# Best Laser Transfer Paper for Dark Tees (available in UK)?



## teeshoits (Mar 15, 2008)

Hi all and thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this or respond.

I think the title pretty much says it all. I want to print photos on dark t-shirts. I have an OKI C5650 colour laser printer. I have so far tried Magic Touch OBM 5.6 and Xpres Laser Printer Dark. Magic Touch's paper printed nicely but after a few washes looks pretty rough and sort of wrinkly. When I tried Xpres's paper with their recommended settings (heavy stock) the ink did not seem to fully fuse to the paper in places. As Magic Touch's suggested setting was 'Labels 1' I tried this with xpres and the paper jammed in the fuser unit (not pretty - I wouldn't recommend it). I am reluctant to try xpres's paper again, however it is an established brand and about half the price of Magic Touch. I have been searching all day for any alternatives and am none the wiser. These seem to be the two main brands available in the UK.

I would love to hear from anyone who:

a) Can recommend another dark laser transfer paper that they have had good experience with (available in the UK preferably but I would consider importing from elsewhere if it was better quality.

b) Has had any experience (good or bad) with using either magic touch or xpres's paper

I have the whole 'your photo on a t-shirt' bit of my website built and ready to be launched, I just can't do it to my satisfaction yet!

Thanks for your time,

Alan
TEESHOITS.com


b)


----------



## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

teeshoits said:


> Hi all and thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this or respond.
> 
> I think the title pretty much says it all. I want to print photos on dark t-shirts. I have an OKI C5650 colour laser printer. I have so far tried Magic Touch OBM 5.6 and Xpres Laser Printer Dark. Magic Touch's paper printed nicely but after a few washes looks pretty rough and sort of wrinkly. When I tried Xpres's paper with their recommended settings (heavy stock) the ink did not seem to fully fuse to the paper in places. As Magic Touch's suggested setting was 'Labels 1' I tried this with xpres and the paper jammed in the fuser unit (not pretty - I wouldn't recommend it). I am reluctant to try xpres's paper again, however it is an established brand and about half the price of Magic Touch. I have been searching all day for any alternatives and am none the wiser. These seem to be the two main brands available in the UK.
> 
> ...


Have you look into Wow 7.1? I know it is pricey. I have tried the sample but I did not have all the necessary items to press the transfer so I got mixed result. So far I liked what I have seen doing it myself. I would probably had a good result had I gotten the release paper.

Ironall for dark is about the top choice transfer with current batch. I heard the manufacturer is coming out with the new version with bug fixes. So hold off or meantime get sample of the new batch of Ironall for dark and do the wash test. I used inkjet and laser printer with the transfer paper. I used 350F for 6 seconds with medium pressure. The instruction seemed too high that makes the transfer somewhat translucent.

Here is a photo comparison between Inkjet and laser: [media]http://www.t-shirtforums.com/attachments/2217d1190622158-iron-all-darks-iron-all-dark-comparis.jpg[/media]


----------



## teeshoits (Mar 15, 2008)

Hi and thanks,

I've looked into Wow 7.1 but it seems very expensive, and the main selling feature seems to be the self weeding thing, but as I mainly want to do photos which require no cutting other than round the edges I think I'd be paying through the nose for features that I don't require.

Thanks for the tip about IronAll. I've just found that they have a UK website so am about to order a sample. Cheers also for posting that picture. I was beginning to wonder if I should have gone with Inkjet instead of Laser but I feel more secure in my choice now.

Best Regards,

Alan


----------



## teeshoits (Mar 15, 2008)

Hi again Luis,

I've just been reading up on IronAll dark and you appear to be the only person who has succesfully used it with a laser printer. You said it wasn't too bad after a few washes - was that a cold wash or hot - if so what temperature?

Cheers,

Alan


----------



## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

teeshoits said:


> Hi and thanks,
> 
> I've looked into Wow 7.1 but it seems very expensive, and the main selling feature seems to be the self weeding thing, but as I mainly want to do photos which require no cutting other than round the edges I think I'd be paying through the nose for features that I don't require.
> 
> ...


Here is a tip when printing with laser. Use the multi purpose tray and ultra high or card stock media setting. Otherwise the toner will not fuse properly.


