5 More Custom Transfer Layouts and a New Binder Catalog
Jan/120
Which do you like the best? Vote for your favorites on our blog! All 15 of our Great Dane Graphics sneak peeks are shown online and we are looking for your feedback.
New All Sports Layout QAP-46
New Cheerleading Layout QCH-132
New Football Layout QFB-153
New Fire Layout QLW-60
New Music Layout QMU-85
We will screen-print your design, and ship the same day if you order a one color transfer by 11 am EST, and in just 2 days for a multi-color transfer. Once your custom transfer is received it can be applied to your apparel in just seconds with a heat press. There is not an easier way to create custom apparel. You are creating your customer’s apparel without the need for art skills or programs, or expensive and messy screen printing equipment.
Like what you see? These and many others are available in the new personalized binder Idea Book™. The binder catalog gives you a great presentation when you meet with potential customers and is a great companion to the online Easy View™. It is the iron-on industry’s largest, filled with thousands of customizable layouts. The book is color coded in sections including fashion, occasions, school, business and sports. Each section is started with full color photos showing the potential for completed apparel on models. The binder cover is personalized with a one line personalization of your choice giving you a professional sales tool.
Custom Screen Printed Transfers Proven Durable!
Nov/111
Our products have been tested for proven durability to meet your customer’s needs. All of our screen printed transfers recently went through a wash test by a testing lab.
The products were tested on 100% cotton, 50/50 Cotton/Polyester, 100% Polyester Steel mesh, 100% Polyester patterned Jacquard, 100% Polyester 70 Denier Tricot Mesh w/moisture wicking, anti-microbial agents and stain resistant coatings and 100% Polyester Dazzle.
The products tested were Goof Proof, Polytrans, Hot Split, Reflective, Glitter, Pearl, Puff and Elasti Prints. Each was applied to every fabric and then subjected to 50 wash/dry cycles.
Through all 50 wash/dry cycles, all of the products submitted held up through this vigorous testing. This is helpful to ensure your customers are receiving the highest quality graphics that will last them a long time.
Our Goof Proof® ink formula on a variety of fabric types after testing.
Apparel Terms to Help with Heat Transfers
Nov/111
Terms used when ordering apparel can be confusing. A special thank you to team member Andy Curtiss who did some research on what they mean and how it comes into play when applying heat transfers.
Denier– A unit of measurement that indicates how fine the weave of a material. Specifically, denier references to the weight of a fiber. For example, 1 denier = 1 gram per 9,000 meters of a fiber. So this means that the higher the number, the heavier the weight of the fibers used. A lightweight garment has a lower denier. For example, a woman’s nylons could be 7 denier. But a heavy duty nylon awning could be 1,000 denier. This does not affect heat printing.
Moisture Wicking – This term refers to some fabrics abilities to absorb sweat from your skin and pull it through to the outside of the garment. This leaves your skin dry and comfortable and allows the sweat to evaporate more quickly. Both nylon and polyester have the capacity to wick moisture as noted above. This term alone has no effect on the adhesion of our product as it is NOT a special coating, but a natural ability of some fibers.
Dri-Fit, Aerocool and Cool Mesh – These are trademarked or brand terms that refer to a type of jersey in which nylon or polyester has been mixed with cotton or another natural fiber. These garments are advertised as not only good at wicking away sweat, but the added natural fibers like cotton make the garment more breathable and comfortable, allowing a person to cool down more quickly. So when dealing with these garments, we will always need to ask: polyester or nylon.
Porthole, Mini, & Micro Mesh – These are all terms that simply refer to the size of the holes and the denier (weight) of the mesh fabric. All three can either refer to polyester mesh or nylon mesh. The largest holes with the heaviest denier are generally the porthole mesh which is used for some football jerseys or mesh laundry bags. In contrast, the micro mesh has tiny holes and smaller denier and it is used for basketball and lacrosse jerseys. Mini mesh is between the other two and can be used in any of the sports previously mentioned as well as soccer. When a customer mentions any of these products we should immediately ask if it’s nylon or polyester and make the appropriate transfer type choices from there – don’t ever assume!
Tricot Mesh – Tricot is a term that refers to a style of knitting or weaving. The tricot style will generally leave one side of a garment smooth and the other side textured. Tricot mesh is this style of weave used in a mesh jersey. These are often times a higher end jersey in the sports world (it is also used in undergarments and sleeping bags). Tricot mesh comes in both polyester and nylon varieties so we need to ask when customers mention it – don’t assume!
