Heat Press For Quick Shirt Prints

Starting Off Right

When we started printing apparel we looked at large equipment to buy, ranging from $15k -$150k. However investing in a large automatic press right up front without having any large customer base made us review our approach in purchasing the right equipment for our size.

This new approach led us to looking at a much smaller solution to print our shirts and start producing cash flow right away.

Time will be the biggest factor when printing apparel, the heat press is a fast and clean way to get your ideas on a t-shirt, basketball jerseys, tote bag, hoodies and whatever other merchandize you can think of printing on.

Here are some tips to help you find the right type of heat press and other equipment you’ll be needing to complete your set up and get started right away.

I do urge you to think long-term when making your investment in equipment, you’ll be working with this equipment constantly so it makes sense that the equipment you buy can handle a heavy workload daily.

Cheaper equipment seems to not always be the best option and never a good idea to invest in when your business depends on that equipment to produce cash flow. The last thing you need is faulty equipment that stops your flow and no support to fix the problem.

Here is what you’ll need to get started.

• Heat press – basic clamshell press to transfer vinyl cutout prints on t-shirts, jerseys, tote bags and other merchandise. Typical size 16″ x 20″ heats up to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

•  Silhouette Cameo – this machine will help you cut out fonts, detailed shapes or patterns without too much trouble. Easy to run and understand after a few attempts. Can cut 12″ across but for a larger cut surface look at 23″ vinyl cutter

• Heat Press Thermal Vinyl – You’ll use this material to place on the vinyl cutter to cut your graphics. Vinyl rolls or sheets come in multiple shades of color, metallic and fluorescents.

• Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator –  you’ll have to create font design, graphics and shapes as your artwork to cut out using these softwares.

Momentum

In doing research and talking to other local print shops we sought out the quickest way to begin printing shirts.

Some print shop were hesitant to share their information and experience and others were more than willing to share what equipment was the best to use and what we needed to get started.

Our first ever real equipment that we bought was a small 4 color 1 base manual press that we found on Craigslist for $800, this included inks and 2 squeegee.

One of the most overlooked part about buying new equipment is that you or someone else will have to learn how to use these machines so you’ll have to figure it out on you tube or learn directly from a professional in the industry.

Looking back on it the heat press is the easiest way to get started, because the learning curve for silk screen prints takes about a full year of daily practice to get decent prints and avoid costly mistakes that tend to occur when learning something new.

I recommend outsourcing all of your screen printing in the beginning as you take this time to learn about the equipment the process and the challenges that’ll come up in your business.

Faster Solution

Skip the chemistry lesson and hours of learning proper technique and invest in a heat press instead for quick one color sample prints that you can have complete in about an hour.

Compared to a screen print press you’re shaving at least 2 to 3 hours of prep time by using a heat press. However there are certain limitations with using a heat press but the point is to get cooking right away. You can find more info on those heat press limitations here.

Momentum is a beautiful thing, especially when starting something new.

You’ll want to gain as much traction and move forward as quickly as possible and the heat press allows you to do this in a short amount of time.

Nothing keeps the ball rolling like cash flow and to confirm your ideas with designs or concepts you can produce in an hour and present them to customers will work in your favor to get people other than your family to buy your gear or idea.

American Made Heat Press

A year ago we upgraded our old heat press for a fancy Vesta Auto Open Heat Press however within 6 months I had to take it back because some of the wirings got loose and the machine wouldn’t heat up to the proper temperature that allows the vinyl material to transfer onto fabric.

The week without the heat press our orders began to back up and customers didn’t like that too much and neither did we, this was an inexpensive heat press manufactured in another country.

Keep in mind when you buy equipment to make sure the manufacturer is local or in the US, you want to avoid the time delays that will go into finding that vendor in another country to get your equipment repaired.

When we finally got our heat press out of the shop within a short 3 months of use the heat press died again, it’s safe to say we bought a lemon. The vendor that sold us the heat press was no longer answering our calls, emails and voicemail. The manufacturer was in China and out of reach to send our heat press directly to them.

The lesson here, buy American made equipment.

When buying a heat press or any other major equipment make sure it’s manufactured in the states and has at least a year’s warranty.

Incase anything malfunctions with the equipment the manufacturer can at least ship one out to you in about a week, believe me, you’ll want to avoid work piling up while your equipment is getting repaired or replaced.

You’ll end up paying more upfront for a US-made machine however this gives you peace of mind and could save you lots of time and money in looking to fix a mechanical issue right away.

If you buy a less expensive model from China don’t expect customer service or support from your vendor you’ll end up wasting time so it’s better to buy in the states to have a chance on finding a specialized repair shop that will help you get back and running.

Let us know how we can help you.

If you have any questions please comment below or send us an email at Info@laprintanddesign.com