Direct To Garment (DTG) printing is most commonly done with the 100 percent cotton fabric. In case you aim to use other fabrics like polyester garments with your DTG printers, the best way to achieve desired results is with pretreatment. Although it’s the least favourite step of all business owners, but its importance cannot be undermined. So, we bring to you a detailed article on everything about DTG pretreatment.
What is Pretreatment?
In simple words, DTG pretreatment is a liquid solution that can be used with the DTG industrial printers to allow the printing and washablity of the white ink (as well as other colours) on the different coloured shirts, most commonly black shirts. The goal of a pretreatment machine is to prevent the soaking of the DTG inks in the fabric. It allows the DTG in to remain on the top of the fabric to keep colours vibrant. In case you have ever tried to print an artwork on a dark coloured fabric and noticed faded results, you should try using the pretreatment liquid as it allows the white to sit on top of the fabric instead.
How Much Pre-Treatment Should I Use?
While pretreatment is very important for the DTG printing process, is can be quite tricky for the business owners to use the right amount of pretreatment solution on the t-shirts. This is something that you have to gauge for yourself and understand the amount of pretreatment solution to be used on the fabric. How much you need is dependent on a number of factors, including:
The colour of your fabric
The type of your fabric
The method you choose to pre-treat your garment is also relevant
Understanding the right amount of the pretreatment solution for the t-shirts can be tricky, which is why it is so frustrating for DTG users. Remember that too much or too little can both ruin a garment.
What Types Of Pretreatment Options Are Available?
Since pretreatment is quite common among the DTG printing business owners, there are different types of DTG pretreatment machines available on the market to choose from. Here is the quick rundown of the common methods available:
Pre-treatment Spray Gun
As the name suggests, these are the simple types of spray guns that can be used with the pretreatment liquid to spread the material throughout the piece of fabric. The best part about using the spray gun is that it is very simple and easy to grasp for new users. You need no additional guidance or technical knowledge to use them.
Pre-treatment machine
This is the advanced version of a pretreatment machine, designed to take the hassle away. The aim is to let the machine pre-treat your garments for you. With the pretreatment machine, you won’t end up with patches.
So, now that you understand everything about the pretreatment, make sure to keep using it whenever you use the DTG printers in future.
