy and washability on several types of items - including 100% polyester garments, blends (50/50), cotton garments, mousepads, coasters,...

Who did you buy the pretreat fluid from? The Brother PAS Store does sell the pretreat fluid - The PAS Store - Tools of the Trade - Parts, Accessories and Supplies.

Mark


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## dmMatrix

I know this is an older post but do all the same principles still apply or is there something better now?

We have been doing research for 3 months now and have just purchased an Equipment Zone Refurbished fast T-jet 2 with a bagged ink system.... We went cheap so that we could get our feet in the door with this side of our business.

Does anyone have any new input? Thanks


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## zoom_monster

Ryan, 
It's still a matter of ink, and more specifically white ink. Poly is just not receptive to waterbased inks and needs a coating. White ink because of it's tendancy to show the dye bleeding(sublimate) from the colors used in polyester.... is not adequate for an opaque print. If you are printing CMYK on white, you can get good results using a poly pretreat. I'm sure that people are working on it, but it will some time before this becomes a reality
You can print Dark Poly on the Kornit system, but I here that's not perfect either.


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## allamerican-aeoon

This has been on going question. 
Dark garment poly print: forget it. Unless junk quality and poor wash is welcome to your customer. Or you do not look for repeat business.
White or real light color fabric: use fast paper printer such as Richo or epson or some. Cheap than dtg ink and 10 times faster. You can decorate everywhere back sleeves, small big, 100 logos like race car driver. Do not make any sense who want to try with DTG. If anyone want to push this for no sensible reason just use sub CYMK x 2 on any Dtg.  but why?
Do not try to carry refrigerator with you Mercedes use cheap uhaul truck. 
Cheers! Beers are on me always. IMHO but earth is still round.


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## equipmentzone

dmMatrix said:


> I know this is an older post but do all the same principles still apply or is there something better now?
> 
> We have been doing research for 3 months now and have just purchased an Equipment Zone Refurbished fast T-jet 2 with a bagged ink system.... We went cheap so that we could get our feet in the door with this side of our business.
> 
> Does anyone have any new input? Thanks




As noted before, there is a polyester pretreatment available for printing white or light colored 100% polyester shirts with CMYK inks. It does a very good job and allows you to use the very same inks you now use.

Work is proceeding on a process for printing white ink on dark 100% polyester goods. It's not there yet but I do see it coming down the road. 

Harry

_


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## dprato

Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible to print white ink onto 50-50 colored shirts using the pretreatment method shown in your video. By colored shirts, I mean shirts that are royal blue, red or even black. I am very new to this and any feedback would be much appreciated!

Thank You!

Dianna


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## zoom_monster

Dianna, It's been a few years, but things have not changed much.

The pretreat will only crosslink the ink to the cotton part of the shirt, not the poly. You will get a very vintage look at best and not a good opacity for a white underbase...meaning all the process colors will be off. Another problem is that the same heat used to cure the ink may also cause sublimation (dye migration) of the shirt colors into the color of the print. If you like the vintage distressed look it looks OK, if you want accurate color, you will never get it with dupont or brother inks in their current form.


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## okprinter

You might want to check out this thread.. Believe things are and have changed for DTG
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=582962


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## Brian Walker

Dianna

Actually things have changed radically the past year. I just posted a pic on the Facebook DTG users group yesterday showing white ink on black polyester. It is achieved through our new Image Armor E-SERIES inks and Ultra pretreatment. We are in the middle of washing button the first several washes saw little to no loss. White is still white, but we also printed on a more open weave shirt so that didn't help (can't print on thin air). 

See more in photo attached.


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## Brian Walker

Oops. Tried to do from my iPad......


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## Brian Walker

This is after wash number two. This has to do more with the ink chemistry than anything. It is only a 35 second cure vs 120-180 with DuPont.


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## Cardinalxp

Last night I printed on a white A4 Performance shirt. It's 100% Poly. I treated it as if it were any other shirt. I used my regular pre-treatment and ran an image that I have previously used on dark color shirts. It had a white layer setup already. It printed very well. I pressed it and the image was perfect. I washed and dried it to see how it would hold up. It looks perfect. I plan on washing and drying it a few more times to make sure it will can handle wear and tear. I'll post a pic after a few more washes.

But all in all, you can print dtg on poly.


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## mgtGrafix

Cardinalxp said:


> Last night I printed on a white A4 Performance shirt. It's 100% Poly. I treated it as if it were any other shirt. I used my regular pre-treatment and ran an image that I have previously used on dark color shirts. It had a white layer setup already. It printed very well. I pressed it and the image was perfect. I washed and dried it to see how it would hold up. It looks perfect. I plan on washing and drying it a few more times to make sure it will can handle wear and tear. I'll post a pic after a few more washes.
> 
> But all in all, you can print dtg on poly.


What ink and pretreat were you using? Also could you provide specific instructions on your process?


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## Cardinalxp

We used the same pretreat we use for everything else. It's an all purpose pretreat sold by Mesa Supplies (their brand sold by the gallon). 

Spray with pretreat. Press for 45 seconds at 330 degrees. 

Tuck on platten. Run rip software on Summit 520 printer. 

Press for 45 sec at 330.

Attached is a pic of the shirt after being washed and dried. No fading or peeling at all. Looks just like any other dtg shirt I've done before. Very excited about the possibilities that this opens up for us.


********I had forgotten that the image I chose had a white layer setup in the rip software already. So, it printed a white layer before the color layer even though it was on white. I'm not sure if that added to the success of this print or not. ************


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## greggandlucy

*Re: DTG printing on cotton poly blend*

We have a brother GT-541 for light colored garments. Does anyone know if we can print on a cotton ploy blend material?


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## fmnapparel

dtg machine works best in 100% cotton. I have seen some people use it on polyester however the quality of the print decreases. 

thanks! 

fmnapparel.com


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## equipmentzone

fmnapparel said:


> dtg machine works best in 100% cotton. I have seen some people use it on polyester however the quality of the print decreases.
> 
> thanks!
> 
> fmnapparel.com




With the Image Armor Light pretreatment you can print on white and light color 100% polyester garments.

_


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## MiTfOrD123

I would recommend on a white poly shirt - sublimation or CMYK only print - which can be done a most DTG's. On a coloured poly i would recommend as the others have stated looking into certain brands of pretreat. I think image armour have a poly one .... and i think brother have got one. As you have already mentioned though im unsure as to whether this is for a poly mix or pure poly.


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