Thinking about getting a DTG printer

If you get a DTG printer be sure to tell your customers to NOT WASH them or the ink will wash out. Heard many horror stories about them...of course the people selling them will dispute it, but I have first hand experience with it.

 

If you wash them inside out (like you are supposed to do with shirts even before they are decorated) that helps. Also the type of detergent you use as well. Some of them are more "caustic" to colors then others. Curing process will also have an affect on this as well.

About the only apparel decorating that washing isn't going to affect (unless you use bleach or the more "caustic" detergents) is sublimation. Even then though you do have washing instructions (usually because of the garment itself more then because of the inks used).

I can promise you, you wouldn't want me to go without washing my shirts on a regular basis.

 

dtg printers suck. Their prints never hold up.

 

I've seen Kornit and Brother DTG printed shirts that hold up to washing fairly well. I imagine the ink plays a big role in the washability.

As for the hundreds of Epson based DTG machines out there (looking at you, Anajet and Sawgrass)... I wouldn't touch one with a ten meter pole.

 

We are looking at an anajet mp5 or mp10 for production and a neoflex for quality and extra print area.

Still looking though for the past year and not too comfortable yet.

 

we had an Anajet, sold it for a loss last year, thing caused me more headaches than anything, always fighting it to get good color which never really happened, losing the money on it in the sale made my blood pressure drop

customer service was massively lackin........ anyway, not trying to bash them, as actually i have been wearing some shirts off that machine for about 3 years now that still look pretty good.

i would outsource them, no matter what, the cost of the machine and the ability of the machine are not insync, i still think the idea of what it can do is still way ahead of the actual technology in place

outsourcing puts that pressure on others to worry about

 

I've had good experience just using a printer with pigmant ink and contour cutting it then applying with heat press. They have a decent hand (feel) and stand up to a lot of washing.

I got samples from Anajet last year and wasn't impressed. The machines are so overpriced. I don't see how you could make a profit unless you are doing a lot of 1-off's at a premium price per day (mall, special events, ect..). You could spend $10-15k for some decent Brown Mnf screen printing equipment (http://brownmfg.net/) and find someone to run it. The costs will be as low as possible and your production run shirts will last until the shirt is destroyed.

If the DTG was $5-8k maybe... but $20k+ seems insane.

 

Wasn't someone on this forum using his UV flatbed to do them? He said he was printing on anything he could stuff under the head. Door mats, shirts, etc... Said the door mats held up pretty well IIRC

 

You might be better off asking this question on a screen printing board. There are a few good ones out there. As a side note I would not recommend Brown. I don't own one, but the reviews are not very good. Do your homework.

 

We have a brother 541 light garment printer. prints hold up great!. Saving for the new Grafittee dark garment printer

 

I have a vendor that uses a Brother printer and it works great. No complaints.

 

@farmboy

What's the issue with Brown (equip,service)? Who would you recommend?

 

I purchased 2 printed DTG tees from a local company.. one white, one black.. (they have a brother printer)

the workmanship was nothing special, simple designs.. and I washed the crap outta them.. AND dried them... the white shirt faded a bit... after maybe 6 washes.. its been like 10 times now.. inks still there, just faded in. It looks kinda like it was printed discharge

originally I thought the ink on the black shirt was kinda thick, but after the washes and drys its feeling nice

I did not turn them inside out


AND

I have recieved 2 samples direct from belquette... they are out of this world.. of course they are going to be premium, because they were printed at belquette in the top conditions available. When I start washing these, ill let you guys know how they turn out..

I think that there is still a huge negative connotation about DTG because its new and the technology sucked, plus so many people were doing it so crappy.. kinda like heat transfers.. they are pretty mint nowadays, but I remember they used to peel off

 

figured id add some NON heresay to the thread lol
if you guys want pics lemme know

 

belquette is outstanding! thats what all our short run shirts are done on..Anything of 24 shirts we screen print

 

I think we can pretty much blame Scott Fresner (US Screen) for the bad rap that DTG has taken. He took half-arsed modified Epson printers, put crappy ink in them, and sold the hell out of them.

I'm surprised he even was able to sell the company to Hirsch.

 

glad to hear.. I hate the fact that there are no local sales or service reps, but I love the fact that you can just disassmble the head and ship it..

they were cool on the phone... how are they post sale??

can you post pics of any of your work? have any suggestions on day to day usage? how does the initial treatment procedure work?

Im approved to get one, but we are setting up a huge screenprinting operation right now, so I was waiting until thats running smoothly to get the DTG, maybe October or so

Thanks for any info.. I havent ran across anyone who has one, except on older posts in T-shirt forums

 

Pretreating is done with a Wagner sprayer.. Unless you have another 5k to spend on a pretreat machine.. Service is great... Cleaning is easy.. Use windex to clean lines out..only really complaint is the cost of white ink..it's good for small runs or runs where artwork changes frequently.. 0h and you will want to buy 2 heat presses..only having one heat press slows production for sure