Stiffchick

16 hours ago, johnson4 said:

Toner is plastic, plastic cracks.  I used a DIY white toner printer ( because I’m not spending that kind of cash on one). The transfers are like you would imagine- and they crack after a few washes, and it’s expensive. They have cheap not white laser transfers as well, but it all ended up the same way. Cracking, and inability to stretch with the garment. When you first make it, it looks good. But then wear it, it’s uncomfortable, and just overall feels annoying. After you wash it you start to feel like you got ripped off.
 

DTF is ink, flexible, soft, but in very large patches can also feel kind of plastic like on the backside, since the polymer adhesive powder on the back. Get your process down and it feels like a plastisol transfer, which is good. 
 

I have washed, tested, and gave away shirts with random prints on it varying from huge to small, all white to full color. 
 

I’m my opinion, DTG is king, by far. However, DTF is a great add-on. If I had to choose between the two methods( laser vs dtf) , I would use DTF every time. I still have my laser printer and papers, two years later I haven’t found an acceptable use for them other than using them for pre-stretched canvas photos/signs or canvas bags etc. stuff that isn’t going to be worn/used.

 

DTF is a great alternative but does take practice, and at the end of the day is pretty expensive to set up as well if you get a belt dryer. Personally I use 2 500w halogen bulbs over a metal table to cure them. After it heats up the table it takes about 15-30 seconds a print to cure, same way I cure my water based screen-printing prints. 
 

Anyway, it’s not a lie like most other products. If you read my history with it I was doubtful about it in the beginning because every other product I tried just ended up being all marketing schemes, and sucked for professional use. You’ll get some people who will argue with you about it, but it’s just not acceptable to sell if you take your business seriously and are looking for a product that will wear comfortably and wash well. 
 

DTG, DTF, screen-printing are all very acceptable, professional ways to sell garments. I personally have received only 10 bad reviews out of 5,000 reviews from over 30,000 customers using these methods. With the other methods out there( including vinyl) you just get mediocre results and feedback. To this day, I still get feedback from my customers thanking me, and bragging about it the fact that my products are not vinyl or cheap transfers, then they come back to order more. I do not just throw random things at my customers, I send free samples to some to get there unbiased opinion. DTF has been received well so far. 
 

I had no intention of using DTF professionally, I actually purchased it to confirm it was just like the rest of those products that just are not what a quality product is made of. But this time, I was proven wrong. I did not go into this thinking it would work, rather, thinking it would be a crap product. It came out great. Yes the powder is annoying, you need a small sifter to keep lumps out and make a fine “ powder” ( think like flour) to lightly coat the back. That’s when you get great results. 
 

sublimation is also an awesome product, but it’s limited to polyester( which I hate personally). they do sell some products to use it on cotton, but I have yet to experience it. 

 

at the very end of the day, when I get busy and need to produce what my business is capable of( when we get busy) , my only options are DTG and screen printing because DTF is a little time consuming. But for those one-offs and custom orders, it works well. I know I can produce 100 DTG prints in about 4 hours, about 2 with screen printing. DTF is around 50 prints in that time. If you had an automatic powdering machine, a belt dryer, and all that fancy stuff it would be much faster, but the end results are that specific method isn’t worth $10,000 to Me to produce what I can with my other equipment for less than half the initial cost, at a higher quality. 

 

sorry for the book, but ultimately it depends on what your looking to make, how many, and how much money you want to put in. If you purchased everything outright, I’d go with DTG. If you DIY, I’d do both. 
 

good luck! 

Thank you, this is exactly what i wanted to know.  We started a few years ago as a custom sewing service for other businesses. one of our largest customers was looking to an alternative to her product made scarce by the shut downs.  so we found sublimation and tumblers. its going well, but we are always looking for ways to add customers (isnt everyone) 

I also hate polyester clothing, so never considered doing T shirts with sublimation, but I have always wanted to do T shirts. I just never had the room for screen printing equipment. (and I also think the vinyl t shirts look and feel bad).  I thought maybe DTF would be less space, and use some of the equipment we have already invested in for sublimation.  I wouldn't trust some of the sprays and pre treatments people are selling.  a lot of them are just mixing Polyacrylic with water and bottling it up.  I don't know enough about them safety wise, and also longevity. i would imagine its just sitting on top of the cotton fibers, and over time will flake away.  I'm not a super picky person about much, but my cloths have to be cotton, so i think everyone's should be too lol. I bought some shirts on vacation in Hawaii, and they look amazing, but I got back to Arizona and tried to wear them, and it felt like i was wearing a plastic bag.  the shirt is cotton, i believe, but the design on it is so large, and so thick, it doesn't breath. 

On 10/18/2020 at 10:55 AM, Andy - Admin said:

It's been used in Asia for months.

In my opinion they're the best transfers I've ever seen. The feel will be better than vinyl

Basically they've come up with a combination of ink, transfer film and powder that works well with digital printers. 

Can I ask, how different is it really from the product those White toner printers I have been looking at would produce?  those seem to do the same thing, but no powder at the end. I have seen very few reviews of DTF in English, and the ones I have understood are all from people selling it lol.  They all say its "way better" .  its cheaper for sure, that's always attractive for testing new things. thank you.