# What are all the ways you can cure a DTG printed t-shirt? (small space)



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I know they have hover heat presses built especially for curing shirts and I think I've seen a shirt in a dryer that was like a drawer.

What are all the ways you could cure a DTG printed t-shirt?

Thinking specifically if you have a small amount of office space (so probably no tunnel dryer)

Is a heat press a must have for the DTG equation because of the pretreat alone?


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## JeridHill (Feb 8, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Is a heat press a must have for the DTG equation because of the pretreat alone?


Yes, because of the fibers needing pressed down.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Rodney said:


> What are all the ways you could cure a DTG printed t-shirt?


It depends on the ink you are using. With a Kornit printer, you really need a specialized conveyor dryer or dryer box that can move a lot of forced air. I think most people would agree to get the best washability with the Dupont inks, you have to use a heat press at some point. Some people will run a Dupont prints through a dryer first and then heat press it at the end. But in my opinion, you really need some pressure to evaporate all the water and bind the ink all the way. Brother inks can be cured with either a heat press or conveyor dryer / dryer box. 

Keep in mind that if you go with a dryer box, you are probably going to need 208/220 V electricity to run most of them. Most of these need a lot of power to get the desired forced air. 



Rodney said:


> Is a heat press a must have for the DTG equation because of the pretreat alone?


As Jerid mentioned, it is important to press the fibers down on the shirt when you pretreat... unless you have a wet-on-wet pretreatment process like Kornit has. But for the most part, yes the majority of dtg users have to use a heat press.

Mark


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

I have a CYMK DTG and use a 16x20 heat press to cure the ink AND according to the vendor, pressing for 90 seconds not only cures the ink makes the image more wash resistant..so far after a year, I have zero complaints. The 90 seconds is not too long as I use the time to put the next shirt on the loading box and start the print...can become a doable but boring routine


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

I'd suggest 2 heat presses for every printer you have. In many cases the bottle neck in production is cutting the ink. Having 2 heat presses doubles production speed and allows you to pretreat and cure ink at the same time.

I would like to get the Sahara 7 dryer eventually. It takes up less space than a conveyor dryer and each drawer is individually temp/time controlled too.


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## rodsps (Mar 12, 2008)

I too am very interested in other options. I find a number of my failures occure at the final cure. 
Example 1 scorching on white and light garments (for some reason ash seems to be a real problem.)
Also, all prints look so nice and vibrant but after curing, some of them really get muted.
And a recent problem, did some orange/white on royal blue and it almost looks like the oranges "gased" and put a fade all around the image. Looks worse and worse the longer we heated.
All these were done with a swinger heat press.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

Check your temperature regularly.

In over a year of DTG, I have yet to have one scorched shirt. We confirm the heat press temperatures daily using our laser thermometer, and we confirm them monthly using a disc based calibrated one.

We check corner and middle and do a few tests after heating a garment or three to see if it holds temp.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Rodney said:


> I know they have hover heat presses built especially for curing shirts and I think I've seen a shirt in a dryer that was like a drawer.
> 
> What are all the ways you could cure a DTG printed t-shirt?
> 
> ...





The smallest amount of space taken up would be with a clamshell heat press. The other drying methods would be drawer type dryers and conveyor dryers (electric or gas), all substantially larger then heat presses. With the exception of Kornit printers all direct to garment printers produce garments that can be fully dried with a heat press.
_


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## Xhair (Feb 25, 2012)

treefox2118 said:


> Check your temperature regularly.
> 
> In over a year of DTG, I have yet to have one scorched shirt. We confirm the heat press temperatures daily using our laser thermometer, and we confirm them monthly using a disc based calibrated one.
> 
> We check corner and middle and do a few tests after heating a garment or three to see if it holds temp.


can ou tell me what you do when checking the tempp using your laser thermometer please, what procedure do you do and where do you point the laser, thanks we have a benetech one


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Dual platen will be my suggestion. Small space, same space with swing away. Hovering perfect. Smart also, humidity indicator, touch screen, operator work counts ---etc.
We see you are into DTG business, lol. Welcome to the Jungle. Can't wait to see you will be real one of us.
Will it be harder than Forum business? You will find out soon. Lol.
Cheers! I will be at your opening party if I am invited 
Draw style: you need few DTGs to maximize capa.(3-4 printers)
Belt: Never fit to small space and will cook you in summer. $$$ too.


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

I like the dual platen option too. Being able to set one platen to hover and one to have pressure is nice when curing ink. I like to hover for 1 minute and then light pressure for 2 minutes when curing cmykw prints.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

For maximum efficiency you can use 2 heat presses which helps avoid any production bottlenecks. The auto release models will give you added flexibility.

_


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## Smalzstein (Jul 22, 2008)

Peter does this PIT Boss press has auto open feture ?


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Smalzstein said:


> Peter does this PIT Boss press has auto open feture ?


Good question. First of all I do not sell this therefore no self promotion. LOL.
With air $3500-4000. Take longer to push two buttons. Anyway you have to push side to side way by hand. Once you push you are on unless emergency button push to release.
Similar brand "Gemini" no air $1695. No picture available. Lift with light weight and same time slide to the side. I see only press can challenge Stahl. Almost same price as single air pop up.(hard to load and unload. Heat always on the way.
Your pocket and your choice.
Rodney, how come I am not getting Thanks? Lol. Pls don give me one.
Zombie business~, are you sure? Blurrrrr~  woooo~
Cheers! Beers are on me always.


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## Smalzstein (Jul 22, 2008)

In Poland we have this. Pressure adjusted individualy for each platen, auto open feture. Made in Poland


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## Smalzstein (Jul 22, 2008)

And you can get perforated platen and rubber so it's easier for steam release for DTG.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Swing is patented by Stahl in USA. Keep them there, lol.
I was thinking about that also.
Anyway, dual platen have advantages is so sure. Easy to adjust platen height.
Are you look like your avatar? Ate many sausages and beers and vodkas? Jk
Cheers and beers!


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