Performance Wear – A garment that is worn close to the skin because of its wicking properties. Performance wear is made to be tight, but flexible so it can be worn under a uniform or as a uniform itself in some sports. Some performance wear is worn as a loose fit. These garments can be decorated with any of our products that are appropriate for polyester. However, other performance wear is referred to as compression fit. These garments are worn skin tight and will generally stretch to some degree. For this fit you should use Elasti Prints® or CAD-PRINTZ™. You will hear the terms moisture wicking, dri-fit and aerocool occasionally in conjunction with performance wear (see above for their definition).
Sublimation – A high end process of decorating garments that involves dying the garment with a gas process. Garments are polyester and start the process as white or very light grey. After the sublimation process is complete, the garment will show a different color(s) on the outside, but still show the original white or light grey on the inside. The only catch to the process is that it easily suffers from dye migration (see below). The only transfer type that can be safely used is CAD-PRINTZ Sub Block.
Sub Block on a Sublimated Shirt
The Ins and Outs of League Business
Nov/110
Yesterday with Doug Wilcoxson of Bomark, we hosted an all day seminar on the ins and outs of league business here at Transfer Express.
Ben Reutter and Chris Ulrich of Transfer Express hosted an all day seminar on league business.
Doug discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the league business. The advantages are a reputation in the community, many uniforms to decorate and the stability of the league business even during down times. The disadvantage is a lot of business all with the same delivery demands, add-ons, and low margins.
He reviewed ideas for overcoming these disadvantages such as getting them to buy an extra uniform right from the start, the use of transfers so that you do have the one extra to apply in seconds and using the delivery as an opportunity to advertise for more profitable business.
He also emphasized the importance of getting 50% down when ordered, and the rest on delivery because leagues have all of their money paid when sign up ends before the season starts, and as the season progresses payment for grass cutting, lights, umpires, etc may drain an ill planned budget.
Doug from Bomark explains the ins and outs of league business at an all day Open House Seminar hosted by Transfer Express.
Doug also brought samples of the uniforms distributing by Bomark. He will be presenting this same seminar at upcoming ISS shows, so if you are at a show it is a great investment of time in your business.
Embroiderer Offers Tips for Success When Selling At On-Site Events
Oct/110
Marjorie Corrow has found that a great way to supplement her custom embroidery business is by traveling to events where she sets up a table or tent and sells a variety of decorated sportswear to the attendees.
Although she is primarily an embroiderer, she has found that custom transfers allow her to offer greater variety and she loves the ability to press designs on demand, which means she is not stuck with a lot of printed inventory at the end of the day.
Her business, Life’s A Stitch Embroidery LLC, Niskayuna, N.Y., returns to many of the same events year after year and she reports, she has customers who can’t wait to see what she will have new each year.
According to Majorie Corrow, president, Life’s A Stitch Embroidery, Niskayuna, N.Y, exhibiting at a conference generates sales not only during the event, but afterwards as well as sometimes she will run out of a size and color, and the customer will order it and have it shipped.
But while the money can be good, there are things to know ahead of time before deciding if this might be a good proposition for your decorated apparel business.
One of the biggest rules is if you are coming back to an event you have done before, while you do want to bring any designs you had leftover from last year, but you do not want to offer them printed exactly the same way on the same style of apparel.
Corrow feels that her efforts at creativity are a big key to her success. “I typically do one or two samples to put on display. I always try to do one that is really cool and not your typical center chest imprint. The goal is to do something attractive and different and give people ideas,” she says.
Two of Corrow’s most popular items at conferences are hoodies and flannel pants. She uses transfers on the pants as it’s much faster, easier, and cheaper than using a big embroidery design or appliqué.
Because she brings a heat press and designs with her, she also can offer some customization to her clientele. “They can tell me what they want, and I do it right in front of them. I will cut up little bits of the logos and put parts of the logo in one place and another. I’m not afraid to experiment. I’m very low key and happy to do what they want.”
The decorator also makes sure she offers at least one exclusive design each year.
“With permission, I take the conference logo and get creative with it, and I put that on a signature piece. So every year at the conference is a new signature piece from me,” she says.
Ideally, the embroiderer wants to have some extra designs on hand for the inevitable follow-up orders. “Post-event orders happen frequently, and I encourage it,” she says. “Customers will want a sweat shirt in a color or style that I don’t have.”
Ganging designs on a page when ordering transfers also helps keep costs down.
“I try very hard not to overbuy transfers,” she says, “and I may pay a little more as a result. But I’ve become pretty sharp about how to place them on the page to get the most bang for the buck.”
And in some cases, running low on a design can actually be a plus. “Sometimes it creates a perception of ‘hurry up they are running out’ and that enhances sales,” she notes.
