# printing on 100% polyester using anajet?



## gotto (Sep 17, 2008)

hello, there is a school that would like for me to print their gym shorts, is there anyway to print on 100% polyester with an anajet printer?..any tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance


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## Robert72 (Aug 12, 2006)

*Re: printing on 100% polyester?*

Ask Dan at DTG Inks - Home . I think it has the knowledge and the ink to print on 100% poly.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

*Re: printing on 100% polyester?*

Yep there have been a couple of people that have done it, but with the dtg inks, not the dupont. Although I would say no it will not work. I have not seen anyone have success with dupont ink on 100% poly, which is what ink anajet uses. Sorry


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## Robert72 (Aug 12, 2006)

*Re: printing on 100% polyester?*

Yep, but cannot you swap the anajet cartridges for refillable cartridges? If so, you can put DTGinks on the Anajet, and save some good dollars at same time.


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## adrenaline (Aug 1, 2008)

*Re: printing on 100% polyester?*

If they are a light coloured shirt, I would Die Sub them, Cheaper, faster and you will have no probs with it at all.


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## Goat (Aug 7, 2008)

any luck with printing on polyester if so could you pass it on thanks goat as i also have the anajet printer


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Why not buy a couple and try? Can't hurt.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Yep, if yodan's DTG inks could work on light 100% polyester, I would think that Dupont's ink should work also?


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

In my opinion, the reason why dtg printing on dark polyester does not work is the hand that results from pretreatment and multiple layers of ink on the polyester (which is usually very soft). It alters the customer's expectation of how the shirt should feel.

I have heard of several tricks (flash curing the shirt longer, opening the press more,...) to curing CMYK ink on polyester and none of them are that great for production runs. The curing of the white ink can be challenging to do on cotton to get a good wash test, it is even harder to do on polyester. The large amount of technical support that would arise if the manufacturers and distributors start promoting the printing on polyester is probably not worth it.

Just my opinion,

Mark


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Ken's thread on the Kornit forum have some discussions about Kornit coming up with a special ink and some software modifications to print on 100% polyester, light and dark fabrics.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

The Kornit ink and pretreatment solution is much different than Dupont white ink and pretreatment. I did hear some positive things from someone that saw a sample of the Kornit ink on polyester. But since the original post referred to printing polyester on the Anajet, I assumed everyone was talking about Dupont / AnaBright ink. I guess time will tell if the Kornit ink really is a good solution for pinting on polyester. If so, dye sublimation might not be as popular.


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Yes, I agree Mark. The Kornit printheads maybe could handle "thicker ink" better than the Epson based printheads of the Anajet and the others.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

vctradingcubao said:


> Ken's thread on the Kornit forum have some discussions about Kornit coming up with a special ink and some software modifications to print on 100% polyester, light and dark fabrics.


I had read that the ink was not special at all, but the same ink used on other garments.


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## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

ink same, different profile to make it work is how I read it to


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## vctradingcubao (Nov 15, 2006)

Thanks for the update. That's even better for the machine if the ink is the same.


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

*Re: printing on 100% polyester?*



Robert72 said:


> Ask Dan at DTG Inks - Home . I think it has the knowledge and the ink to print on 100% poly.


I have printed DTGInks without pretreatment on polyester- they look pretty good and wash well, not as vibrant as on 100% cotton, but good.

The basic procedure for polyester is to print two very light ink layers as opposed to one heavy layer. Leave a short dry time in between ( some people apply heat in between layers). Cure normally, 60 seconds at 350F. Some people like to open the press at 30 seconds to allow steam to escape and the fabric to cool.

The DTGInks and DuPont inks are not the same formula so I don't know whether the DuPont would work. Has someone tried it and can report? 

Caveat: not all polyester fabrics are the same, so they don't take the heat and the ink the same. Each type of garment must be tested individually. The method can be adjusted slightly in several ways to improve results on individual fabrics. I have had successes and failures on polyester depending on the garment and the fine tuning I have done to the printing procedure. The failures had to do with too much ink in a single layer wicking into the fabric to leave a blurry edge. The colors still looked and washed well, even then, on the shirts I have printed.


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

I would be willing to mail a sample that I did on 100% polyester out to someone as long as that someone mails it out to someone else and they hopefully keep it moving so that others can see the colors and wash-ability. A report from those users would also be nice and also so that I can see where that sample currently is.
LMK
Dan


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