An innovation in heat transfer paper

Cost-effective equipment, low-risk investment, but maximum return – that’s the future of transfer printing. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey visited TheMagicTouch in Dunstable to find out more about the company’s latest innovation that will make this future a possibility.

Paper is paper, right? Wrong. When it comes to transfer printing there are various different papers that can be used to print on various different substrates.

The team over at TheMagicTouch has been working hard throughout the last few years to develop a heat transfer paper that works in harmony with the OKI C711WT white toner printer.

The C711WT has been on the market for around three-and-half-years. The white-toner technology used in this printer delivers excellent opacity and therefore a high white factor on garments and textiles. It provides the ability to print onto dark backgrounds and makes printing in solid, sharp and bright white as easy as any other colour.

And now there is a new single-step paper looking to make the transfer print process even quicker and simpler, while providing high quality prints and removing the need for cutting and weeding.

A new revelation

“T.One is what we are branding our new revelation to the world as,” explains Jim Nicol, TheMagicTouch’s UK managing director.

Released this month by TheMagicTouch is a new digital garment decoration system known as The T.App. The range has been developed to provide simplicity, speed, precision and vivid colours on a wide variety of fabrics, including polyester, cotton, mixed and performance fabrics.

There are four products in the range; T.One, T.Foil, T.Flock and T.Seal.

Prior to the release of T.One, customers were limited to using the company’s WoW series of transfer media. This paper could be used seamlessly with the white toner technology, but involved an extra step in the process; printing the transfer and pressing it to the mask sheet and then applying to the garment, which was time consuming. T.One eradicates the mask making aspect of the process.

Benefits of T.One

Jim and his colleague Nathan Newbury, head of technical, were excited to demonstrate and explain the benefits that using T.One can bring.

T.One has been designed to deliver full colour transfers with no coating film window outside the image on white or light coloured garments or fabrics. No cutting or weeding is required with this paper and it can only be used with the OKI C711WT white toner printer. Users will continue with the WoW process for dark colour garments and fabrics.

The idea, as Nathan explains, has been in development for the last 10 years, but due to the complexity of it the product has only just come to fruition. “We have been looking at how to transform the transfer for years now. Previously transfers would only work if there was a solid image. If you tried to put a gradient through an old colour copier, where the gradient goes from blue to white for example, there was nothing there because there was no white toner, so the transfer wouldn’t work. Now we’ve got the white toner printer we can all of a sudden rethink the whole process.

“When there is no image in the print we put white there with the toner so the print can be printed. It’s the white toner that makes the difference. White toner has been around for three to four years now and has been getting better. The first prototype of the paper that we made a few years ago just didn’t wash, so we had to go back to the drawing board. The WoW process will still continue to apply for black and dark colour garments and fabrics.”

The ability to wash well

The durability of the transfer is something that is very important to TheMagicTouch. Transfer prints have a reputation for being rather plastic-like, but this new paper flips that stereotype on its head. The end result is soft to the touch and each print is produced to last without fading or peeling. The print can actually be restored by ironing the transfer inside out.

Jim explains: “All of the other weedless transfer papers that we have come across in the market have just never washed. We had this paper ready to go back in September last year, but the washability was not as strong as we needed it to be. We’ve had people say to us ‘what’s the point’ because people only wear promotional T shirts once. But we know people who wear these kinds of T shirts day in and day out, so we had to ensure that the durability was second to none.”

TheMagicTouch’s plan with the product is quite simple. The sales team plan to get out on the road during the next three months and visit all clients who have purchased the OKI C711WT white toner printer and demonstrate to them in their own workshop, using their own printer, the benefits of T.One.

“This paper changes the market again. Previously creating a transfer like the ones created with T.One would have involved cutting, weeding or trimming taking up time and creating a higher cost per shirt. Now it takes five seconds and costs £1.50 per A4 and even lower cost per breast size logo – and it’s only the paper that has changed. This method will only progress and will only get better,” says Nathan.

This product was shown to a select few customers at Printwear & Promotion LIVE! and FESPA earlier in the year. Such was the interest in the product that one customer placed an order for 250 boxes.

What makes T.One different to other transfer papers is that it can be used a base for other products in The T.App range; this provides decorators with the ability to enhance their offering to customers.

The method works by firstly placing T.One on the T shirt first, followed by a piece of T.Foil. This instantly provides a metallic, holographic or rainbow colour effect to the print. The foil will only attach to where the print was. The same process applies when using T.Flock. Another added benefit is that customers no longer have to invest in rolls of foil in different colours as T.Foil is available in sheet format, as is T.One.

All prints made using T.One must be finished with a quick press of T.Seal. This unique paper moulds the film carrying the image into the weave of the fabric and seals in the washability of the print.

Success in sampling

During the visit Jim and Nathan were keen to emphasise that TheMagicTouch’s success only lies in its customers’ success and customers can find their success through sampling.

“This new technology is like a breath of fresh air for us,” says Jim. “What it’s going to do for our customers is to help them focus their sales and marketing with target sampling. And when they have seen what they can do with this product, it will convince them that their success lies in sampling. It’s going out there and creating business. I know it sounds like a crusade, but it is a crusade.”

One personalised sample mug, T shirt or notebook sent out to prospective or existing clients a day is all it takes to generate new business, says Jim. This makes the C711WT and T.One a perfect sales and marketing tool. “Far better than paying the Google monster for fishing for business with pay-per-click,” he adds.

The future is transfer printing

Both Jim and Nathan agree that transfer printing is an integral part of the garment and promotional product business. It provides those looking to start or expand their own business with a cost-effective, low-risk route to success.

“When you look at the quality of the print and the detail that can be produced, that’s the reason why we are so enthusiastic about T.One. Let’s not forget that for less than £3,000 you can equip yourself with the printer, the heat press, the paper, the toner and the garments. That’s nothing compared to start-up costs 25 years ago,” says Jim. “If you didn’t have £40,000 to hand back then, you couldn’t set up your own print business. Interest on a loan for that much was more than a mortgage on a house. Today, if you’re looking at buying a franchise for making sandwiches, cutting grass or cleaning windows you would spend £2,000 on legal fees before you even start. So when people say to us that £3,000 is a lot of money to start a business that can make money almost instantly they don’t think about the alternatives out there.”

T.One, T.Foil and T.Seal are available to purchase now on TheMagicTouch’s website. T.Flock is expected to be released in June.