# Is Plastisol my best option . . . ?



## jevan (Jul 26, 2016)

I am new to this world. I am a graphic designer and have designed digital prints for wall art, jewelry, etc. I am expanding my business by transferring my designs onto pillow cases and tea towels and eventually t-shirts.

Every design will be black, put onto white material. Our pillow cases and tea towels will be very soft, and so will our t-shirts when we produce them. So I am looking for a soft finish that will be pliable, soft to the touch, yet durable so it can withstand the washer, sleepy heads, or wet hands. 

I came across the plastisol option and thought it might be the best things for my needs. According to what I have said above, would plastisol transfers be the best option for softness and durability, without any type of glossy finish behind the image? We want it to look nice and be as high quality as possible.

I have looked into Stalls Transfer Express and a couple other businesses who provide plastisol transfers, but they are all rather pricey. Does any one have any suggestions for a company who provides affordable plastisol transfers and good customer service?

I know that is a lot, but thank you so much for any help!


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Plastisol transfers are too heavy for what you want. You could direct print process black plastisol on light colors and get a soft print or waterbase printing can give you a soft print but I think you will be disappointed in plastisol transfers for your purposes.


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## jevan (Jul 26, 2016)

Thank you so much, wormil. I am sorry for my ignorance, but what do you mean by "direct print process black plastisol on light colors"? Is this another method? All our images will be black, transferred onto white material, some with a vintage look, and like you said, we don't want it to heavy, but to have that soft, light feel as much as possible.

And in addition to the above "direct print process black plastisol colors," what is "waterbase printing"? I haven't heard of that method yet.

I really appreciate the help. Thank you so much.

As far as a heat press, I think I will go with the HN black series 16" x 20" for $500 to get started. The other presses are too steep for me. But with hopes that this will bring in revenue, my plan is too eventually upgrade on the heat press. Will the HN black series do well to meet the needs of a small business with medium production?

I am so grateful for any help.

Warm Regards.


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## abchung (Jul 16, 2009)

I would not use plastisol for pillows, or tea towels
Having plastic rubbing your face is not nice. 
Look into water based inks. I don't use Permaset but i see allot of people using it for weaved materials on their Instagram account. 
I use matsui for my water based t-shirt printing. 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## APlusDesignsInc (Jan 27, 2016)

Printing directly onto the material would require screen printing equipment, or a DTG printer. Waterbase is an alternative to plastisol ink that is softer to the touch. But, to my knowledge, cannot be made into a transfer. It can only be directly printed onto the garments. Digital Transfers would be the only option that might be what you are looking for. Stahls does these. They would need to be printed on their clear transfer material. Even then they will have a slight plastic feel. And would wear off after time. They say 50 washes, but something used as much as a pillow probably wouldn't last that long.


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## jevan (Jul 26, 2016)

wormil said:


> Plastisol transfers are too heavy for what you want. You could direct print process black plastisol on light colors and get a soft print or waterbase printing can give you a soft print but I think you will be disappointed in plastisol transfers for your purposes.


If buying a printing machine to print directly on the material is not an option, (too much money) and there is not an option for waterbase printing transfers, (don't know how to screen print) do you think a plastisol transfer would be my next best option for the lightest feel.

In the arena of transfers and heat presses, what would you advise for the result I am looking for?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!


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## APlusDesignsInc (Jan 27, 2016)

Digitally printed transfers would be a little bit softer than plastisol transfers. As long as they were printed on clear transfer material. 

https://www.stahls.com/printable-heat-transfer-material-supertek-gloss

But, this would require a digital printer, which is expensive, or someone to print them for you. This process would be more expensive than the plastisol transfers, but would have a softer feel.

If you have a heat press and are going to be printing these transfers. A digital printer might be the way to go. Our company got a Roland BN-20 about 2 years ago, and it almost never quits running. It paid for itself after 6 months.


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## lenny118 (Oct 11, 2007)

If you can use the new polyester shirts or pillow cases, you could try sublimation transfers. They work very well and can hardly be felt. Try
Sublimation Transfers. Good quality and service for Sublimation transfers.


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## pmzirkle (Oct 5, 2014)

I would look into Sublimation.
Your designs would be permantly dyed into the material and never fade.
You can get sublimatable pillow cases, towels, T's etc from numerous suppliers.


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## pmzirkle (Oct 5, 2014)

I would look into Sublimation.
Your designs would be permantly dyed into the material and never fade.
You can get sublimatable pillow cases, towels, T's etc from numerous suppliers.


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