# Iron-on transfers, like at the jersey shore/pre-designed images with customization by customer



## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

I have a few questions - I hope I'm on the right board.

The iron-on transfers that are sold in all the stores at the shore - are they manufactured by one company? I am not a printer, if I wanted to design my own iron-ons, would I bring the idea to a printer and have them print it up, or is direct to garment printing the way to go? 

A few years back, I had an idea to create a retail store for tweens where they could create custom shirts. I tested out the theory over a year with stencils, fabric paint, accessories etc. but I just never moved on it. 

Now, Fashionology has become a success story, with the same idea that I had. However, it was founded by two fashionista socialites with access to fashion icons as their mentors and the Disney Imagineer team to create the software and store layout. 

Now that my bitter rant is over, a retail space just opened up across from the middle school in town, and I think that this would be a great location to open up this type of business. 

I don't know anything about transfers or direct to garment printing.

All help will be very much appreciated.

Cheryl


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Most of the transfers done by the tourist t-shirt shops are purchased from large companies that have 1,000's of designs for sale. Here is some sources

Iron-On Transfers, Heat Press Machines, T-Shirt Printing Supplies - Pro World
Wholesale Heat Transfers | Heat Transfer Designs | T-shirt Heat Transfers
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/p77679-post3.html

Some do custom work, most have stock transfers for sale too.

Direct to garment will give you the most versatillity, but the machines are expensive. When it's all said and done, expect to pay $20,000+. That vs. a $1,000 heat press and $1+ per transfer.


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

So if I wanted to offer around one or two dozen design choices and then the customization part would be to add the bling, it would be best to get the stock iron-ons? Fashionology is located on a main drag in LA. Their base shirts go for $45, once some bling is added, the shirts average around $100. With today's economy and blank shirt options out there, I believe this can be made more affordable. My daughter (15) loves the idea. I would like to appeal to the boys as well, (my son(12) says to just stock the store with candy and Red Bull), any guys out there think that middle school boys would like to customize shirts, or is that just a girl thing?

Cheryl


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Where are you located in NJ? There are several NJ people on the board with DTG printers (myself included).

You can check out Pro World or Air Waves, they carry a lot of the designs you see down the shore.


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

Hi Ted

I am in North Jersey - Franklin Lakes. But, I would need the designs in the store for the kids to choose for their shirts, unless I pre-printed the shirts and let them just add the bling.......

Cheryl


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## Leatherneck (Jan 18, 2008)

cherrus said:


> So if I wanted to offer around one or two dozen design choices and then the customization part would be to add the bling, it would be best to get the stock iron-ons? Fashionology is located on a main drag in LA. Their base shirts go for $45, once some bling is added, the shirts average around $100. With today's economy and blank shirt options out there, I believe this can be made more affordable. My daughter (15) loves the idea. I would like to appeal to the boys as well, (my son(12) says to just stock the store with candy and Red Bull), any guys out there think that middle school boys would like to customize shirts, or is that just a girl thing?
> 
> Cheryl


 I have a couple of young men in my family who are middle school age. I have asked them about the garments I offer. Always looking for ways to market to new demographics . They have both expressed a desire to personalize garments. So yes from experience I would say there are middle school aged boys who would be interested in it. I hope this helps.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

I am seeing, yes, more bling even on boys. On American Idol last week, Randy's shirt was full of rhinestones. I recently saw an Ironman shirt with white glitter around the "punch" area to show motion, and the boys all want that shirt. Foil is popular with boys now... things are moving along. I would say - from how I see the young men in my family, and their friends, dress - bling and customization is as popular - or more popular - than ever. 

My one newphew customized some Nike sneakers online, for $100. He was able to choose whatever colors and designs he wanted... he paid for them out of his own money. That is pretty important to me, it shows how much he wanted these custom sneakers. 

Hope this helps.... 

For the transfers, you got some great sources. I think if you look up stock transfers, you'll find even more sources.

The thing with the DTG is, you'll need a file to print from. Do you mean you want to let the kids actually create art, like in Corel, and then send it to the DTG printer for them?


