Episode 162 – What you need to Start a White Toner Printer Business

Custom Apparel Startups

This episode is inspired by an article written on ColDesi.com. It's all about what you need to start a white toner transfer business. This episode is important if you are going to invest in white toner printer or have recently invested. Overall, though, a lot of this spills into what you need to start a t-shirt business in general too.

A Basic Plan

The article doesn’t dive into this, because it's more about the printer itself. However, it’s an important part to mention. You should have SOME plan.

1. Who do you plan to sell to?
2. Nice markets?
3. Local?
4. What do you plan to charge them?
5. How much money does this make per shirt?
6. How many shirts do you have to sell to stay in business?
7. Goal: How many shirts would you like to be selling a month in a year?

Example:

1. Local car / motorcycle clubs, members, organizations, stores
2. Average shirt retail $20, Average shirt cost $10
3. Sell 50 shirts a month to pay for (machine, basic business costs (email, website, state fees, etc.)
4. The goal is to get up to 300 shirts a month
5. Sell to local clubs / members
6. Sell to referrals through that group for other shirts (events, businesses, etc)

The Right Printer

There is no answer to "what is the best printer?" The question really is "What is the best printer for your business"

1. What's better a Chevy Corvette or a Chevy 2500 diesel truck?
2. Well, what are you doing? Cruising the beach, going to meetings, road trips or Hauling a Trailer with 2 tons of construction material?

What are the options?

The systems at Coldesi are DigitalHeat FX. What does it mean to have a DigitalHeat FX System?

1. A printer, software, paper and toner that has all been tested and designed to work together.
2. These have all been curated by the experts at ColDesi
3. Every system has to pass through experts to be sure it will meet standards for support, consistency, quality, etc.

Read the article to see different printers and details.

1. i560
2. Crio 8432
3. i650
4. Crio 9541

Software

It’s very important you have good software to make your printer function at its best. Essentially if you try to buy a printer and just print from Adobe or Corel, you are not going to be happy.

Software like Print Optimizer gives you control over your prints like:

1. Control how much white toner you print
2. Add rasterizing effects like dots, strips, etc to reduce print cost/feel
3. Manage queues for printing on certain papers or materials
4. Control colors, saturation and other print effects
5. Work with papers like metallic / neon
6. Remove colors ... like automatically Knock Black Out when printing on a black t-shirt

Heat Press Machines

This is going to be just as important as your printer choice. If you get a 'cheap' press or try to use one that isn’t good for the process, you are going to be frustrated. It will hinder your success.

What do you need in a heat press?

1. Even temperature
2. Cheap or old presses might be hotter in some spots versus others
3. Even pressure
4. The pressure at the front, back and sides must be even
5. Pressure gauge
6. It's great if you have even pressure, but you also have to know what that pressure is
7. Temperature gauge
8. You need precise temps and it should be easy to adjust
9. Optional, but important
10. You want to be able to move the heat away from you. Marrying, pressing, etc is under 250-350 degrees. A heat press that will let you move the heat away from you while you work helps a ton
11. 16x20 size - any smaller won’t be able to take advantage of larger print sizes like 11x17, 8x19 or 13x19

The pick of ColDesi customers as of Jan 2022 is the Hotronix Fusion heat press. It checks all the above and continues to be reliable.

Paper

Good paper for a heat press is just like good tires/gas for a race car, or good chocolate for cake or good food for your body. If you put something good into your printer, you will get something good out.

Also, consider that the DigitalHeat FX system has had the software and paper fine-tuned for each other. So it lays down the right amounts of toner for the best prints/colors.

FACTS:

1. Color quality is affected by the paper you use
2. Print jams, fuser damage is caused by using the wrong paper
3. Your washability of shirts is more than just paper but also the shirt, the software, and the process.

Types of Paper

1. Standard EZ Peel Paper - Most universal, Most popular. (This is the one you marry)
2. One Step EZ Peel Paper - Prints in a single step but not recommended for dark colors
3. Hard Surface EZ Peel Paper - Designed for hard goods like wood, glass, metal, mugs.

Don’t forget the accessories you will / might need like:

1. Finishing sheets
2. Heat press test probe
3. Mug or Hat press
4. Heat press platens
5. Heat press pillows

Shirts

We have entire podcasts on shirt quality. If you use poor quality shirts, you are going to get poor results. Repeated, if you use cheap shirts, your end result with look (and act) cheap. If you want to sell shirts that are impressive, use impressive blanks.

1. Test a bunch of shirts
2. Pick ones you want to sell after testing, washing, wearing
3. Tell your customers how to care for shirts
4. Include wash instructions, be explicate.
5. Cold Wash, tumble dry low (or hang), wait 24 hours after print before washing, skip things like fabric softener.
6. The price of a blank shirt often is related to its quality (outside of 'branded' apparel like Nike, Adidas, etc... you will pay extra for the brand)

Graphics/Artwork

You'll need to create, buy, have the art created for you or have you provide the art (normally not the best idea btw.

Bad art will frustrate you. Bad art will affect your business. Bad art will make your printer look bad. Bad art will print shirts that don’t wash or wear well.

If you haven’t gotten the point yet. You need to have great art.

Solutions:

1. Learn graphic arts - this means get trained and practice a ton. Months of learning, years to perfect.
2. Hire a graphic artist - Expensive but it’s great to have a professional at your fingertips and working for your company to learn your equipment and how to make perfect art for it.
3. Use a graphics agency - Only pay for what you need. Can charge customers before you order art. ColDesi Graphics!
   

Education is the key to picking the right white toner printer system for your business. Talk to a pro at Coldesi to match the right system for your business.