Basic question - Which ink for transfers?

[AdamB]

Classic John!

[mrs maggot]

Sweetchuck, if you have all the answers that lovecut are giving you - then you have no need of a forum like this, where people help people by giving them genuine advice based on the pro's and cons (no pun intended) of products.

- 50 washes for a t shirt, open your drawer look at your favourite t's how long have you had them - 50 washes is less than a year - i have customers wearing mine 3&4 years after ive made them

i do some printing with epson durabrite inks on a good quality transfer paper, and i am happy with the results, i use these for some promotional t's they never have the feel of a proper transfer, and although they last well, im sure i wont see them after years like my vinyl ones

[John G]

I screen print onto the actual t'shirt - yes, screen print. That long ago practice (dinosaur era) that is now, just about, extinct, when the image was actually printed onto the t'shirt and actually stayed on the garment after it was washed 3 - 5 times.

I really cannot believe people on this forum would sell garments that wouldn't last more than 3 - 5 washes. This is why I suggested that this forum should be a membership ran forum - the beer money brigade are asking the same questions again - and again - and we are still giving them the bullets.

John

[mrs maggot]

I really cannot believe people on this forum would sell garments that wouldn't last more than 3 - 5 washes. This is why I suggested that this forum should be a membership ran forum - the beer money brigade are asking the same questions again - and again - and we are still giving them the bullets.

WTF - John

100% agree John, we seem to be supporting people who are actually taking our livelyhood away from us, we don't do this for pocket money, or to pay towards a holiday, or in the hope of maybe oneday making it full time - we do this for our living

[AdamB]

As (what I class) as quite a newbie to the forum and sublimation (been doing it for the last couple of years, but opened a shop in Novemeber 2010) I have found the help and information on the forum invaluable ........................ but, I did the decent thing and read through all the old posts and viewed many videos and tutorials to try and get a little 'clued up' with what I wanted to do.

After that, I 'believe' that some of the questions I asked were genuine and sincere.

I do a variety of products in my shop and also sell childrens clothes and accesories so we have two shops rolled into one ............... and business is still hard and I am always trying to look at something unique that will set us apart. This, however, is very hard if (after many have stated) our competitiors are selling the same items for pennies. I have to take into account the rent, electric, water, consumables, equipment, ink etc etc etc and that's just runnng the shop! I work many long nights and I'm in many early mornings as I want to make this work for both myself and my family.

Those competitors will never go away, but it does seem that the forum (and please, this is only my opinion) is becoming very repetative with the same questions and they normally come down to "I want to make some mugs and make some cash for beer" and although those individuals could be seen as 'doing nothing wrong' it's the long term effects that come into question.

I posted recently about dark t-shirts and using transfer paper. I must have spent over £50 on various methods trying and testing with multiple washes because I wanted something that was 'acceptable' to be sold. I know it's an old subject and I have read a lot about it but I was hoping in technology advancing to come accross something that 'would' be suitable (don't mention magic touch - I have fingers like bratwurst sausages).

The future ...................... I don't know, but perhaps if some 'stickies' could be made with some of the guides/posts/FAQ's it would help in repetative questions. Regarding if the forum should be a 'members only' forum - I was sitting on the fence, but I'm now heading towards the majority.

[DREAMGLASS]

we seem to be supporting people who are actually taking our livelyhood away from us - we do this for our living

There is a whole culture out there of producing cheap and cheerful print based products, with little regard to the quality the customer finally receives. Looking at some of these seller's feedback on eBay is quite enlightening. 'Picture fell to bits after first wash', 'Print was lopsided', 'T-shirt quality awful', 'Seller sent wrong size - won't communicate'. Some of those folks are real ambassadors for the industry (not).

I don't think the solution lies in creating members only sites though, but more through educating people. Whilst many folks will continue to have zero concept of a sustainable business with happy repeat customers, some of the folks that venture onto sites like this, do want to put there name to a good quality product and build up a good business reputation for themselves. Helping those folks out is ultimately good for the industry.

[AdamB]

Ok, why not have the forum in two parts?

The first part is viewable by all where they can introduce themselves and make a couple of posts. When their postcount gets to a specific number or when a moderator sees fit they can then see the 'members' section.

I run a couple of forums myself and this would just be a permissions setting so shouldn't be too much trouble??

An idea ......... ?

[DREAMGLASS]

I am a moderator on a big software forum and pride myself that I have never deleted any post, even when it has been offensive, negative or against the general grain. Trouble is when you start to exclude people because they perhaps hold a different viewpoint, have different thought processes, or want to conduct their business in a different way, then you end up with a petty dictatorship based on exclusion, rather than inclusion.

If this forum is about promoting sublimation as a print process, giving assistance to those encountering practical problems and passing on useful experiences with suppliers, then by necessity it needs to remain an open and transparent facility.

[AdamB]

Yes, but that's 'your' opinion and it's great that we can discuss subjects such as these freely. However, if a new member was required to post an introduction and advised to read a few FAQ's before being give access to the full board then perhaps this would help in the 'bone' repetative questions.

I love this forum, I think the members here have some great knowledge that I often call upon (everyone's human) and I am becoming more knowledgeable by the day - but I don't promise to be an expert (yet).

I don't think you get my point, I'm not trying to advise that the forum excludes people, just puts them on a path so they can read the basic stuff before joining and asking the same questions.

[John G]

I can see your point Dreamglass but have to agree with Adam about the same questions being asked - It was suggested a while ago to have a FAQ stickie which would sort out all this.