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

I originally wanted them to create the art, but I don't think that it would work logistically. It would take up too much time. So, then I thought if I created the designs for DTG, like custom heat transfers and had a variety of them to choose from, that would be a better option. Looking at the recommended sites, it looks like I could customize the transfers. I didn't look into the costs. Which method is more durable?

Cheryl


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

All the print methods are pretty durable these days, if you use the right products. Some are more durable than others. 

DTG, vinyl, plastisol, stock transfers... all of them, if good products, are durable... laser transfer, inkjet transfers... again, with the right products... durable. The least durable product for custom or one off's are the dark paper heat transfers. 

What you use will depend on exactly what you have in mind, and your price point, both for your budget and the price point you plan to sell shirts at.

For teen girls shirts, you could easily pick up a vinyl cutter for a few hundred dollars, get a subscription to clipart.com for a few bucks (they say they have vinyl ready clipart on the site, I have yet to try it, but I plan to) buy some glitter vinyl and let them add their own words to clip art, that you design really quick, and send to the cutter and press it for them. 

Let them order custom rhinestone sayings and art from you. 

Have some cute stock transfers ready and on hand for the less creative types.

Keep a cheap epson printer on hand, and some JPSS and let them bring you pictures to print out and put on shirts for them.

There are myriad ways to capitalize on that market... they are all looking for something special and unique.

Which way you choose to go about it depends more on your budget and skill set. 

I wish you luck. You'll do great once you figure out what you want to do. Kids really have oodles of spending power that their parents usually don't even have (because they are spending it on the kids!)


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Well, I've seen bling in the form of the hotfix rhinestones, and I have a bedazzler. Imo, there is no comparison. The bedazzler bling (adding rhinestones or decorations) is not as good. The bedazzler rhinestones have little metal prongs on the back of the stone, and it "grabs" and "pulls" at the garmet. The hotfix rhinestones can be applied one at a time, with a wand that heats up, or with a heat press.

I believe part of the experience could be letting the teens place the stones on the mylar tape (the sticky tape that 'carries' the stones to the garment) themselves. Kind of like a hands on experience that they pay for. Like when they were younger and went to Build-a-bear. They stuffed and decorated their own bear, and mom and dad paid dearly for that experience.. I think the rhinestone bling building their own shirt could be parlayed over from that, and done successfully. 

I believe, but am not certain without looking back, that people have used JPSS (jetpro sofstretch) with hot fix rhinestones... so needing a DTG print is not necessarily the only route.


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

I have the hotfix and tested it out with my daughter and her friends - we experimented with everything: fabric paint, stencils, embroidered iron-ons and patches, sewing on ribbons etc. Funny you should say Build-A-Bear, that was what I was thinking as well, or Color Me Mine Ceramic Studio - it's the whole hands-on take ownership approach. 

The space that I am looking at which just became available, is located right across from the middle school in a small strip mall that houses a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins, Pizza place and Chinese food and a Quick-Mart. The kids all hang out their after school. However, the space that became available is 1335 sf, at $3250 per month, and I would have to personally sign a 10 year lease, which I think is way over the top during this economy.

I have never used any form of printing or heat press, I don't even know what JPPS is.

I would LOVE to have the kids use an art program with pre-made designs that could be tweaked to add their personal style, but don't know how cost efficient that would be in comparison to having custom heat transfers created. 

Cheryl


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Found the pics. 
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tf-lounge/t64589.html#post382900

This thread shows great examples of DTG shirts with rhinestones added, AND it shows great pics of JPSS (Jetpro sofstretch inkjet heat transfer paper) with rhinestones added. 

The first pics are DTG/w r-stones, by Sunnydayz... and on pages 3 and 4 are the JPSS/w r-stone pics done by Dynamicdesynz.

Enjoy!  They are nice pics.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

cherrus said:


> I have the hotfix and tested it out with my daughter and her friends - we experimented with everything: fabric paint, stencils, embroidered iron-ons and patches, sewing on ribbons etc. Funny you should say Build-A-Bear, that was what I was thinking as well, or Color Me Mine Ceramic Studio - it's the whole hands-on take ownership approach.


