The T shirt printing industry has become hugely popular. More and more people are wearing clothes that are custom printed according to their tastes and preferences. If you are thinking of starting a new business, you should definitely explore the decorative garment industry.
What is Plastisol?
However, there are many ways to print customized designs on clothing. One of them is the use of plastisol transfers. Plastisol is a PVC suspension that is suspended in a liquid plasticizer. A plasticizer is an added ingredient that is used to increase the overall fluidity of any material. Basically, plastisol has an appearance of a liquid. It can be put in to a heated mold in order to solidify. When the plasticizer and the plastic are poured in to a heated mold that is around 177 degrees Celsius, the two completely melt each other.
Once the mold cools at a temperature less than 60 degrees Celsius, the plastisol becomes flexible and permanently plasticized. It is one of the most common textile inks in use today. Plastisol transfers are mainly common on darker fabrics or for printing graphical images that are slightly opaque. Conventional heat printing techniques do not provide similar quality as compared to plastisol.
That’s because conventional heat printers do not clearly differentiate between the colors. The image is processed through a heat transfer printer, and is created using locally available textile ink. As a result, if the fabric is dark or the image uses very light colors, the picture might be distorted. That is why plastisol ink is used.
How Does It Work?
To print a garment using plastisol ink, the first step is to buy a plastisol heat transfer printer. These are expensive printers, and are mostly used for heavy duty printing purposes. However, there are many varieties available. When buying a plastisol heat transfer printer, you will have to assess several things.
The amount of space available is the first thing to consider. Industrial scale plastisol heat transfer printers can cover the area of a large room, while smaller sized printers obviously occupy less space. However, the amount of printing to be done should also be considered. If you are starting a new business, it is best to purchase a small scale printer.
These printers are quite expensive, and you will also have to purchase a specific transfer machine. You will require adequate screen printing machinery in order to make good quality plastisol transfers. The decorative garment industry is exploding these days, with more and more people interested in getting customized clothing. You can also use the printer to decorate other merchandise, such as caps, hoodies, etc.
