I was looking to add to our equipment and can't decide what to do. Dye sub would be nice at the race track because I could take pictures of individual cars and put them on a t-shirt right there. It would be great for under 12 shirts of the same picture. Laser print is nice because the picture can be put on dark colored shirts but it is a bit pricey. Screen printer would open a whole new clietele for me but I wonder if I would use it that much. I'd like to hear what Letterheads are using for their clients. Posted by Laura Butler (Member # 1830) on :
I tried the screen printing on a small scale and it was not my bag- too much washing of screens, uckie hands, etc. I bought a shirt press and the ironable vinyl. I have started to do more and more shirts with thisiron on stuff. My first order was 3 dozen shirts at $18 each. That paid for the shirt press that I bought off of ebay.
Posted by Myra Grozinger (Member # 327) on :
I have screened T-shirts in the past, but I agree with Laura on the trouble that is if you are not set up for doing it pretty much exclusively. In my experience screening T-shirts it is a real competitive business in my town.
I send T-shirt jobs to a textile printer, and I screen everything else. I have a good relationship with the best of them in town, and either directly refer, be the middle woman, or do the artwork and sub out the labor.
The only way I personally do T-shirts is by Edge printing onto SmartBlocker, a product I buy from Advantage Sign supply. I then heat press it on the shirts. On any color shirt. It's as if you take a photograph (which of course it could be) and heat press it on. I don't advertise this, or push it. If someone wants it, first thing I say is that it's expensive and we take it from there. I also do the vinyl letters and heat press them on. But not often. Again, there is not really any money to be made. (the 18 bucks you got, Laura, is not bad at all, I could not have pulled that off unless there were special circumstances) Again, I do this as a favor, more or less to the customers who get their signs from me, in order to be more versatile.
In my market, T-shirts are not where the money is for a sign maker.
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