# Swing tags, clear vinyl labels, printed bags in the UK please?



## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

We're looking to source a good, reliable (and cheap!) supplier of hang / swing tags and clear vinyl labels to put on our t-shirt packaging. 

We looked at printing a run of branded bags but thought the initial outlay was too much for the moment?

Our t-shirts will go in zip-lock bags with the clear vinyl labels stuck on. Oh, actually we'd be looking for some suppliers of zip lock bags as well, the ones with the sliders at the top. We're paying about 20p each at the moment.

If anyone has any other suggestions about our choice of packaging, it would be greatly received. We were doing stencilled card-board boxes for a while but it was expensive and labour intensive.

IN summary we need:
Suppliers of hang / swing tags
Suppliers of clear vinyl labels
Suppliers of ziplock slider bags
Advice on investing in printed bags
Thanks in advance, we're new to t-shirt forums and have been told it's a really helpful place.


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

Hang tags- I use vista print premium business cards, a few others on here use them as well. Got 250 for about £3 inc postage! You can upload a full colour photo or anything.

Vinyl labels- Why do you need clear? I use coloured sign vinyl cut on my plotter, costs £1 per metre, you could get some and ask a nearby sign maker to cut a few hundred. Only for single colour though, or if you can find a sign maker with a printer/cutter they can do printed on clear.

Bags- i get mine from the clothing wholesaler so don't really know about ziplock ones.

Lee


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

Hi Progeny,

Thanks for your reply. 

We're already using vista print business cards for the hang tags, but we need to punch a whole in them and then put a sticker on the back with wash instructions, it's a bit of a faff! I guess we could get the wash instructions printed on the reverse? That's great if you guys do the same actually.

The clear vinyl stickers were just for aesthetics really, and because we have transparent ziplock bags. We were just printing out inkjet white sticker labels to stick on them and it looked a bit tacky.

It was just a way to get the branding on to the bag and it looking as professional as possible.


What's a plotter by the way? Something we've obviously missed which could help!? 

Thanks again for your help


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

A cutter/plotter is a machine which uses a blade to cut designs out of garment vinyl or sign vinyl. The vinyl design is then stuck to whatever it's made to stick to. It's what sign makers use to sign vans etc.

A cutter/plotter with printer can print a design/image on vinyl and then the blade will contour cut around the image. This can then be stuck to whatever you want.

If i want a sticker to attach to the front of a bag for example i can cut a circle in white (or any colour) and then cut a design in another colour, stick them both on and i've got sticker. If i needed loads i would ask a sign maker with a printer/cutter to print some. Call your local sign maker and see if they can do it. Have a look on google for a Roland Versacamm to see what i mean, or xpres web site.

I see what you mean about the business cards, but do you really have to put the wash instructions on the back? Is it already on the t-shirt?

Lee


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

Ah, OK! I've seen the cutter/plotter thing mentioned around the forums but I wasn't sure what it was. Is it worth investing in do you think?

The reason for the wash instructions are because some of our t-shirts are hand-stencilled or hand screen-printed, or have iron on transfers (sometimes all of the above!) so the wash instructions have to be specific to the media used on them.

We are looking into getting some of them machine screen printed, but we started off really small and are looking at way to expand. Hand made stuff is labour intensive and folk aren't prepared to pay out loads for it anyway.

What we have at the moment isn't ideal actually. My reason for coming on here is to try to streamline everything. We've sourcing bits and pieces all over the place (ink, transfer paper, acrylic paint, stickers, bags, tags, stationary) and it's difficult to keep costs down and on top of stock.

So, I shall probably be posting all over the forum asking for advice! It works out the way we do it, but it could be so much better I think.

Again, many thanks for your really quick reply, you've been so helpful, and it's a lovely introduction to the forum.

Jo


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

Hi Ali,

I think it may be worth investing in a cutter, they are good for small runs and you can get many different types/effects in vinyl. If you look at xpres website under consumables and then garment vinyl you can see the different effects. You can also get camo, snake skin, leopard skin effect ones now. You can't really do very small detailed work as it takes a while to cut and weed, but anything else will be much quicker than stencil. You can actually cut your stencils using a cutter, takes a few minutes.

I have used sign vinyl cut on a cutter and applied to screen to make a simple screen to print with, there are others on here that do it. look up the posts and look on youtube as well.

The wash labels could be done with the inkjet transfers, that way you print your own and press into the inside of the shirt. You can print what you like for all your different t's. I take it you must have a press.

Good Luck

Lee


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

Progeny said:


> I take it you must have a press.
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> Lee


Hi Again Lee,

We actually *don't* have a heat press at the moment but it's definitely something we're going to invest in. We started off doing hand-stencilled t-shirts and then moved on to hand-screen printed. The heat transfers that we have used are the stupidly expensive iron on ones from PC world or Asda. They don't even have a nice feel to them, really rough and plasticky.

So yes, we'll be looking at investing in I guess all of the equipment needed to set up a decent heat transfer production. Are there any resources you could point me too, you know a summary of what people have found helpful starting from scratch?

