Plastisol Transfers
September 6, 2020 2022-06-24 15:41Plastisol Transfers
What is Plastisol Transfers?
Plastisol Transfers are screen printed designs that are printed on a special heat transfer release paper instead of directly on the shirt. Plastisol transfers are printed with high opacity special inks. They do not always require an underbase as you can control the opacity of your print by lowering the temperature on the heat press. Lower the temperature, higher the opacity.
Once the printing of your transfer is completed, we then use a special combination of adhesive and powder that we put on the transfer paper. The transfer paper is then placed in a conveyor dryer to gel the ink.
What fabrics can I apply them on?
Plastisol transfers can be applied to the following fabrics :
– 100% Cotton
– 100% Polyester
– 50/50 Cotton/Polyester
– Nylon
– Lycra
What are the advantages of transfers vs direct screen printing?
1 – Softer and more professional look. Screen printed transfers offers a soft and smooth finish to your printed garment. Usually when printing several layers of inks, they just build up on your garment and creates a junk of ink. Often prints are rough and not nice to touch. Especially when printing white ink on fleeces, you may need two or three passes of white ink to create an opaque print. This is not the case with plastisol transfers. Plastisol transfers are smooth and nice to touch.
2 – Print anywhere you want. When doing direct screen printing, you need to purchase different set of pallets to print on sleeves, long sleeves, neck tags, tote bags and so on. Our plastisol transfers can be applied to any fabric that can be laid down flat on a heat press. This makes printing easier and more cost efficient.
3 – Cost efficient way of printing. When ordering our gang sheets, you have the possibility to group several designs on the same sheet. For example, you are looking to print 200 t-shirts back and front one color. You can place two pocket prints and two back prints on the same sheet. Pricing per sheet for 100 sheets is 1.92$, for a subtotal of 192$.
In the printing industry an average price for a pocket print for 200 items is : 1.50$ and a back print is 1.75$, for a subtotal of : 650$ (200 items back and front). It takes around 1 minute on a screen printing press to print one location (including placing the t-shirt on the pallet, printing and flashing, taking it out and placing in the conveyor). And it takes around 20 seconds to print the same thing on a heat press with the plastisol transfers.
4 – Print on double layer fabrics. Printing on koozies, leggings and other activewears can be a nightmare when you do not have the right tools. Because those items have a double layer fabric, when you are placing the bottom layer on the pallet, the top layer is still loose and can loose some registrations.
5 – Print on jackets. Screen printing on jackets can also be difficult because of the dye migration and shrinking in the conveyor dryer. Printing them with a plastisol transfers and a heat press at lower temperatures will solve all of this issues.