Of course, it’s not possible to perfectly guess how much you will need for any given event, and having some leftovers is a cost of doing business. “If I have anything left, I mark it down, bring it the next year, donate it, or give it away. Regardless, I get my money out of every conference.”
Expect to pay a fee for the opportunity to exhibit at a conference, says Corrow, and she also offers a cut of the sales on items with the conference logo or some other arrangement that helps the organization make money. “I do not make megabucks at these, but it is my way of helping non-profit groups in other ways besides a cash donation,” she notes.
You also will need permission to use the conference name and logo on merchandise and if she is going to offer cut up designs, she makes sure she has permission from the conference in advance to do that.
Embroiderer Caters To Conferences With Print-On-Demand Transfers
Oct/110
Conferences are a great niche for custom transfers because they allow you to offer a customized shirt without committing inventory. You may be left with some extra designs, but these can be used for follow-up orders after the event or for next year’s gathering.
By visiting a website like http://www.allconferences.com/, almost any decorator can easily identify if there are any worthwhile conferences near them that would make it feasible to pack up a truck or van with shirts, designs, and a heat press and spend a busy weekend selling logoed merchandise.
For Marjorie Corrow, president, Life’s a Stitch Embroidery, LLC, Niskayuna, N.Y., (http://tinyurl.com/6k6tzsw) custom transfers have been a profitable decorating method to use as she travels to conferences held by Christian youth groups and child abuse prevention organizations. Although Corrow is primarily an embroiderer and brings a few pre-embroidered items with her, the majority of her merchandise is printed onsite.
One lucrative niche that Marjorie Corrow, president, Life’s A Stitch, Niskayuna, N.Y., caters to is conferences. Although she is primarily an embroiderer, she has found that transfers allow her to easily expand her offerings and increase her overall sales.
“I invest in a lot of blanks and about $200 in transfers,” she says, “and I use them for a couple of years. For example, I have two logos I use every year for my Christian youth group.”
One secret to success in catering to conferences is knowing what to bring. Corrow selects a nice variety of apparel appropriate to the event, which typically includes T-shirts, sweat shirts, caps, and women’s tops as well as miscellaneous little things.
“I usually have hoodies and T-shirts with the conference logo on the front chest, down the sleeve, or down the leg. I also bring a selection of blank flannel pants. I typically buy a lot of closeouts that I don’t pay a lot on. I have a good relationship with the wholesaler, and it will let me return closeouts,” Corrow says. “Of course, you have to be at a certain sales volume, and you have to return goods within a certain amount of time. But it allows me to send back apparel that isn’t logoed even though I have to pay the shipping.”
“I have a pretty good feel for how much and what sizes,” the decorator notes. “I only bring things I can sell in subsequent years. That is something that you learn over time.”
Corrow has found that even though she’s often bringing back an old design, she can still sell another piece to last year’s customer by changing the garment it’s applied to.
“For a prevent child abuse conference, I have a design that is hands with spread fingers and thumbs entwined in different colors, sizes, and configurations. They form a U-shaped necklace, and I apply it to the neckline of either a scoop-neck ladies’ shirt or a regular T-shirt.
“This conference is mainly women in helping professions, and the hands symbolize helping. They absolutely love it, and every year I put the hand design on a new piece,” she says.
Each year, Marjorie Corrow exhibits at a Prevent Child Abuse conference where one of her most popular designs is intertwining hands, which she embroiders on women’s wear and bags. She uses transfers for hoodies, flannel pants, and doggie Ts.
Heat Printing Zone at SGIA featuring Ted Stahl
Oct/110
Visitors to the SGIA Expo in New Orleans will experience many interactive exhibits, from hands-on demonstrations to product giveaways. Don’t miss out on your chance to interact with industry pioneer and Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame member Ted Stahl.
Ted will be hosting question and answer sessions in the Stahls’ Heat Printing Zone on Wednesday, October 19 and Thursday, October 20 at 1:15 pm. Ask Ted any questions you may have on heat printing and garment decoration and benefit from his over 35 years in the garment graphic industry.
So get to the Heat Printing Zone and see Ted – he wants to hear from you.
Find the complete schedule of events in the Heat Printing Zone here.
Rally Towels are Easy-to-Print Items to Offer Your Customer
Sep/115
This Friday, a big game takes place between two local state ranked football teams. Both of them run successful spirit stores so, professionally, we are staying neutral!
If your area also has an upcoming big game, an easy-to-print item to offer your customer is the rally towel. You can even print on the demand at the game with your heat press and custom transfers supporting both teams. Or have your customer offer it as an incentive with program sales–$10 for a program and rally towel.
