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What is the DTF inks


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Hello guys:

I am really looking into this because in my country importing any amount of inks is pretty hard. So i am trying to understand if these inks are already on sale in my country. As the information i achived it seems like CMYK is standard pigment textile(dtg) inks and white is apperenty something called latex ink. Can anyone try and confirm if this white ink can be used with Dupont or Kodak cmyk? Also if this latex white is a newly born product or is it known from before?

 

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Very interesting question, I’m sure quite a few people would love the answer also. 
 

when I look up latex inks, all I find is it being used on hard substrates for signage and such, but who knows. do you have latex inkjet ink available to you?

 

the DTF ink is very, “marshmallow” feeling compared to DTG ink, if that helps at all. It also doesn’t really air dry( both cmyk and white), It stays wet until you cure it for the most part. in a 70 degree room at 55 percent humidity for a week it’s still completely wet, Unless it’s on a piece of paper or something that pulls the carrier away. DTG inks, both color and white, don’t do this, they dry out pretty quickly leaving a rubberish layer you can peel off. 


if I dip my finger in dtg ink and wash it off with tap water, it washes away completely.  DTF ink doesn’t, it leaves behind the color, which seems to repel the water like an oil. I end up having the scrub it off with a paper towel, like a plastisol ink would do. I don’t know how latex reacts. DTG white inks leaves behind a kind of “rough” feeling when cured, where the DTF ink is very soft and plastisol feeling. Just like normal screen printing ink hand feel comparisons. 
 

that’s basically all I know about it, maybe it helps maybe it doesn’t. I doubt anyone will outright give you a direct answer, unless it’s only speculation. The ink may be proprietary, it may not be. If your in the same country as hobbyprint, you’ll probably be better off buying it from them, or their supplier. If not, I have no idea and genuinely wish you luck with it. 

Edited by johnson4
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I also know not any type of pet film will work, I have tons of pet film for various methods and they all don’t work with it, at all. The coating on each of them is different, from the products I have tried. Most of them don’t release the ink, and bleed like crazy. 

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Nope, 

For 1 kind of ink(for example white) there is 1 paperwork and cost of taxes and cost of safety for human health paper. If i have to buy CMYK too it is 5x work and cost.

So white is said to be latex, while CMYK is only pigment textile ink. Then again maybe i can just bring in the white which May be acceptable. Also CMYK of dtg inks might give better results with dtf white ink maybe who knows? 

So i think if someone makes an experiement that would be nice. That is why i am throwing out this information.

Another thought, i am from Turkey and textile industry is well developed here. From what i Heard about white ink from you, i am thinking maybe these inks are being used for production of known textile brands such as Gap, Zara etc. They have some products similar to what you are saying. And most of them produced in Turkey, if it is the same ink i can buy it within Turkey and just import TPU along with film which is not need approval of health ministry because they are not ink not liquid paints.

Edited by anum11
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That’s why I posted how it is different , I hope it helps some. it’s weird because it’s thin like dtg Ink, but doesn’t have the same flow characteristics. When filling carts with it, it seems to be as thin as dtg ink, but when it starts coming out of the syringe it’s slightly more resistive. 
 

the only places I have found anything like it is in India, and I had to use google in that area to find that. 
 

The powder is the same as plastisol transfer powder, just a courser powder so it doesn’t stick all over the film. 

 

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It is said There are chinese and korean inks. Korean is a bit better and expensive. Thou looking into what is their brands to gather information about if aomeone sells them in my country.

I just don't think someone created a new ink just for DTF which is 3 months old printing method. To me it makes more sense if these inks for something else and someone tried it for DTF method.

Edited by anum11
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13 minutes ago, anum11 said:

It is said There are chinese and korean inks. Korean is a bit better and expensive. Thou looking into what is their brands to gather information about if aomeone sells them in my country.

I just don't think someone created a new ink just for DTF which is 3 months old printing method. To me it makes more sense if these inks for something else and someone tried it for DTF method.

Absolutely , it’s advertised to be a DTG/DTF  dual use ink from the places in India. I know I like it better than DTG inks, I just have to get there in testing.

if someone did that, ( completely possible) I doubt they would tell since it gives them profit, and a part of the industry market. 
 

I know the manufacturer website for it is pretty useless, and I can’t find a MSDS in the stuff. 

Edited by johnson4
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Can you share the website i will contact and ask them by email. If you are talking about hobbyprint's ink i doubt they are just rebranding imported inks.

I found a chinese company, however they seem to be selling same ink for dtg and dtf and both are at same price, so i am sceptical about those inks being accually special for DTF or what you are using.

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7 minutes ago, anum11 said:

Can you share the website i will contact and ask them by email. If you are talking about hobbyprint's ink i doubt they are just rebranding imported inks.

I found a chinese company, however they seem to be selling same ink for dtg and dtf and both are at same price, so i am sceptical about those inks being accually special for DTF or what you are using.

It’s in the video Andy posted when it first came out, I forget the brand on the bottle. I know it said they supplied ink to hobbyprint as a distributor. 

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