What limitations does DTG printing have?

DTG printing, also known as Direct To Garment, is a textile printing method that has gained popularity due to its efficiency and high-quality results, satisfying both our customers and their clients. In this process, color is directly applied to the textile, resulting in an impressive print quality.

In the DTG printing process, a special odorless primer is initially sprayed onto the textile. This is a fixing fluid tailored to the printing ink, ensuring the necessary durability of the print on the textile fibers. Subsequently, the printing ink is injected into the fixing fluid layer, initiating a chemical reaction between the two liquids, bonding them into viscous monomers. The printed textile is then exposed to a hot air dryer at 160 degrees Celsius for approximately 12 minutes. This drying process triggers another chemical reaction, where the monomers bond with the textile fibers to form polymer chains. Ideally, the fixing fluid penetrates the textile fibers by 50% and adheres to the fibers by up to 50%, providing durability to the print.

1. Residues of Fixing Fluid: Yellow-brown residues of the fixing fluid may occur in our DTG prints. However, they completely disappear after the first 1-2 washes!
2. Minor Print Cracking: Especially in large designs and dark textiles with light printing, slight cracks in the print may occur, which is a natural aspect of the process and is not noticeable from a distance of 1 meter.
3. Distortion in Printing: The manual removal of printed, wet textiles from the printing plates can result in slight distortion, which is still checked during the final inspection.
4. Color Deviations: Due to the individual reaction of each textile to the printing inks, minimal color variations may occur, attributed to the pre-treatment of the textile.
5. Positioning Variance: Due to differences between textiles from the same manufacturer, the print on smoothly laid out textiles may appear slightly skewed. These variations are usually not noticeable when worn!

It is important to emphasize that these aspects go unnoticed at a normal viewing distance. Our customers can rest assured that we make every conceivable effort to ensure our products meet the highest quality standards. We value transparency to foster an understanding of the inherent limitations of DTG printing technology.