Rally towels add to the excitement for fans!
These towels are available at a low cost, usually about $1, and you can do a transfer gang sheet with 2 images per sheet to keep your costs to a minimum. We offer over 100 football layouts that can easily be customized for your event!
On the rally towels shown, which are 14” x 17” in size, we used a Goof Proof® screen printed transfer and heat pressed for 4 seconds. All of our products can be applied to cotton, so choose your favorite and waive your team to victory!
Rally towels are a great way for fans to support their team!
Magic at the SGIA Expo
Sep/110
To most consumers, garment decoration is a mystery. Somehow, somewhere, people take plain shirts, jackets, and hats and Shazam! make them into great-looking apparel. You can see the magic happen firsthand at the 2011 SGIA Expo in New Orleans, October 19-21. Nobody will be wearing top hats or capes, and no rabbits will be pulled from hats, but there will be hands-on demonstrations, informational sessions with industry experts, and even prizes and giveaways.
It’s all happening in the Stahls’ Heat Printing Zone. There you’ll find refreshments, samples, demonstrations, and forums with world-class experts. You’ll learn how to decorate your customers from head to toe – literally. Topics include printing on headwear, creating graphic T-shirts, and customizing shoes, as well as discussions on industry trends and innovations. Plus, you’ll have the chance to win a Hotronix® Fusion™ heat press at our Friday drawing.
And don’t forget to visit our other areas.
In booth #1245 you’ll be able to see samples of Transfer Express’ screen printed transfers and get more information on our products.
The Digital Apparel Zone(#3125) will have live demonstrations of cut and sew equipment, heat transfer and print/cut technology, and cutting-edge techniques in digital apparel decoration.
Cap off your day with a visit to the Screen Printed Apparel Training Zone (#3319). Each day at 3:30 pm Josh Ellsworth of CAD-CUT ®Direct will demonstrate the use of screen printed transfers and heat press machines, as well as a thorough review of heat applied materials.
Stahls’ is Heat Printing, so be sure to visit us at the SGIA Expo and on Facebook.
Transfers Offer Solution For Hard-To-Decorate Items
Sep/110
Almost everyone is familiar with the fact that transfers are a great decorating medium for just about any type of apparel that is made of cotton, polyester, or a cotton/poly blend.
What you may not realize is that Transfer Express offers two distinct types of transfers: screen printed and digital. Screen printed transfers are limited to the traditional cotton and polyester fabrics, but digital transfers such as CAD-PRINTZ™ Opaque will go on almost anything you can fit in a heat press and can be created in unlimited colors.
This opens the doors to a much wider range of apparel and promotional items including nylon team uniforms, umbrellas, swim suits, and leather goods.
When Illinois Glove Co., Northbrook, Ill., was looking for a solution to print full-color logos on gloves for its promotional product customers, CAD-PRINTZ™ turned into a great solution for the company.
Prior to using Transfer Express, the manufacturer was screen printing one-color logos onto gloves. “Screen printing was a mess,” notes Jay Shmikler, director of sales and marketing. “Because the glove was made of a knit fabric, the print would fall into the little mesh holes. We could do only one color with screen printing, and then we lost out on orders to other products that could offer multiple color logos.”
Today, the company uses Easy Prints for one-color orders and CAD PRINTZ for full-color logos. Another reason digital transfers have been such a great match is the wide range of materials that gloves are made of.
“We offer gloves for automotive, construction, farm, ranch, trucking companies, freezer gloves for people who are stocking shelves in the grocery stores, and safety awards; you name it, we have probably done it,” says Shmikler.
So when choosing a decorating process, it’s important to match the right method to the glove material.
“We have certain types of gloves that we use Easy Prints,” says the director. “If the glove stretches, we have to make sure we get Easy Prints because that stretches. If the logo has a lot of detail, we use CAD-PRINTZ. So when someone comes to us with an eight-color logo, CAD-PRINTZ looks amazing. You can get shading that you really can’t get in a screen printed transfer.”
As a steady customer for the past four years, Shmikler has been satisfied with the product and the customer service. “They are good at returning calls, they are professional and they’re easy to deal with.”
If you have a customer come in with a hard-to-decorate item, next time, don’t turn them away. Investigate if using a digital transfer may be the perfect solution!
Switching from direct screen printing to screen printed and digital transfers solved several embellishing challenges for Illinois Glove Co. faced when decorating gloves for promotional product clientele. Photo courtesy of Illinois Glove Co., Northbrook, Ill.
