# When would I use a Plastisol Transfer?



## funnygreenalien (May 24, 2015)

I have been screen printing for a few years, but I have not branched out into heat transfers. The process of printing a heat transfer and then transferring it onto a T-shirt seems straightforward. My question is, when would I use a plastisol heat transfer instead of just printing the plastisol directly onto a T-shirt? Seems like heat transfers just add extra steps, but I figure I am missing something. Thank you!


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## majik122 (Jan 24, 2017)

No doubt that screen printing is one of the top methods but due to the knowledge, skills and equipment involved, not everyone will be able to. 

Pre made plastisol transfers are very cost effective and the only equipment you'd need is a heat press. They're good for people who don't screen print themselves and want a good quality screen print like transfer. OR for someone making the plastisol transfers, they could make them and sell them to others, stock up on certain designs to heatpress later on. 

You can't just print plastisol onto a shirt, the transfers has to first be screen printed onto special heat transfer release paper then applied to the garment with a heat press. Are you mixing up your terms? DTG is the only method that allows you to print directly on the garment.


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## funnygreenalien (May 24, 2015)

Thanks for the reply! This definitely clarifies the use case for plastisol transfers. 

As far as your question for what I meant by printing directly onto the T-shirt. Yes, a DTG printer allows someone to print artwork onto a t shirt directly from a computer, instead of having to burn screens and such. 

I meant screen printing the t-shirt directly using plastisol ink instead of screen printing plastisol transfer paper AND THEN using a heat transfer press to "print" the t-shirt.

As a screen printer the plastisol transfer process requires the same set up as it would to print the same artwork on a T-shirt. I was trying to figure out why (as someone who already knows how to screen print) I would take extra steps after the laborious process of registration, artwork, burning the screens, etc, to make a plastisol transfer (adding the powder, curing, and then using the heat press to transfer to a T-shirt) instead of just printing the t-shirt.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

A screen printer screening a specific job for a specific number of items would never use plastisol transfers. It doubles your labor cost.

Where you would use it is if you had an order that may have small unpredictable reorders trickle in. One shirt here, 3 shirts there, maybe different color shirts. A restaurant account comes to mind. Then transfers would make sense for you as you would only have to press additional orders instead of setting up screens again.

For a brand, transfers allows them to keep a minimum supply of blanks on hand and press transfers as orders come in. This allows them to offer a wider variety of colors and styles without having to worry about having a large floor space for inventory.


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## AnnieMks (Feb 23, 2017)

I would think that you could use them if you have a customer that has a lot of repeat orders. That would save you the time for the setup again. Just grab a transfer off the shelf and hit a shirt with it. Done in less than a minute. 

I use them for that reason. I have a customer that told me he would have fill-in orders of just a few throughout the year. I just order a bunch of extra transfers and have them sitting on the shelf for reprints. Saves him and me the price of the silkscreen set up. You may not make a lot on your first batch of shirts but you will on the fill-ins. Just figure out what your minimum for fill-ins would be. In my case I will do 12.


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## funnygreenalien (May 24, 2015)

Thank you! Your post definitely clarified from the business side of custom orders how plastisol transfers would actually be cost effective. 

It makes a lot of sense now to use them for repeat customers that might not need large quantities of t-shirts after the first order.


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