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.

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

Our new line of full color transfers can be applied to tees, tote bags, fleece, towels and even pillowcases!  They are sold in packs of 10 for just $20. You can buy a pack of your favorite design or a multi-pack that includes 2 of each of the 5 designs.

Full color, screen printed Christmas transfers are perfect to sell as gifts. Pictured here is Christmas design HOL-56.

Want to add customization? No problem! Text can be ordered as Express Names™ for individual personalization or in gang sheets for group personalization.

You can even create your own “gift” by adding your store name to the prints! One customer told us they gave a personalized tote bag, with every order over $100. Not only did their customers buy a little more to reach the $100 plateau, it was great advertising when carried in public, generating more business.

Shown here is a CAD-PRINTZ digital transfer used to decorate a compression fit polyester material.

If your customer wants a custom printed t-shirt, or anything cotton, polyester or cotton/poly blends your choices are unlimited. You will then need to consider if it is full color (digital product line) or spot color (screen printed transfer line). Another factor to consider is quantity. You can order as few as 1 of the digital transfers, but there is a 5 piece minimum when ordering the screen printed transfers using our layouts, or 10 if providing art.

Our customer service team will help you get the best product at the best price for your job.

White backed in black - Polytrans screen printed transfer

Our Goof Proof® and Polytrans screen printed transfer products use the same ink and paper but offer different application techniques. Both products can be used on cotton, polyester and cotton/polyester blend apparel. Both our numbers and names can be applied using either technique.

Goof Proof® is made for speed! It uses a higher temperature (365º) at a faster application time – just 4 seconds. This is our number one top selling product!

Polytrans uses a lower temperature (340º) for a longer application (10 seconds).

Use Polytrans when:
• A fabric is sensitive to heat such as some polyester
• Doing a multi-color transfer and the background outline color is darker than the foreground color

Using the low temperature technique, the color stays brighter in this situation as shown in the photo.

The most durable and least expensive is our Goof Proof® in metallic silver ink. Plastisol, screen printed metallic ink transfers do have flecks of metal for some sparkle, but it is the most subtle “bling” of the three. It is the best choice for athletic or school items that need to be durable for constant wear.

The second option is glitter. This has a lot of shine and is probably preferred by females. It is still very durable since it is a screen printed ink. Cheer and dance teams seem to love the glitter as it meets both needs – it adds sparkle and is still durable.

The third option is foil. This is actually a 2 step process as you need both a transfer and the foil product to put over it. This is the look desirable for fashion items and is great because you can choose to foil just a portion of the print giving a 2 texture look at just a 1 color price. However, this is the least durable of the three but by using it with the metallic silver ink, in time if the foil does flake off, you still have a very durable metallic silver print on the shirt.

Metallic ink, glitter ink and heat transfer foil options for when you want to add bling to your screen printed apparel

Line Thickness
Line thickness varies depending on which type of ink you would like your transfers printed with:

• Our recommended line thickness for Hot Split, Goof Proof®, Polytrans and Elasti Prints® is .012″ thick for printed areas.
• Our recommended line thickness for Reflective and Glitter is .025″ thick for printed areas.
• Our recommended line thickness for non-Puff colors is .012″ thick for printed areas (This may need increased if printed next to a Puff color. Be aware that Puff ink will increase the printed line thickness. A line that is .023″ will puff up to become .05″ in the applied transfer.)

To test the line thickness in your artwork files, try doing the following:
1. Create a line in your file and make it a different color than your artwork.
2. Set the thickness of the line to .012″.
3. Now move the line around, setting it over top of any artwork that may have thin areas of color. All of your artwork should be at least as thick as that line whether it be text, outlines or objects.
4. Delete the line when you have finished checking your file.

Any portion of artwork that is less than the recommended thickness is not guaranteed to be printed.

Make sure your line thickness meets the minimum requirements for the ink formula you choose.

