# DTG printing on golf towels



## kinzie (Jun 2, 2014)

I've seen the post from a few years back printing on towels with a Brother machine and they look great:

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/brother/t100204.html#post2164258

Wondered if anybody else who has done lots of towel printing could share advice on this. Two questions.

1. Does one particular brand of machine work better than another for printing towels?
2. How are you curing the towels? I'm afraid using a heat press will smash the terry fabric.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

kinzie said:


> I've seen the post from a few years back printing on towels with a Brother machine and they look great:
> 
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/brother/t100204.html#post2164258
> 
> ...




A major advantage that direct to garment printing has for printing towels is that dtg printers use water based inks. This leaves a no hand feel for the print on the towels. Most textile screen printers use plastisol ink which leaves an almost sandpaper feel on a towel. Not the feeling most customers want to have. 

A hot air conveyor dryer is the ideal way to heat set the ink on towels. Obviously no smashing then.

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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I recommend to dtg printers to towels and other non-t-shirt products all the time. Just did a seminar on this at the Indy show. We heat press the towels all the time. The terry side comes back with a quick wash. You don't really need a lot of pressure either. So you can cure using a conveyor dryer or a heat press. 

If you go with a conveyor dryer, make sure you get samples and the exact details (i.e. dwell time, temperature, what dryer model,...) was used so you know exactly what you need and how to reproduce it. Due to the differences in inks, some dtg printer models require a specific type or size of dryer - which may be more than you are willing to spend. Others will require 240 volt electricity - which you may have to pay an electrician to install. Whatever you are told, get it in writing. This will help ensure you can reproduce the results should you go that route.

Best wishes,

Mark


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

kinzie said:


> I've seen the post from a few years back printing on towels with a Brother machine and they look great:
> 
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/brother/t100204.html#post2164258
> 
> ...





Any direct to garment printer brand should be able to do towels.

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## tchandler52 (Sep 17, 2012)

I think I am also going to try this also.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

tchandler52 said:


> I think I am also going to try this also.



If you use the right towels (smooth nape) they really come out great and have no feel (hand) on the ink.

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## synful prod (Apr 27, 2011)

we do light colored golf towels with full color print all the time on our DTG with great results and very happy customers. Even with the cheaper $1 a piece fringed edge towels with some small nap we get great printing results. most customers could care less about a little nap on the towel affecting the end result. it only alters the image slightly if the nap lays the other direction. We pretreat and press as normal and done. 

here are some of my own promo items i printed when i had an event. both the shirts and towels were printed on the dtg machine. The cd's on a dif machine.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

synful prod said:


> we do light colored golf towels with full color print all the time on our DTG with great results and very happy customers. Even with the cheaper $1 a piece fringed edge towels with some small nap we get great printing results. most customers could care less about a little nap on the towel affecting the end result. it only alters the image slightly if the nap lays the other direction. We pretreat and press as normal and done.
> 
> here are some of my own promo items i printed when i had an event. both the shirts and towels were printed on the dtg machine. The cd's on a dif machine.




Very nice. And there should be no hand (ink feel) on the print on the towels. That is one major advantage direct to garment printers have over textile screen printers. For the most part screen printers would use plastisol ink which gives almost a sandpaper feel to the print. Not the type of feel you want on a towel.
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## Jmelwak (Oct 23, 2013)

Are the towels cotton? Where can I get them?


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## sinounic (Apr 29, 2014)

Anyone considering of printing on golf balls?


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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

sinounic said:


> Anyone considering of printing on golf balls?


It's been done for many years. You can get a nontextile pretreatment and golf ball jig from Colman and Company.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Just keep in mind that you will not have print durability because you are using water based inks on a plastic surface. The ink can be scratched off. 

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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

I recommend putting a post treatment on golf balls or any non textiles to protect the print. The golf balls are more of a novelty item.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

lazographics said:


> I recommend putting a post treatment on golf balls or any non textiles to protect the print. The golf balls are more of a novelty item.



The least expensive method is to use clear acrylic spray paint. Available at Home Depot and Lowes.

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## lazographics (Mar 5, 2009)

equipmentzone said:


> The least expensive method is to use clear acrylic spray paint. Available at Home Depot and Lowes.
> 
> _


Yes. Definitely get your post treatment from home places. You'll only spend a few bucks. Colman and company is over priced. Their post treatment is $28 and is basically the same stuff as the $2 one.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Or you can get it online from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Krylon-6-Ounce-Crystal-Acrylic-Coating/dp/B001K65K26

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