Established in 1987, Victory Design offers a wealth of experience and expertise in this industry. Its own brand easiMARK offers customers a comprehensive range of films, finishes and styles to suit a wide variety of fabrics. An extensive cad cut range is one of the main strengths of the brand, including printable materials, whether using inkjet, sublimation, solvent or thermal ribbon. Victory Design also offers its customers an exclusive trade print transfer service.

“Our new series in Printwear & Promotion will focus on all areas of garment personalisation,” says Glynn. “We will look at a wide range of topics, offering readers hints and tips on common queries from questions we are frequently asked.” Future articles:

• Which garment film do I use?
• Pressing onto Nylon and Fleece
• Common production issues, their causes and solutions
• Sportswear issues and solutions
• Frequently asked questions and difficulties with design software
• Understanding which garments should be tested prior to application
• Quoting to your customers effectively
• Marketing issues and support

This month, we look at which garment film to choose – a common question for garment decorators, as there are such a wide variety of films available. In addition to this, the demands of customers bring a selection of fabrics that often require different films. When deciding which films to use, customers need to decide for themselves what they want from a film. For example, do they want a film for its washability? Colour range? Weedability? (high or low tack carriers). Do they want to multilayer? And how big is the design they have to produce?

So how do you answer such questions? If you required a film to produce small, detailed logos that are made up of two colours then you need to look for a film with the following properties: it needs to have a tacky clear carrier and if it is a hot release product this will improve registration.

Cold or warm release products can cause difficulties when releasing as they can stretch the design by as little as 0.5mm. When you come to layer your second colour on you may find that your designs are not in registration. You will then either have to replace the shirt or use remover spray in order to resolve the issue.

If you have to produce large logos, say for example, sports numbers; then choosing a film with a low tack carrier will aid you in the production process. The benefit of this type of film is that the carrier is low tack so there is no resistance when weeding compared to using a high tack film that would take longer to weed.

One factor that affects garment printers is clothing products such as polyester or nylon that have PU coatings. Before proceeding with producing heatseal logos on such items, ALWAYS pre test the garment.

To do this, apply your transfer with a specialist nylon product, i.e. easiMARK Nylon. Leave the garment for 24 hours to let the adhesives set, then wash the garment. After washing, try to peel back the transfer. If the film has not taken correctly this will easily peel off.

One of the most common technical problems customers come to us with relates to these types of garments. If you inform your own customers about the difficulties with these types of application, you can negotiate longer turnaround times for the work required – giving you valuable time to test the garment.

If you supply your own clothing then this test is only required once, but if your customer brings his/her own garments for you to press then this test is vital. If you decide not to do this, you could end up in an embarrassing situation with your customer if the print falls off. Worse still any repeat business could be lost.

If you have any further questions following this article call Glynn at Victory Design on 01246 570570 or email sales@victorydesign.co.uk

Full details of the easiMARK range can be found at www.victorydesign.co.uk