Hahaa... that is great... I even feel better knowing you were thinking along that model. It's a confirmation that it feels right. You actually have me thinking of my local area, and the void for something like this...

but.......




> The space that I am looking at .... is 1335 sf, at $3250 per month, and I would have to personally sign a 10 year lease ....


Wow, that is enough to make me wince just reading it. That's a big step to come out of the starting gate with. I hope you are able to find a better solution for a location. I used to live in Jersey, and am aware of where you live. I hope you can find something that works into the plan with a bit more comfort factor than that.

That is actually a huge lease... 10 years. Wow.



> I have never used any form of printing or heat press, I don't even know what JPPS is.


It is a heat press paper that you print using a cheap Epson inkjet printer. Proworld was recently running a special for forum members... 100 sheets, $39. Great deal. As you can see, price per sheet at that rate is extremely affordable.

You could put more money into your blank at that price, if you wanted to.

You could always order a sample pack from someone like tshirtsupplies.com, or coastal business, alpha supply. 

JPSS works with the regular dye ink in my Canon printer, unlike other heat transfer paper that will fade if you don't use pigment ink... so if you have an inkjet printer, you just need a sample pack to try it out.

You can use an iron to apply JPSS, you don't have to have a heat press to apply it, again, unlike some other papers, that can only be applied with a press.

It takes some good elbow work, and putting your back in it, but applying with an iron can be done successfully, especially to just test the paper.

Do you have a heat press already? Sorry, I can't remember back to the first post. Since you already applied hotfix stones, maybe you do... 

Okay, sorry for any extra info - if you already have the press - but I think you have a fab idea.




> I would LOVE to have the kids use an art program with pre-made designs that could be tweaked to add their personal style, but don't know how cost efficient that would be in comparison to having custom heat transfers created.
> 
> Cheryl


 
Honestly, if your budget allowed, you could toss a couple of laptops out at tables and let the kids sit and design, sell them soft drinks and snacks, let them stay a while...etc, and send their files to print.. haha. You'd be a one woman youth center almost! 

Well, even if you let them pick from some stock "basic" designs that you have, and allow them to ask you to embelish them further, I still think you have a great avenue to persue.

If you do follow up on your plans/ideas, I hope to hear how things went for you over time... 

All the best to you, Kelly =)


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

I remember looking at that post at the beginning and seeing the cupcake design, but I never followed the post to the end, because at the time I wasn't thinking about this type of printing. It was a great design.

Last year I attended ISS at Atlantic City. Are there manufacturers at the show that offer these type of presses and stuff? 

If I had a heat press, then I could just use that to adhere the rhinestones, rather than doing them individually by hand with my hotfix wand?

Cheryl


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

I do believe you can buy floor models, etc at the AC ISS show, too. I know people were talking about what they bought at ISS LB. I think you can do this at all the shows. I think looking at the past ISS threads in that section will show what people have done, or just ask if you can at every show. There's a thread for the ISS AC 2009 show, I'm sure some of these folks have been to ISS AC before, and they'll know what happens at this particular show. 

Here's a link:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/offline-retail-tradeshows/t74901.html


If you have a heat press, you sure can apply the hotfix stones with the press.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Cheryl, take a look at rplsupplies.com - they are located in Garfield which isn't very far from you. He deals mainly in dye-sublimation but he also has some heat press items as well as heat presses for sale. Nice thing is you can save a ton of money picking up instead of shipping...

Dye sub might be an option for you - have the kids play with the program, print and then press onto aprons, mouse pads, etc.... Once you have the press, you could also use it for rhinestones, heat press vinyl, etc...

With ISS coming up, that would also be a good place to pick up a demo heat press...


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

Kelly,

Too bad you're no longer in Jersey, we could have worked on this venture together....

Ted, I went to a workshop last year at ISS, it was to discuss performance wear - that was my focus last year....anyway, Chris Bernat spoke a lot about die sub, but I wasn't paying close attention to the process. I just remember that Epson printers were used. But I thought it could only be used on polyester and it was very tricky using the dyes. Given the interaction with kids, I would need to minimize the complication, the mess and the learning curve.

