Heat Printing - A Fair Evaluation for Garments

The process of Heat Printing onto garments has experienced significant advancements over the last few years.  Since the actual term heat printing encompasses a vast range of different technologies, the quality connotation associated with this term can, justly, vary greatly from person to person.  However, even with the advancements made in many aspects of heat printing, there is still an overwhelming stigma associated with the process in general.  This stigma stems from years of business owners frustration with the quality of the finished product.  Yes, there are still some products and processes being sold that help to keep this stigma alive.  But with present day advancements and innovations, the quality of many of the processes associated with Heat Printing have changed.  However the judgement of yesterday that is still prevalent is that Heat Printing is not professional.

The goal of this article is not to convince you to get into Heat Printing and the goal of this article is not to dismiss the fact that there are poor quality processes available that fall under the category of Heat Printing.  However, the goal of this article is to get you to sit up and take notice of the advancements that have been made within this technology and to get the industry as a whole to dismiss the stigma and to recognize each Heat Printing process in its proper light with the proper expectations. 

T-shirt Crossover Writer, Rodney Blackwell, might have said it best when he put it bluntly in response to a post on T-shirtforums.com

“I’ve seen and bought crappy screen printed shirts and amazing screen printed shirts.  And I’ve seen and bought crappy heat pressed shirts and I’ve seen and bought heat pressed shirts that made me go ‘wow’.”

With this in mind, let’s evaluate some of the different processes that fall within Heat Printing and associate some proper expectations with each.  Hopefully you’ll find the technology that will make you go “wow”.

Heat Printing Processes Evaluation Chart

Plastisol / Screen Printed Transfers – transfers that are screen printed by an outside transfer company or by yourself with the use of screen printing equipment

Durability – Very Good, often outlasts the life of the garment.  

Look/Feel – Identical to screen printing

Ideal For – Higher quantities, where a repetition of one design is to be printed

Ease of use – Excellent, just order in transfers and then heat apply with a heat press for the specified time, temperature and pressure

Advantages – Allows the user to create a screen printed look and feel with just a heat press.  Also will allow you to maintain a blank shirt inventory and apply transfers to size, style and color per order as opposed to the preprinted inventory that is associated with traditional screen printing. 

Disadvantages – There is a turn time associated with your custom screen printed transfer order.  And if you decide to offer stock images, like many beach/boardwalk shops, you can potentially have a large transfer inventory.

Overall Rating: A

Reputable Sources: Transfer Express – Pro World Inc

Video Demonstration:  Plastisol Transfers

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Inkjet/Laser Transfer Paper – paper that can be printed through a desktop inkjet printer or laser printer/copier, then heat applied to your garment.

Durability – Average to Below Average, with most papers you will begin to see breakdown in the terms of image quality and cracking after just a few washes. Inks have a tendency to fade and/or run.

Look/Feel – Varies with brand of paper.  Light color paper is traditionally a softer feel than opaque or dark color paper.  Each has a bit of a plastic like feel to it.  The “box effect” will surround your design with most papers unless you trim around your design with scissors or a vinyl cutter.

Ideal For – Lower quantities and personalization, photo realistic prints where durability is not in high demand (ie. tourist destinations, mall kiosks, fairs, flea markets, family reunions, 1 time wear – promotional)

Ease of use – Average, When dealing with inks and transfer papers knowledge of color correction, dpi, drying time and proper application must be obtained.

Advantages – Quick, inexpensive photo quality prints can be created and transferred over to your garment in a matter of minutes.

Disadvantages – This process is not the most durable.  Also in most cases the paper needs to be trimmed around with scissors or an optic eye cutter after being printed to eliminate having a box/window around your design.

Overall Rating – D

Reputable Sources:  Imprintables Warehouse

Video Demonstrations Opaque Paper:  Auto Vinyl Cutter Trim     Hand Trim

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Heat Transfer Vinyl – vinyl material that can be reverse cut on a vinyl cutter, then weeded and heat applied to a garment.

Durability – Excellent, when properly applied the heat transfer vinyl will outlast the life of the garment without cracking, peeling, or fading.

