# *** Printing on triblends ***



## juststarting33 (Sep 12, 2016)

Hi, 
I want to print my designs DTG on black triblend shirts.
There always seems to be a debate, its not possible, it is possible, etc.

I have gotten dtg designs from multiple printers and am now looking to possibly buying my own machine. 

I printed on tri blends and on 65/35 polyester/viscose shirts. The people I have gotten them done by before, most weren't good- lost the vibrant colors on curing or washing. 1-2 printers were pretty good! 
I tried getting it out of them how they did it and of course won't say! hahah


my question is... based on your experience 
what printer
pre treat liquid and method
curing method

has gotten you the best results on tri blends or ton 65/35 polyester/viscose ?

I have seen some pre treats sold made specifically for shirts other than 100% cotton. does this help? 

I noticed one guy that used the DTG brand printer seemed like better work.

thoughts? 

thank you in advance!

check this guy out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm26VSd4LeI


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

wash durability is not so much the printer as it is the inks/pretreat they are using. i use DuPont inks and Image Armour pretreat. my prints on tri-blends look great, but the truth is that they will not last as long in the wash. i don't lose color vibrancy, but the white ink will break down quicker than the same print on 100% cotton. 

that being said, i know that Image Armour INKS do a better job on poly, so wash results might be a lot better with that ink set.


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## rklovestruck (May 1, 2015)

We have had some luck printing on triblends. I prefer non underbase printing on triblends and dark inks on light garments seem to stick longer since it is a dye. When using pretreat (the pretreat is VERY visible) and with underbase, the colors are less vibrant/dull and the whites usually take on the color of the garment. I mean it makes sense, the DTG inks stick to cotton and not the rest.


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## juststarting33 (Sep 12, 2016)

23spiderman- how do you cure them so they don't lose color vibrancy? Anything you can add while curing to retain color and and hold up on washing? 
Armour INKS are probably a lot more expensive right?

rklovestruck- when you print on dark you don't use a white underbase?


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## bakedts (Jan 15, 2014)

We print on triblends all the time. We use Lawson Magicspray pretreat. We use less treatment on the triblends than on regular shirts but we double treat (lightest treatment setting on automatic pretreat machine, dry, treat again on lightest setting, dry and print). We have much better results with our F2000 than we did with our DTG Brand printer with DuPont inks. We cure using Teflon on the print which works better than kraft paper did. Still not as vibrant as 100% ringspun but still pretty good. Pure white has a greyish tint on charcoal and black triblends. Washes same as cotton as long as it is washed inside out with cold water.


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## juststarting33 (Sep 12, 2016)

Hi bakedts,
thank you for that great response!
Lawson pretreat can only be used with Epson printer correct?


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## bakedts (Jan 15, 2014)

It can be used on DuPont inks as well. We used it on our DTG brand printer. It is similar to Firebird treatment which we also had good results with. We tried image armor but did not find it to be as flexible and consistent with the variety of shirts we print.


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

i get bright white prints before and after cure with Image Armour Ultra pretreat and DuPont inks. they just don't have the same longevity as a 100% cotton shirt after 15 or more washes. however, i haven't printed a tri-blend for me in quite a while, so I may try one and see if it does better. there was a tweak to the IA Ultra pretreat awhile back, and don't remember if my last shirt was printed before or after the tweak. i only have one customer that keeps ordering them, so it's not a big concern.


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## juststarting33 (Sep 12, 2016)

question on curing for triblends and poly/rayon blends

what is the best temperature setting?

how long to press?

and what to use? Kraft teflon?

thank you in advance


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