# Dtg Inks For Dark Garments



## TRULY (Oct 12, 2006)

Does anyone know of any inks for printing in dark garments for DTG printing ? 
I have knowledge of the Dupont, Fast ink , Fastink2 ,Arakis textile ink , FABu-Last-INKs ,Flexi-Jet .
Do you know of any other brands of the same type of inks?
What problems can arise from using these inks in production?(details)
I’ have an Epson 4800 based machine .Do you know what printing inks are better , and with lower cost ?


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## TahoeTomahawk (Apr 12, 2006)

NanoJet and Rumenhof(spelling?) inks are also repackaged for various DTG machines.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

From what I know, there are only about 5 main ink manufacturers for DTGs.
- Dupont
- Romenhaus (??)
- Nanojet
- Brother
- Kornit

Several of the DTG manufacturers just private label the ink of one of the ones listed above. Not sure if Brother or Kornit do any private labeling. Most of the companies use Dupont or Romenhaus (??) ink. It might be real tough to purchase directly from these companies though. Good luck.

Mark


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Mark,

You put together a pretty good list there. I'm not yet convinced that Brother or Kronit makes there own inks, they most likely OEM them as well.  You did miss at least 4-5 other manufacturers (at 3 of which I have had contact with). Point of note - Nanojet does not manufacture ink, they formulate it and it is manufactured by a third party. The only proven white solution is DuPont - though a couple others do have a white. And, no, the major ink manufacturers will not sell direct to you, besides - do you really need 18-20 liters of a given color at a time? If so, let's talk, I may have a special discount level for you if you pruchase in that volume!

Push come to shove, virtually all of these manufacturers are going to require something like $10K initial order for ink! That's a lot of ink!

More will enter the marketplace as we continue to grow - BASF, Kimberly, etc...

It's gonna be a wild ride for a while

Happy Printing

Don
SWF East

"I ink, therefore I am!"


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## TRULY (Oct 12, 2006)

Thank you for your participation. I have heard that many companies are on the final tests to produce and sell inks for dark garments such as LECHLER S.P.A. , BASF and Lyson. 
I think that 20 litres of ink per color are too much for just one Epson 4800. 
I think it's better to buy small amount of ink (1-2 lt per color a time) from an OEM than from a private label distributor because pigment ink have too short expiration time before it become useless. 
Is it so important that some companies suggest using the whole ink within about 4 months? 

A sum of ink labels that are mentioned in this thread .

Dupont 
BASF
Brother
Nanojet
LECHLER S.P.A. (Manoukian) 
Lyson 
Fastink2 
FABu-Last-INKs 
Flexi-Jet 
Arakis textile ink 
Kornit 
Kimberly 
etc... 

Please if anyone knows about Romenhaus or Rumenhof (maybe it’s a misspelling) inform us. 

John


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

i print using the t-jet2 jumbo, which uses fastink2. the white ink for this particular machine is amazingly a bright white


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Hi Deana,

Yes, USSPIT (T-Jet people) use the DuPont white ink like ourselves and a couple of other distributors.


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## Simon Nanojet (Oct 25, 2006)

Don-SWF East said:


> Mark,
> 
> Point of note - Nanojet does not manufacture ink, they formulate it and it is manufactured by a third party. The only proven white solution is DuPont - though a couple others do have a white. And, no, the major ink manufacturers will not sell direct to you, besides - do you really need 18-20 liters of a given color at a time? If so, let's talk, I may have a special discount level for you if you pruchase in that volume!
> 
> ...


Just to set the record straight here Nanojet Ink is very much a manufacturer of inkjet inks. All of our products are made from the principal raw ingredients in our manufacturing facility in the UK. Nanojet Ink sells a large quantity of ink worldwide and to our customers it is very much a proven solution.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Simon,

I am not here to start an argument on this matter, but I believe it was you who told me in an email that your company only consisted of 5 or 6 employees (2 of which were doctorates if I remember right). Am I mistaken about this?


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## Simon Nanojet (Oct 25, 2006)

Don
The last thing I want to do is re-hash old arguments with you but it is purely an assumption on your part that we don't manufacture. It is correct that we are a fairly small company with two doctorates on staff (neither of who is afraid to get their hands dirty) but in what way does that make us incapable of manufacture? This just allows us to be a dynamic and modern company at the forfront of technology. In fact we believe it is somewhat an advantage to have a tight core team of staff. This means that every member of the team is fully trained in every aspect of the manufacture and that the process can be tracked and monitored extremely closely. This makes us a very adaptable and we have been known to sort out specific issues for specific customers within days where other manufacturers would take weeks and even months to decide whether it is worth their while or not. It is being a smaller company (and I mean "small" in terms of personnel numbers only) that allows us to provide a very personal service to each and every customer.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Simon,

Fair enough, won't be brought up again.

Quick question on the "equipment issue". Are you indeed selling hardware? And if so, there is a picture of a DTG Kiosk on your website, have you become a dealer for YES/Impression Technology Europe?

Thanks

Don


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## Simon Nanojet (Oct 25, 2006)

Don
At this current time we are not selling any hardware solutions. We are often approached to give machine recommendations and as such have done a significant amount of beta testing. The image appearing on our website is purely as an indication as to the type of hardware solution available. However I should say that we have been testing our inks on a DTG Kiosk supplied to us by Impression Technologies basically since it's inception, working with them on several improvements to the machine. Nanojet have had no problem recommending it as a very good printer. In fact we have been running a Kiosk using Nanojet inks for the best part of 10 months every day and have not had any clogged nozzles, have never replaced a head or changed dampers.