There's so much information, and I've spent ages watching the you tube videos from Badalou - fantastic. So, I guess is there a checklist, for everything you'll need to start up your heat transfer process?

Oh, and one more question - we were going to invest in some decent software, we've used photoshop for the longest time but of course they're not vector graphics. We were looking into corel draw X4, do you have any advice on this too?

Many many thanks Lee, you've helped us so much already.

Ali and Jo


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

The professional transfer papers from xpres or themagictouch are far superior to the ones you are using and if you heatpress them on the transfer becomes embedded with the fabric and softer. I use transfer paper to make labels which i either press onto the existing garment label or the garment itsself. I have an epsom printer with durabrite ink which is the recommended one to use.

xpres do packages to start off and i got an email yesterday now offering lease deals from £11 per week.

The software i use mainly came with the cutter (WinPCsign) but i do use serif drawplus and corel x4

Lee


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

We're actually using an iron for our transfers at the moment to it's really time consuming as well!


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

Hi Lee,

We looked into the xpres packages and they look fantastic so we'll definitely consider that for the future.

In the meantime, we're using an HP deskjet 1280 printer with HP ink, what is the pigment ink you were speaking of above? And do you have to get a special printer for this or would it be compatible with ours?

If we were to invest in a new printer for the paper what kind would we go for? I've seen C88 mentioned around the forums often.

Thanks again,

Jo and Ali


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

I have a C88 (D88 in th UK) but i think they have stopped making this model, they have replaced it though. The main thing is the inks, the epson uses durabrite as standard but if the HP you got uses pigment ink then they should last ok. I take it you have been using this printer to print on the transfer paper you are using now, so it must be ok. 

I use xpres XP3133 colour trans paper, comes in boxes of 50 A4 sheets. There are many good quality papers out there. Whatever paper you choose just contact the supplier and ask if the ink you use is suitable.

The other option you have is to use a specialist transfer company like targettransfers or J&A International to produce quality transfers that you apply with a press.

Also have a look at printwear and promotional website, subscribe for free to their magazine or download it, there's tons of info in there.

Lee


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## draig (Jul 29, 2007)

Hi Jo & Ali and welcome,

Have you considered printing your labels onto clear adhesive Inkjet media ? do a google search for Clear Adhesive Labels.

I would say a Heat Press would be your first consideration, the types of transfer paper your currently using will not be as durable as the more professional versions out there. You could end up with some very disappointed customers, who will be looking for refunds. 

Have a look at www.keani.co.uk they have some presses on special at the moment, (Not associated with the company) but at a price of under £400 well worth a look.

Where are you based ? I can help out with a sample of cut vinyl if you'd like.

Cheers
Sharon


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## artjunkie (Dec 28, 2007)

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in replying! Thanks both of you for the info. I've been trawling the forums to try and get a clear idea exactly what we need to get started with our heat transfers, there seems to be so many variables.

We'll definitely be looking at the better heat transfer paper, but we're still thinking about what to do about the printer. The HP printer we have is OK but we want to bump the quality up a notch to make the most of the transfer paper.

Can either of you tell me what a standard package is? I've looked at pigment ink, dye sublimation ink and I'm still undecided. And then I started looking at the vinyl transfers and got sidetracked!

We've been offered a second hand heat press so we're fine for that, we're just looking for the most economical package for printer and ink and paper to buy. IS there somewhere that supplies all three for a good price?

Thanks for the link Sharon, we are based in Paisley and are just at the beginning of this so we're tentatively dipping our toes in! Any further advice greatly appreciated and thanks for the welcome!

Jo and Ali


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## draig (Jul 29, 2007)

Hi Joe & Ali,

Most people myself included go for Epson printers.

Pigmented inks are more durable and can be used on 100% Cotton. Epson's version of this is the Durabrite Ink, but it does suffer from colour shift (yellows have a slight greeny tint, black can leave a slight yellow outline, and grey can appear green) when transferred. 

Epson also market a Dye Based waterproof ink under the name Claria, I haven't had experience with them ( (mainly due to my printers being to old  ), but you will find plenty on the forum who have.

Dye Sublimation inks can only be used on Polyester based products (the higher the Polyester content the better the result), also at present it can only be used on white or pastel coloured items.

Another alternative is a colour Laser Printer, they are very competetively priced at the moment, and they don't require any wasteful head cleans  . A lot on the forum seem to sway towards the OKI range of printers (I still run my older trusty QMS Desk Laser). I currently use Forever 5* though this machine, as it is an oil based printer. Won't take a boil wash of 95deg though (Don't Ask  ) but on cooler washes does fine. 

And yet another alternative is to use transfer inks in your current printer if you are satisfied with its output, you should be able to find a company who can supply refillable cartridges for your printer if you do a search on the net.

I hope I haven't confused you to much with all the above.  

Cheers
Sharon


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## samson18 (May 14, 2009)

hi there 

have you tried Adastra Labels... they are based in london .. they do all sorts of labels and swing tags .. and can guide you in terns of cost for the printed bags...
hope it helps


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