----------



## BoydRiver (Aug 12, 2008)

Hi Teeshoits,
Have a look at NovaChrome.

I am waiting for some of their laser paper for my oki 5600dn, which is the machine they used to sell.


----------



## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

teeshoits said:


> Hi again Luis,
> 
> I've just been reading up on IronAll dark and you appear to be the only person who has succesfully used it with a laser printer. You said it wasn't too bad after a few washes - was that a cold wash or hot - if so what temperature?
> 
> ...


Actually the US vendor, New MIlford Photo tested it on laser printer first. That is why I tried it myself. They recommended to use the printer default settings. The default did not work for me. So I changed the setting I mentioned in my other post and it worked.

I like to experiment so I try transfers in my laser printer even an inkjet transfer. As a matter of fact I tested Alpha Gold alias jetwear dark which is an inkjet for dark in medium weight setting. I don't like it because the hand is very heavy like raincoat. When a material has that hand will eventually crack overtime with repeated wash/dry cycles.

My wife washes all our laundry, white or dark in cold water. She soaks whites with bleach overnight. She sets the dryer on high heat for everything.

There is a bad batch floating around so don't buy a lot until you try it. Another opaque that I use is Airwaves Fabric Opaque. It is a two step transfer for laser but I also use it with inkjet. It is made of 100% polyester. It has to be trimmed manually. Since your image is rectangular it would be an easy trim. Give it a try if you can find it in UK.


----------



## teeshoits (Mar 15, 2008)

Thanks again Luis, and thanks BoydRiver for your suggestion - I have contacted Novachrome for a sample. I got in touch with New Milford Photo's UK office two weeks ago, having realised that to order a sample of 5 sheets of paper they would charge me £8.50 postage, and asked them to send me a paypal invoice for a more sensible amount. They agreed and asked for my paypal e-mail, which I duely provided, and I haven't heard from them since. That was ten days ago. I sent another e-mail 5 days ago which has been similarly ignored. Very odd - has anyone else had experience of dealing with NewmilfordPhoto's UK office?

Alan


----------



## BoydRiver (Aug 12, 2008)

Well I was just about to, until you posted.
I have the oki 5600 and saw on their site that the laser paper could be used for hard substrates even though nova chrome says it cant. Now im confused.


----------



## tufftart (Mar 20, 2009)

lnfortun said:


> here is a tip when printing with laser. Use the multi purpose tray and ultra high or card stock media setting. Otherwise the toner will not fuse properly.


hi there sorry to but in on the chat but you seen to know a lot about oki printers and dark transfer paper i have a problem with printing as the black is going all over the paper i have set it on heavy weight but it is still the same could you give me any idea on how to sort this out as i am just starting out and not sure what to do need an expert please help thanks....


----------



## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

tufftart said:


> hi there sorry to but in on the chat but you seen to know a lot about oki printers and dark transfer paper i have a problem with printing as the black is going all over the paper i have set it on heavy weight but it is still the same could you give me any idea on how to sort this out as i am just starting out and not sure what to do need an expert please help thanks....


Which opaque are you using? Heavy weight setting will not work. It takes very hot setting that is Ultra heavy weight. Another thing is preheat the fuser by running 10 stanard printer papers, with a single character (I use space character) in the file, at the most before printing on the opaque. 

Here is a link of my settings:

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/heat-press-heat-transfers/t28972.html?highlight=ironall+for+dark

Send me a PM if you need additonal help.


----------



## tufftart (Mar 20, 2009)

lnfortun said:


> which opaque are you using? Heavy weight setting will not work. It takes very hot setting that is ultra heavy weight. Another thing is preheat the fuser by running 10 stanard printer papers, with a single character (i use space character) in the file, at the most before printing on the opaque.
> 
> Here is a link of my settings:
> 
> ...


thankyou for all your help on this i thought this would be easy how wrong can i be you guys know so much on this i am going to go though your info with a fine tooth comb you have been a life saver....debbie


----------



## ukracer (Feb 11, 2010)

tufftart said:


> thankyou for all your help on this i thought this would be easy how wrong can i be you guys know so much on this i am going to go though your info with a fine tooth comb you have been a life saver....debbie


I guess Debbie is not around any more but how are the rest of you finding printing darks in the UK and what do you use now??


----------

