Tracy Takes On…. “I’m Confused, Tell me What I Need?” Part VI

tracytakesonWell… these blogs are turning into a Michael Meyers, Halloween Part 185 type thing, aren’t they? They keep coming back to haunt us with more useless knowledge.

Now, what else is left?

Oh yes, vinyl transfers. You will need a vinyl cutter to cut the material and a heat press to apply it. You can find vinyl in a wide range of colors, prints, glitters, fluorescents, reflectives, puffs, and so on. There are different vinyls for different substrates – from nylon and cotton to spandex and polyester. Vinyl is very popular in the athletic apparel market, in applying pre-cut names, numbers and logos to athletic jerseys. Continue reading “Tracy Takes On…. “I’m Confused, Tell me What I Need?” Part VI”

Tracy Takes On…. “I’m Confused, Tell me What I Need?” Part V

Now… let’s talk about sublimation’s little sister, ChromaBlast! ChromaBlast came along a few years after sublimation was introduced. It was going to be the fix-all for getting that sublimation type image applied to cotton. ChromaBlast is a unique ink and … Continue reading

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tracytakesonNow… let’s talk about sublimation’s little sister, ChromaBlast!

ChromaBlast came along a few years after sublimation was introduced. It was going to be the fix-all for getting that sublimation type image applied to cotton. ChromaBlast is a unique ink and media combo that is driven by a power driver to allow you to create an image and apply to cotton garments without the trimming. As heat and pressure are applied to the cotton, a chemical cross-link with the cotton occurs. The result is a shirt with a very soft hand, vibrant color and great washability.

The key to this process is the chemical bond between the ink and the coating on the paper. Where it touches, during the pressing the cross-link reaction will occur. It’s almost as if a tattoo has been applied to the garment. The overprinted area (polymer) from the media does transfer, but it’s very soft and will wash away after a washing or two.

ChromaBlast will produce vibrant, full-color, lasting images that look, feel and breathe like nothing else on the market.

As always, Negative Nancy has to give her point of view by adding her CONS:
You should use a 100% cotton garment for the best result, but you can use some blends! No Colors,  use white only to get the best ending result! Using a colored garment will not allow that excess to wash away correctly, so you will end up seeing that nasty residue that’s left behind.

It’s also an expensive substitute to regular transfer printing since you have to use the ChromaBlast ink and paper. Those can be pricey!

There are some great PROS: to this system too.
ChromaBlast feels niiiice on the shirt. It’s super soft and it does leave a pretty vibrant image that will stay vibrant, wash after wash!

In comparing ChromaBlast to a regular transfer paper, transfer paper images will sit on top of the weave and feel heavy, ChromaBlast bonds to the garment and stays soft, light and airy.

So, that sums up another addition to this series of blogs…  I hope we’re clearing up some lingering questions floating around out there. If you do have any questions that I may have not answered, shoot em’ over and we will do our best to get those answered for you!

Don’t forget to check back… there’s still more to come!

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Tracy Takes On…“I’m Confused, Tell me What I Need?” Part IV

We’re going to now move into the world of sublimation….everyone thinks this is a gift to fix all. Don’t be so sure! Sublimation is the process of an ink turning into a gas, penetrating the fibers in the garment when … Continue reading

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tracytakesonWe’re going to now move into the world of sublimation….everyone thinks this is a gift to fix all. Don’t be so sure!

Sublimation is the process of an ink turning into a gas, penetrating the fibers in the garment when heated, becoming a permanent part of that item and then sealing into the fibers of that item once it’s completely cooled. Sublimation was originally thought to be a process to apply images onto hard surface items only, such as ceramics, metals, certain plastics, and hardboard materials but it’s become very popular with large format users who are doing customized garments. Anything from jerseys, t-shirts, swimsuits, towels, blankets, floor mats/car mats and tote bags are just some examples of the growing industry.

Small desktop printers range from 8.5” x 14” systems up to 13” x 19” with optional bypass trays that are available. Epson and Ricoh are the main brands of sublimation printers (see all of our small format sublimation-compatible printers HERE). Epson printers are equipped with a Piezo print head technology. Micro Piezo print heads feature microscopic piezoelectric actuators that are built behind the print nozzles. When an electrical charge is applied to them, the piezoelectric elements bend backward, drawing precise amounts of ink from the ink chamber into the firing chamber. When the electrical pulse is reversed, the piezoelectric elements bend the opposite way very rapidly, propelling the ink out of the nozzles at high speed. This helps with clogging issues since sublimation ink is a little thicker than regular OEM inks. A handful of Epson printers are also able to be equipped with bulk refill systems, which use bags of ink instead of cartridges. This will drastically cut down your cost per print as we all know how small some inkjet printer cartridges can be!

Ricoh printers aren’t equipped with these types of print heads, but the sublimation ink used in Ricoh printers is gel-based. The ink flows more smoothly, therefore you’ll experience less clogging (if any). Although there are no bulk hookups for these printers, they are able to house a much larger cartridge size over its Epson friends.

There are also floor models on the market that are still considered smaller format (under 24”) and can run rolls of paper. Then you get into the wide format equipment, which is a whole other blog in its own. Heck, maybe we will see a wide format blog in the upcoming future!

Some CONS are, sublimation is a bad idea if you need to do dark garments! The only way to get a sublimation image onto a colored garment is if the image (ink you’re laying down) is darker than the color of the shirt. For instance, you can do black images or prints on red garments, orange, yellow, pink, blue… (make sense?)

Another downside is if you’re wanting to use a cheap ole’ shirt – nix that idea. Sublimation requires 100% polyester to get the best image and the best washability possible!

The PRO about sublimation is that it is a permanent image on your substrate! What can get better than this? No washing away, fading or cracking to worry about!

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