Re: Iron-on Transfers for T-shirts
William H. Deavor III (wdeavor@CSRLINK.NET)
Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:37:45 -0400
At 08:29 AM 4/13/99 -0400, Richard Axtman posted concerning the making of
troop t-shirts using inkjet printer - iron-ons.:
I have done this for my troop and other goups, and would be happy to share
my experiences.
Before i do though, i have a question/comment about the cost breakdown.
>Projected Materials and Cost for 25 T-shirt run:
>
>Blank Shirts approx. cost $4.99 each (x 25) $124.75
>Transfer paper (8.5 x 11 sheet) about $1.10 x 25 $ 27.50
>Color Injet Cartridge about $35.00 $ 35.00
>
>Total $187.25
>Per Shirt cost (Divid by 25) $ 7.49
>Estimated cost for 25 shirts would be $7.49 per shirt and that's
>if you used a full 8.5 x 11 inch transfer sheet per shirt. With
>a full sheet you could probably put an image on both the front
>and back of the shirt.
We used plain ol Fruit of the Loom Tees (3-pack for $8-$10). This brought
the cost down considerably. You quote the transfersat $1.10 a piece. I
have never seen them any cheaper then $16 for a ten pack. (If you can get
them at that price, please share the source with me, i use a lot of them,
and that little bit would make a difference) When we made our troop's
first run, it broke down to about $4.50 a shirt.
>I did a little research on the Internet about this and found some
>info at the Hanes T-shirt web site. They recommend using either
>a white or natural (beige) 100 percent cotton T-shirt of Iron-On
>transfers. They said that Iron-on images show up better on these
>lighter colors.
Agree! we even tried grey shirts, and the only color that shows up
good is black
>
>My questions are:
>
>If so what type (manufacturer) of transfer paper did you use ?
I have used Canon and HP transfer papers - both remove while hot.
No major differences. It worked very well. The hard part is getting them
hot enough with a household iron. If you have access to a press, it works
a lot better.
>What brand name T-shirts did you use ?
>Were the T-shirts 100% Cotton or a 50/50 blend ?
We used Fruit of the Loom crew necks 100% cotton
>
>How well did the image stay on the shirts after multiple washings ?
Mixed results. The important thing is that you MUST!!! prewash the t-shrts.
If not, half of the design comes off with the first wash, or if its really
hot, it comes off all over the person wearing it.
OK, questions answered, here's a few other tips for anyone thinkong about
taking on this project. They suggest that you use white or beige shirts.
This really cuts out a lot of creativity. Those light colors also do not
lend themselves well to camping. Our boys had theirs filthy on a weekend
trip that never even saw the woods, i can't even imagine what they would
have looked like after a week at summer camp. A couple of other drawbacks.
You can't print white with a printer. It's amazing how many graphics and
designs have white on them,and all of these are eliminated unless you want
to use a white t-shirt. The last problem / difficulty to be overcome is
the size. A 7 1/2 X 10 (remember that you lose about a half-inch all the
way around for printer margin)decal is just about the right size for a
Scout, but it looks tiny on the front of all but the smallest adults.
Diificulties aside, it met a need. We needed shirts fast, and the troop
was practically tapped out from the trip we were about to take. We made
the shirts in a couple of days, and everyone loved them (most even still
have them after 2 years(in varying shades from washing)). However, we have
decided that the next ones go to the screen printer. That being said.
This method is a lot of fun for making one-of-a-kind or novelty shirts
(but that's a whole other post.
Bill Deavor
Scoutmaster, Troop 65, Salvation Army, Lock Haven, PA
Activities Chair, Treaty Elm District, Susquehanna Council