Look/Feel – Ranges per material.  Some materials offer a very soft to the hand finish that is matte or dull, while other materials are thick and glossy on the garment.  Specialized materials such as flock have their own characteristics as well.

Ideal For – Lower quantities and personalization, used a lot for names and numbers on sports uniforms, some materials offer a real nice feel for use on fashionable apparel.

Ease of use – Good, the general process involves cutting, weeding and then heating.  The most detailed portion of this process is weeding.

Advantages – Excellent durability and a professional look, a garment can be created very quickly and the process can prove to be profitable on as little as one unique garment.  Can be heat applied virtually anywhere on the garment.

Disadvantages – No photo quality or color gradients can be achieved.  Doing more than 3 layered colors can become labor intensive.  Intricate detail can be labor intensive.

Overall Rating – A

Reputable Sources:  Imprintables Warehouse  -  Stahls Inc  -  Wellington House

Video Demonstration:  Heat Transfer Vinyl

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Digital Print/Cut Media – media that can be printed and cut out on a solvent based printer/cutter, and then weeded and heat applied to your garment.

Durability – Very Good, when properly applied some print/cut medias will outlast the life of the garment without cracking, peeling, or fading.  The concern with this process is the ink.  However, when printed with the right type of solvent-based inks the durability can last for a life cycle of a garment.

Look/Feel – Ranges per material.  Some materials offer a very soft to the hand finish that is matte or dull, while other materials are thick and glossy on the garment.  Specialized materials such as glitters have their own characteristics as well. 

Ideal For – Lower quantities and personalization, used a lot for full color graphics, some materials can be applied to practically any type of fabric.

Ease of use – Average, the general process involves printing, cutting, masking, weeding and then heating.  With proper training and the right equipment this process can be very easy to use.

Advantages – Very good durability and an extremely professional look, combines the durability of the heat transfer vinyl method with the photo-realism of a printer.  This process can offer an excellent solution for dark colored garments or tough to do fabrics, as well as basic t-shirts.

Disadvantages – Cost of equipment and the learning curve (some machines do come with training).

Overall Rating – A+

Reputable Sources:  Imprintables Warehouse

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Sublimation – a process that involves the printing of a design with special type of sublimation ink2and then heat application to a “compatible” garment.

Durability – Excellent, this process will often outlast the garment.

Look/Feel – Excellent, the process involves the dyeing of fabric, so there is virtually no feel to the transferred image.  Very high photo quality results and detail can be achieved.

Ideal For – Lower quantities and personalization, photo realistic prints where durability is in high demand.  Yields very professional results.

Ease of use – Below Average, when dealing with inks, especially sublimation inks, knowledge of color correction, dpi, and proper application are critical.  The very nature of the aftermarket inks being loaded into the recommended Epson printer can create problems with clogging if strict instruction isn’t followed.

Advantages – Highly detailed, photo quality prints can be created and transferred over to your garment in a matter of minutes.  The feel and durability are second to none.

Disadvantages – Cost of inks.  The process of sublimation is also restricted to application onto light colored garments.  Another disadvantages is that these garments must be comprised of at least 65% polyester in content.  Blanks can often be hard to find and/or expensive.

Overall Rating – B

Reputable Sources:  Alpha Supply   -  Sawgrass Systems

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Heat Press Sublimation yields unparalleled results when it is used on its intended fabric. 

The process and the very word, “sublimation,” remind me of a game that I used to play when I was younger.    Everyone sits in a circle. Then someone will start by whispering a sentence to the person on their left.  Then they will whisper it to the person on their left, then they to their left and so on.  Eventually the whisper comes back to the original person, who in turn, announces what the sentence started as and what it has become.  Usually the sentence slightly resembles the original, but differs far more drastically.

This to me is Sublimation. 

Whether you pronounce it: Sublimation, Sublamination, Subliminal or Dye Sub. People will say…. I am looking for this process called sublimation. 

When directed towards me, this sentence triggers an almost scripted follow up question.  “Are you really looking for sublimation or are you looking for “one” ultimate method for doing t-shirts?”