# Manual Or Direct Garment



## RICH18P (Mar 15, 2007)

_I AM A NEW SPORTSWEAR RETAILER / SCREEN PRINTER IN ARIZONA AND I AM AT A CROSSROADS. HERE IS MY STORY. I STARTED OUT BY LEASING A MANUAL SCREEN PRINTING PACKAGE FROM WORKHORSE PRODUCTS. THEN TOOK THE CLASSES AT US SCREEN PRINT INSTITUTE. GREAT COURSE BY THE WAY. I'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS A COUPLE OF MONTHS DOING OK WITH SOME TEAM SALES AND CONTRACTORS AROUND TOWN. MY MAIN GOAL IS TO LAUNCH MY OWN BRAND OF VOLLEYBALL SPORTSWEAR. THE NAME OF MY COMPANY IS 18 PANEL ATHLETICS._

_LET ME PUT THIS ALL INTO CONTEXT. I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF I SHOULD GET RID OF MY MANUAL SCREEN PRINTING EQUIPMENT THEN LEASE A T-JET. MAYBE EVEN THE BLAZER. IDEALLY THE MAJORITY OF MY PRINTING WILL COME BY WAY OF MY SPORTSWEAR LINE THEN THE TEAM SALES ORDERS AFTER THAT. THE SPORTSWEAR LINE WILL BE SOLD VIA MY WEBSITE, SO OPTIMISTICALLY I HOPE TO BE GETTING SOME GOOD ORDERS COMING THRU. KNOWING MY SITUATION, DO YOU THINK I WOULD BENEFIT FROM A MACHINE LIKE THE T-JET OR SHOULD I STAY WITH THE MANUAL PRESS. I'M JUST NOT SURE IF THE NUMBER OF SHIRTS I PREDICT ON SELLING FROM MY SPORTSWEAR LINE WILL WARRANT GETTING A DIRECT TO GARMENT PRINTER._

_ I KNOW IT IS A LOT TO DIGEST BUT ANY DIRECTION WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATE. _


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## JPD (Nov 8, 2006)

I would say stay with what you know, designing your line around your current printing capabilities. By the time your line is established, there will be new technology available in the way of machines and ink that will allow you more choices and options.

That's my opinion.

Good luck with it!

Eric


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

JPD said:


> I would say stay with what you know, designing your line around your current printing capabilities. By the time your line is established, there will be new technology available in the way of machines and ink that will allow you more choices and options.
> 
> That's my opinion.
> 
> ...


Excellent advice! There are options if you want to introduce dtg printing, you can contract some orders out to someone like contractdtg.com
and see how dtg printing can enhance your clothing line without the big up front expenditure. Maybe visit a show and see what digital garment printers are developing in new technology.

Michele


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Rich,

I' ve playing ball for the last 18 years - started indoor at high school and moved to beach for better scenary. Welcome! The most important question you need to answer is what type of fabric(s) do you want to print to? The reason being that DTG printing is really best done on natural fabrics (i.e. cotton). I remember my days in high school volleyball and I know for sure that the jerseys were not cotton. Plastisol inks do much better on synthetic fabrics. DTG excels at doing short runs and photographs (i.e. designs with a lot of colors in it).

I agree with Michelle. Think about outsourcing some of the work or even look at plastisol transfers. We had a minimum of 12 guys on our high school teams. Look at a plastisol transfer company that has low minimums. F&M Expressions is a good example. All you need with plastisol transfers is a heat press. If you are looking at going with photos on shirts...your options are really DTG or Sublimation. Sublimation is the longest lasting decorating technique - but really only works good on polyester shirts. Think about all the warm up oufits (i.e. Under Armor type fabric). Unless you are going after the onsite production work, I would not lean toward DTG printing based on how you described your business model. More information might change this initial gut reaction

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more specific questions.

Mark


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