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solvent printing on fabric
- Thread starter MikeD
- Start date
phototec
New Member
MikeD - I had the same problem finding good info printing on fabric with my Eco-Sol printer (Roland SP-540V), doing a google search I discovered a great company called Fisher Textiles, they manufacture many different fabrics which have a special coating on the surface which allows them to be printed with excellent print quality with true solvent, mild solvent and Eco-solvent based printers. This line features a wide variety of styles for both indoor and outdoor use. The fabric edges are ultrasonically slit to eliminate fraying and head strikes. Wide Format and Grand Format sizes are available. They will send you a swatch book and sample roll if you request it.
http://www.fishertextiles.com/ftp4.php?plquery=Inkjet - Solvent
One other note, some of there fabrics are to large for my 54" wide printer, they cut them down to size for me with an ultrasonically slitter.
phototec
New Member
phototec
New Member
Yep, that's what they did for me, also some of their solvent printable fabrics are listed as 58" and 126" wide, and they slit them to 54" for me ultrasonically to eliminate fraying and head strikes.
Good company.
SightLine
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Another for Fisher Textiles. Some fabrics are a LOT easier to print than others. The thinner it is - like the satin - the harder it is to get a good looking print on it. We print a good bit on their canvas and their "heavy knit". The heavy knit is great for fabric banners and whatnot. While coated, some of the thinner stuff still bleeds out so bad that it is just hard to get a good solid image on it since you have to cut the ink so far back. To avoid tons of bleeding the print will have to be very very light. Fabrics are not the easiest to profile either.... once you get one figured out though the results can be fantastic and a nice niche. The heavy knit also works great on simple X frame banner stands with grommets in it. Cut it with a hot knife for the cleanest edge - scissors will also work fine and it does not really fray much at all.
for Fisher Textiles. Some fabrics are a LOT easier to print than others. The thinner it is - like the satin - the harder it is to get a good looking print on it. We print a good bit on their canvas and their "heavy knit". The heavy knit is great for fabric banners and whatnot. While coated, some of the thinner stuff still bleeds out so bad that it is just hard to get a good solid image on it since you have to cut the ink so far back. To avoid tons of bleeding the print will have to be very very light. Fabrics are not the easiest to profile either.... once you get one figured out though the results can be fantastic and a nice niche. The heavy knit also works great on simple X frame banner stands with grommets in it. Cut it with a hot knife for the cleanest edge - scissors will also work fine and it does not really fray much at all.
phototec
New Member
Another
SightLine, Have you tired their SI 310 Paper Backed Flag for flags or banners?
In your experience, which of the thinner fabric's specifically has the printing problems you mentioned?
Have you tried the SI 4418?
What kind of Hot Knife are you using?
Thanks
mpn
New Member
Here is the updated test reports:
1st photo is the 210 (too thin for us to use) YMMV
2nd & 3rd photo is the 310 (very nice and lightweight)
4th photo is the 70 (this one produced the best color for us)
All of them are new to us and we only had a short window for the job.
We are very happy with Fisher Textiles and their samples. We have a few ideas in mind for sure.
1st photo is the 210 (too thin for us to use) YMMV
2nd & 3rd photo is the 310 (very nice and lightweight)
4th photo is the 70 (this one produced the best color for us)
All of them are new to us and we only had a short window for the job.
We are very happy with Fisher Textiles and their samples. We have a few ideas in mind for sure.
Attachments
Last edited:
SightLine
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I think the 70 is the one we use for the most part. It has been so long since I have tried any of the thinner ones that I could not tell you which were which at this point. I do remember the satin was difficult. Much like the 210 - while you could keep cutting further back on the ink the problem you run into is then the image looks so washed out and light that it is really not ideal for many things. Much like the 310 tests mpn shows - the image on that ends up looking pretty washed out. There would certainly be uses where that would not be a problem - lighter backdrops, etc but if you needed anything really bold and sharply defined it would be hard to pull off due to the amount of ink that just soaks in and potentially will bleed out at the edges if you push it too far. While solvent machines can print on fabrics very well they do have their limits and points where screen or sublimation will have an advantage. Very thin fabrics being one.