Show-thru Thickness
Show-thru areas are any area in your design that has no ink but is surrounded by ink. These areas need to be as thick as the following guidelines:

• Our recommended show-thru thickness for all screen printed ink formulas is .04″ thick for show-thru areas except for Puff.
• Puff show-thru thickness should be .1″ thick. 

To test the show-thru thickness in your artwork files, try doing the following:
1. Create a line in your file and make it a different color than your artwork.
2. Set the thickness of the line to .045″.
3. Now move the line around, setting it over top of any small non-printing areas. All non-printing reas need to be open at least as wide as that line.
4. Delete the line when you have finished checking your file.

Show-thru thickness is important so the artwork will not close up once it is printed and applied to the garment. This applies to any non-printing area including the open spaces within text.

Make sure your show-thru thickness meets the minimum requirements for the ink formula you choose.

Following these guidelines will help you with the amount of detail you can have in your screen printed designs.

Transfer Extreme™ Layout USA-7

  STAHLS’ Transfer Express® is well-known throughout the industry as being the industry leader in providing its customers with custom transfers. We set the bar with our one-day shipping of our Easy Prints® screen-printed transfers using our Idea Book™ catalog of thousands of available designs, layouts, and clipart. We’re also established as an innovative company, constantly employing new technologies and adding new products to our ever-expanding collection. Most recently, this has included CAD-PRINTZ™ digital transfers, Foil, Glow-In-The-Dark, and non-apparel Banners, Stickers, Wall Graphics, and Window Clings.

Today, we are proud to announce the introduction of our newest product. Transfer Extreme™ is a transfer that is screen-printed with plastisol inks using an inventive simulated 4-color printing process. The end result gives your customer a beautifully screen-printed graphic, allowing for extremely intricate designs and vibrant colors. The image quality is very comparable to that of digital transfers, but with the much softer hand of screen-printing.

Other transfer companies offering similar products are forced to deliver you a very hard, heavy graphic in order to deliver similar image quality. Or, they have to sacrifice the quality in order to provide a softer hand. Transfer Extreme provides both quality and soft feel, AND is VERY easy to apply:  4 seconds! Using one of STAHLS’ Hotronix® heat presses set on 365 degrees, Transfer Extreme applies in just 4 seconds. [Transfer Extreme Application Instructions] You can screen-print 4 colors in just 4 seconds! (Well, actually, it’s MORE than 4 colors, but who’s counting?!) Transfer Extreme applies to cotton, polyester, and cotton/polyester material, and works on both light and dark fabric.

Layouts USA-9 and USA-7

Just in time for Memorial Day, in preparation for your customers’ 4th of July Independence Day celebrations, and in advance of the 10th anniversary of 9-11-01, we are offering Transfer Extreme in the form of patriotic/Americana-themed stock transfers. There are 10 fabulous designs for you to choose from, available in the form of individual packs of 10 transfers for just $20. Or, if you can’t make up your mind, there are 2 separate variety packs available containing 2 of each of 5 of the designs.

Transfer Extreme™ Layout USA-1

The designs are patriotic, yet edgy, and are perfect for your customers’ summertime fashion. Try putting them on zipper hoods or burnout tees for the alternative look the teens love! 

Transfer Extreme™ Layout USA-11

Transfer Extreme™ Layout USA-5

STAHLS’ Transfer Express is very excited about this fantastic new product, and we are sure that you will be, too. With more to come in the future, today please give your customers the opportunity to celebrate America with Transfer Extreme!

Transfer Extreme™ layout USA-8

Also, watch or participate in our hourly number race. Two contestants will number 10 shirts in less than 4 minutes (if they are as fast as others who have tried!) The winner of each race wins $100 in free Transfer Express product, and everyone that participates gets an Easy Prints® number Express Pack! 

We will also have samples of all of our new products—stickers, banners, wall graphics, Pearl Prints, our new full color Cad-Printz™ products and the Cad-Printz bid kit.

The show is March 11-13 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Show hours are 10-5 Friday and Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday. See you there!

Press a t-shirt in 4 seconds with a Heat Press!