# The Quest for Eco-Friendly "Green" Heat transfers



## Majestic Leper (Jun 24, 2007)

Good tidings all you T-Shirt peeps,

Let's talk about going green for a minute.

I live and work in a a lil' city in central NY called Ithaca. If you've never heard of it: Cornell University, hippies, Ithaca College, democrats, etc. (liberal does not begin to describe what goes on here)

So, I just up and start me a t-shirt business, you know the basic setup. Heat transfer setup, vinyl cutter...

I need a way to provide eco-friendly printing for my thing to work, and EVERYBODY in this industry should be doing there best to do the same. Now, I know how to find all the organic whatever-you-want blanks, my quest has brought me to the messy task of decorating these things!

So: Does anybody know where I can get custom made heat transfers that are NOT plastisol, but some environmentally friendly thing instead?

And also, what is everybody else doing to "Green" up?


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

Wilflex offers Pthalate (spelling) free plastisol ink. That is a step in the right direction for going green while still keeping plastisol an option. You would have to find a printer who is willing to buy the ink (can be easily 120 a gallon) and make the transfers for you. Wears and washes and looks the same, just more green, both environmentally and economically, cause it costs you more money.

I'd start by calling local screenprinters and asking them what they can do for you.


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## mrdavid (Sep 14, 2007)

*Green-e Certified Heat Transfer Papers by Neenah Paper*


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## gmille39 (Oct 18, 2006)

Majestic Leper said:


> Good tidings all you T-Shirt peeps,
> 
> Let's talk about going green for a minute.
> 
> ...


I recycle everything I can and changed out every light bulb on the inside and outside the house.


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## Majestic Leper (Jun 24, 2007)

Well I just might get my hands dirty and start screenprinting myself then, if that's the way to get wicked green.

Peace out dooodz. And dooodetz.

MJ


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## Ecoprintstudio (May 12, 2018)

How did you go with this?

I'm on the same quest. 

I use Permaset inks and Rhinoscreen for my stencil, so no emulsion needed. I'm only young too so my designs are far more simple than people doing it for years so not sure how I'll go with my setup once I move into more intricate designs. 

Based in Oz, it has been alot of researching to get this far!


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

Ecoprintstudio said:


> How did you go with this?
> 
> I'm on the same quest.
> 
> ...


you can see his post was from Dec 14, 2007 11:50:28AM

So you can imagine how his green enthusiasm evolved...


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## Ecoprintstudio (May 12, 2018)

It's a shame it's so difficult hey.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Just remember that a t-shirt is not a single use item. Every time you wash it, you are actually recycling it, so longevity is an important factor to consider. 

A bit more detail in this related thread https://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t865325.html


The recent "non-phthalate" trend in plastisol inks, is in relation to the plasticizers used, but in reality the newer "epoxidized soybean oil" based plasticizers are also toxic. However, the term toxic by itself does not mean anything, because pretty much everything is toxic in certain concentrations. It's a complicated subject and most of the info given by marketing people is deceiving. My product is better/safer than yours (until proven wrong) type of thing.


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