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## Brian (May 18, 2007)

Simon, would you recommend switching from Dupont inks to Nanojet in a Flexijet printer, and what process would you suggest using to clear the lines and print head before loading Nanojet inks?
1. Are there distributors in the US or the Caribbean?
Brian
Jamaica


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Brian, let me step in here. If you do use "other" inks, you should be aware that different ink might need different "profiles" to make sure that the colors intended are infact the ones printed. If you use RGB and a profile is used, you may have to target colors to have them print as you would like. If you can send CMYK directly to your machine, you could change your visual (Monitor) gamut to match what you need on the printer side. What I'm saying, is that manufacturers of machines will have profiles based on "their" ink, so if you switch brands...you may have to adjust a little to get accepable results. I wouldn't recomend using CMYK from one and White from another (Rohm and Haas and Dupont for instance).


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

Ian - kiosk users actually mix ink types. I do it every day.

Brian - as of last month there were no Nano distributors in the US.


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

Printzilla said:


> Ian - kiosk users actually mix ink types. I do it every day.
> 
> Brian - as of last month there were no Nano distributors in the US.


Thanks Marc, that's good to know. Do you send RGB or CMYK to the printer driver?


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## Brian (May 18, 2007)

So if one wants to try their inks how does one go about getting it to buy?
Anyone knows?


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## Printzilla (Mar 22, 2007)

I send RGB. I find that CMYK for some reason does not translate as well.


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## Creations (Mar 3, 2008)

zoom_monster said:


> Brian, let me step in here. If you do use "other" inks,... I wouldn't recomend using CMYK from one and White from another (Rohm and Haas and Dupont for instance).


SO... i can buy white ink from Dupont if I buy 18-20 liters.okay we might use that...
1.)Does Dupont manufacturer colors? 
2.)What CMYK combo works best with t Jet profile, and Dupont white?? 
3.)Any one have any first hand experiences trying to create profiles for "mixed" ink ?any harder than sublimation profiles?

I'm Crazy i know.
Bryan


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Bryan,

Dupont only sells ink to OEM manufacturers (US Screen, DTG, Anajet,...). Unless you manufacture a dtg printer that is commercially sold, you are not going to buy direct from Dupont unless the rules have changed. This is how Dupont is able to protect their distribution chain and keep their distributors happy.

Sorry to be one to give you the bad news.

Mark


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## Creations (Mar 3, 2008)

don SWF already broke the news.


Don-SWF East said:


> ...
> The only proven white solution is DuPont - though a couple others do have a white. And, no, the major ink manufacturers will not sell direct to you, besides - do you really need 18-20 liters of a given color at a time? If so, let's talk, I may have a special discount level for you if you pruchase in that volume!
> 
> Push come to shove, virtually all of these manufacturers are going to require something like $10K initial order for ink! That's a lot of ink!


But it's my job to reduce cost of production...this is a huge cost.i think it is worth knocking on some doors, and asking some questions.I am not trying to bypass the distributors I understand the hierarchy, but I have to find a better solution.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Good luck with your mission. I do wish you the best, but I also understand all to well how this works in our industry (since I am someone that distributes products through distributors in this industry). Let us know how it turns out.


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

Creations said:


> 2.)What CMYK combo works best with t Jet profile, and Dupont white??
> 3.)Any one have any first hand experiences trying to create profiles for "mixed" ink ?any harder than sublimation profiles?
> 
> I'm Crazy i know.
> Bryan


I had been using Rohm and Haas and now switched to dtginks- in part because of R & H being discontinued- in part price ($215 a liter) - and in part my wash test 
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t35996.html#post210931
that showed great washability. I do not use white ink - but it is compatible with DuPont white. As far as profiles, I'll post a picture if I can of a color chart comparison I printed for myself to help me select colors with my new inks.


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## Creations (Mar 3, 2008)

maybe if some end users band together we can force the end of this ink monopoly.LOL

thanks guys, i have to go put new lines /dampers in now...
I will keep forums posted of my progress if any...


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Thread note:*Some posts were moved out of this thread because we do not allow self promotion/advertising/sales posts in the forum threads. Any questions, please feel free to send me a PM or email.​


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Dupont will starting to sell the ink which can print on poly and cotton. it will be a big break!!!! Sublimation? no more!!!! too many steps. they will come in my test lab soon. I will keep posting about result. I am in philly and they are in Delaware 20 minutes. thank god.
can you see? 50/50 or hockey uniform or any other sport outfit? I better start color profile asap!!! on Flexi jet. Call Fred!!!!


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Peter,

Please don't try to infer that sublimation will go away just because an ink manufacturer comes out with a dtg ink that holds to polyester fabric. Sublimation goes well beyond just fabric and you know that. You are also aware that there are already direct sublimation ink out there (i.e. SubliM). Yes, a dtg ink that will hold to a 50/50 shirt without the use of pretreatment is a good step for dtg printing. But the hand and wash capability that sublimation gives is the top of the line for polyester fabric.

Mark


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