# understanding the heat press process



## jayhawk (Nov 29, 2007)

been doing some reading and am leaning toward heat press process over screen printing. please tell me if im in the right ball park as far as the steps/equipment needed for heat pressing a t-shirt.

1) have a heat press

2) make a design and have it sent somewhere, like transfer express, for them to put on transfer paper for you.

3) receive your designs on transfer paper and start heat pressing them onto t-shirst.

now i know it cant be that simple, so i have a few questions.

1) do you have to do anything to the design once you receive it on the transfer paper, like cut it or anything?

2) what is a vinyl cutter and what purpose does it serve?

3) theres a custom t-shirt place going out of business and wanting to piece out there equipment, what should i look to buy?

4) and maybe this is the wrong forum for this question, but ill ask anyway. i figure ill be making about 200 shirts per month, in maybe 5 different designs and in 2-4 colors, is heat pressing the way to go or would silk screening be better for my application?

any help/advice you guys could give would be great. thanks alot.

kert


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

jayhawk said:


> been doing some reading and am leaning toward heat press process over screen printing. please tell me if im in the right ball park as far as the steps/equipment needed for heat pressing a t-shirt.
> 
> 1) have a heat press
> 
> ...


Using plastisol transfers.. it is that esy.. Heat transfer you print yourself are a little more work.. There is apparel vinyl that you buy.A cutter takes the design from the software you use to a cutter and then the cutter cuts it out to the size you requested. Then you weed it (removing the surounding vinyl) Place design on shirt and press. Cutters run from about $600 up(good ones) a copam 2500 to who know.. depends on your budget. I have a Roland GX24 which is about 1600. actually plastisol may the way to go for what you are doing.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Badalou pretty much nailed it...I do have a question...you said you are going to make about 200 shirts a month...Do you have a market for that many? what makes you think you can jump into this business and start selling 200 shirts a month? 200 a month with 5 designs...is that 40 of each..of 196 of one and 1 each of the others...so that might determine if you use plastisol or screen print yourself..personally just starting I would use plastisol and only buy the screen press...IF..big IF...I had the room, had the knowledge to do it, had the proper permits for that kind of process...you know OSHA if you have employees, how/where to dispose of the inks, cleaning material..etc...don't tell me you are going to flush it down the drain??? if so where do you live, I don't want to be in the area and drink the water! o


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## jayhawk (Nov 29, 2007)

thanks for the quick responses. i coach alot of youth sports. a football team, 2 basketball teams and and 2 baseball teams. thats just in my league. there are abour 15 other leagues within 50 miles of where i live, which is in west virginia, and there arent any custom t-shirt business's in my area. plus im on the church board. we have trouble ordering shirts . the closest place is about an hour, so you pretty much have to take what they want to give you. actually selling the shirts will be the easy part. 200 shirts was being conservative. i actually think it will be more than that, but that was a ballpark guess. plus i plan on doing a little marketing, so hopefully that will bring some additional business. as far as screenprinting. yes i have the room. no i dont have any knowledge of it. and i really hadnt had thought of how i was going to dispose of ink. thanks for bringing those things up. 

if i were to go with the plastisol premade transfers, what other equipment would i need besides the heat press? i dont think i want to make my own cuts right now, so i wont need a vinyl cutter, right?

im looking at spending about $1500 in startup. where and in what equipment would be the best to invest in? again, thanks alot. your advice is much appreciated.

kert


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

to do plastisol...all you need is computer for design and a heat press.. Transfer Express has a lot of ready made sports logos etc that you can mix and match to get what you want...get their dealers catalog with samples for about 40 bucks or so...for a design program...corel draw or illustrator..or the free inkscape, Xara from England is good and not too expensive. there is also Canvas X ..not widely used but I like it and it is powerful. And last is a heat press...15x15 with digital controls...the smallest I would get..16x20 is great but pricey... So with press at 1000 or so, the design program and a photoshop type ...you are at about the $1500 mark...so go forth and sell!


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## jayhawk (Nov 29, 2007)

ok, its starting to come together a little bit now. couple more questions.

1) this seems much simpler than screen printing. im wondering why anyone would still screen print. is it cheaper to make shirts screenprinting which means more profit?

2) which has better quality/durability heat press or screenprinting, assuming most things are equal, quality of machines inks, ect.

3) ive read about getting sample packs from place like transfer express, how does one go about getting these samples? email, call ?

thanks again,

kert


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## karlking85 (Sep 26, 2007)

1. There are times when screenprinting is more cost effective, and times when using transfers are more effective. Plus, using transfers, you don't have to house all of your preprinted tees, you can essentially print to order. There are pros and cons to every method.

2. Plastisol transfers and silk screened shirts are made using the exact same process, so yes, the quality is roughly the same.

3. Call, email, whatever you prefer. Get samples from as many companies as you can and work witht them til you get a feel for each, and what you like/dislike about each.

Good luck.


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