Cheryl


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## Leatherneck (Jan 18, 2008)

I agree with Kelly. I think you have a very good idea going here. The ten year lease all I can say is wow your right that is rather long. I hope you are able to find something that will suffice. Kids of all ages are always looking for ways to "identify" themselves or to be unique. What you are proposing would be an excellent way to do just that. I would think if you saw fit down the road you could offer more than tricked out garments . Perhaps the above mentioned mousepads or other items. Good luck!


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Cheryl, I think if you focus on one area to start, it might be easier to decide on a direction. You can offer existing printed designs with nothing more than a heat press. You can also have custom designs made with plastisol from a number of vendors - they screen print the designs onto a transfer paper and send them to you, you then simply heat press them onto the garment. Easy, no mess and not very expensive if you buy in quantities of 24 or higher.

If you want to do print on demand, there are a lot of options all depending on the price level you are looking for. Dye sub only works on polyester, DTG or chromablast will will work on cotton. A number of vendors have the Epson 4880 setup with dye-sub inks on one side and chromablast on the other so 1 printer can do both cotton and polyester.

Lots of options, just need to decide which direction to start


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

Ted,

I think that having been an art major my brain just loves coming up with ideas, and the more I learn about my options, the more compelled I feel to learn how to execute them. It is hard to take baby steps. But for me, perhaps the best route is to have stock transfers, or custom designs from plastisol. Once I get into DTG or Sublimation, don't I need to know how to dispose of inks properly and have adequate ventilation etc. My concept is the personalization of the shirts, I think maybe I should focus on the base ideas used for the heat transfers and the accessories added to customize the shirt.

Cheryl


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## HRClothes (Jan 19, 2009)

Hey Cheryl,
I am very fond of Heat pressing myself. I just think its a bit easier to start up! I have my own artist that makes designs for me! But I think buying designs from somebody I think is a good idea. I am 24 and I think heat pressing can give an easy and high quality product. I do not know about DTG but I did not have 12-20 thousand dollars. I got my press for 800 and its digital and for christmas and my b-day I got an epson printer and a computer, I am ready for business already. I think doing heat pressing would be more affordable to start with. Maybe have your daughter help you. I see it to be more fun the having something go through a dtg printer! And eventually you can do custom shirt for local bands in jersey. Get a vinyl cutter hook it up to your computer but out vinyl and press it to shirts for them. Thats what im doing, aswell as Silk screening. Hope my input helped....

Bobby


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Cheryl, I don't think you really need to deal with fumes or ink disposal with either DTG or dye-sub. I have both and neither generate any fumes that I've noticed. I've had my DTG running for about 3 weeks and it generated about half of a bottle of waste ink. I've got it saved in a 2 liter bottle until I find out what the correct way to dispose of it is. I don't think it will be an issue...

Not trying to confuse you, hopefully I'm just giving you some options  If you happen to be in this area some weekend, let me know, I can show you our setup in our basement.


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## cherrus (Nov 2, 2007)

Bobby,

So you bought the computer and printer so you can make our own designs and use it with the vinyl cutter? 

I think I should head back to ISS in Atlantic city in March.

Ted, I may take you up on your offer to visit.

Cheryl


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## HRClothes (Jan 19, 2009)

cherrus said:


> Bobby,
> 
> So you bought the computer and printer so you can make our own designs and use it with the vinyl cutter?
> 
> ...


I bought it to make designs on transfer paper, I am about to invest into a vinyl cutter.. I really like transfers alot... I Think its an inexpensive way to start! I dunno about you but I do not have about $12-$20 grand at my disposal. I think its the best way to start and get to know things!


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## srabadan (Sep 17, 2008)

If those kids at the middle school are your target market you may have yourself a fickle customer. You might want to think about adding a 4 or 6 color screen print press also and try to get some work from the school itself (bigger pockets). I think you might have yourself a good idea there though I know Franklin Lakes and that's a wealthy area I bet the school district does a lot of printing and could be a good customer. The screen print show next month in AC would be a great place to do some research. 

They gave away a DTG shirt as a promo when I went 2 years ago, I have washed it hundreds of times over the years and I can't believe how great it has stood up. I am excited to see what's there this year.


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