redna379 Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Hello everyone. First time I post here, although I've been lurking around for quite some time. So, first of all... Hello Everyone, nice to meet you! Why I am showing up: I have a DTF machine and I'm having some fun experimenting. Recently a friend asked about the ability of doing tags to be appied on the shoulder of Polyamide ski jackets, like this one: After applying, all looked great. Then we did a single wash test. Just a normal wash with other clothes, 2 hours, 40 degress, 1200 rpm. I washed a lot of tshirts with those setting and never had a problem. But that jacket went bad. This is what happened: It is just as if it never stuck. It just gently slided away, and left no visible sign of any glue on the jacket. The feeling is that on 100% Polyamide the glue simply did not stick at all. But as everyone uses DTF mostly for shirts, it is just hard to find confirmations of this. And so my question/curiosity is: do any of you have experience with wash durability of DTF when applied on syntetic materials such as poly and nylon (like raincoats)? So far, per my personal test, it seems I can call 100% poly a no-no. But it is also possible I'm still learning and I missed to consider something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redna379 Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 Updates, to keep you in the loop! So, the previous pics were about a DTF pressed with iron (to better control positioning and...testing!). Now we did another jacket, a cheap nylon one. Same process, after first was this is the result of a test applied with iron: While this other one was applied with heatpress: It looks like, on nylon, the press behaved better than iron. However you can see how all the edges kinda "splashed" all around. With current tests I would probably stop caliming DTF good also for nylon materials like the one of jackets. But I'd be very curious to know if anyone had experiences with these materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson4 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, redna379 said: Updates, to keep you in the loop! So, the previous pics were about a DTF pressed with iron (to better control positioning and...testing!). Now we did another jacket, a cheap nylon one. Same process, after first was this is the result of a test applied with iron: While this other one was applied with heatpress: It looks like, on nylon, the press behaved better than iron. However you can see how all the edges kinda "splashed" all around. With current tests I would probably stop caliming DTF good also for nylon materials like the one of jackets. But I'd be very curious to know if anyone had experiences with these materials. I don’t think that material would be good for any type of printing. It’s a smooth flat surface with low melting temperatures. the reason it works on polyester and cotton is because is interwoven and not completely smooth, the adhesive has something to attach to. Just like DTF works on wood, but on a non porous surface or extremely fine sanded/ sealed wood it wouldn’t stick. Since those are meant to be wind proof and water proof, they are non porous and likely coated with something. for that type of material, I don’t think even screenprinting would work. I would consider the use of an embroidery machine or something that can bond to that type of surface. To me, it’s like expecting DTF to work on glass. DTF does work well on poly clothing and blends, it’s not the same as something like this. I doubt sublimation would work due to the temperatures it takes, but maybe on lighter colors. Maybe why I’ve never really seen a jacket like this have any printing on it. I’m not well experienced in printing on those materials, but I’d bet it’s very limited if at all. Edited January 12, 2022 by johnson4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redna379 Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Hi Johnson, and thanks for taking the time to reply. Honestly, I wasn't putting much hope in this. But as I'm in testing phase, I'm testing and learning on every silly thing I can think at As DTF is still kinda new, I found pretty hard to find in-depth informations online. This forum was actually one of the few places. But I am also sure that everyone new to this printing method would have similar questions/curiosities, at some point. So I took the chance to share my experience. Just as I thought it COULD work, someone else might have the same question. Sharing what we learn is probably the best way to grow for everyone. On this specific matter for example, I stumbled upon this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQSu7jkFPaAAnd yeah, what he is doing is EXACTLY printing on a similar smooth nylon raincoat. He simply missed to try washing it afterwards Even in my case, right after pressing, everything looked just GREAT! However real world also assume peoples to WASH stuffs, and that we did. The problem I'm showing is after a single wash test. It is just like, on flat/smooth, simple water is able to detach everything. But for whatever reason, it appears to stick well while still dry. Right after applying it felt pretty robust too. That made me curious, especially because when it detached it showed no leftover of the glue AT ALL on the jacket... which made me think WHAT it did attach to while on dry material. So, surely those materials will not be inlcuded in our "yes" list. Still, I want to understand what happens. For this we will probably do other tests trying to wash it manually. I want to determine if, on such materials, the detach is physically happening because of plain water, warm water or possibly even detergents. I will post again my results, shall anyone be curious about what happens in specific conditions. Happy Testing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhim Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) I have worked with this and similar fabrics, they are impregnated with water-repellent impregnation, so this fabric is very difficult to work with. This fabric can only be handled by screen printing with solvent ink, but not all solvent paints will work.It is necessary to look for solvent ink on textiles so that the paint does not crack and dries quickly. 58 Argon series - Texylon Edited January 12, 2022 by uhim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redna379 Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Interesting thing. At this point I doubted anything could be used at all. On such fabrics I always see embroidery or some kind of thermoplastic tags. Chewing if "DFTing" such tags could be of any practical use... One day I should probably just start using technologies for what they're meant for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anum11 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 I am thinking maybe some UV inks could print on it. Soft ones i guess. But you should control UV heat and try to wash it before anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anum11 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) Btw i tried dtf on silicone phone cover, it was okay at first but after a week it started to slide on silicone and after a week or so, i could see dtf glue and print was seperately resting on phone cover. Then all started to crack and sometimes drop and stick to my hand. It started to annoy me so i just removed it with knife but some of it stuck on knife now. It hangs on metal better, but i think i would prefer UV any day. Edited January 12, 2022 by anum11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redna379 Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 I never tried that, but I guess that something like silicone covers could be done with UV DTF printers (no heatpress at all, in that case). Not sure about how many of those are around yet, though. Regular UV printing still surely the best on hard surfaces. In the meanwhile, just in order to try understanding, I decided to start looking for the chemical properties behind TPU powder. If it detached so easily after washing and if material is so unsuitable for the glue, I cannot still get why it stayed well in pace while dry... and so I try to go deeper. The reading was quite interesting, assuming you care about the subject. In case, this is a pretty good article I found on the matter so I thought to share:https://appliedadhesionscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40563-016-0060-x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anum11 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Did you try it with polyester powder instead of TPU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redna379 Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Not yet, but shortly I'll try with polyamide powder as I know I have stored somewhere... just have to find it. Probably later on I'll also try polyester so I'll have all the main powders tested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaah Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Hi, did you try burning the dwr finish off first on the jacket where you would apply the logo? (Heat press the jacket first) then applying the print? Can use a dwr spray over the surface after to rewaterproof. Be very interested to see if this worked or any solution to apply logos to waterproof jackets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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