lexiandlala

new to Vinyl and looking for help!

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hi there! I am new to the forum!  I am very excited - I bought a roland BN-20 to expand my tshirt line ont dark colored shirts and been experimenting with everything - very cool!

 

so far I use

quickprint heat transer vinyl for tshirts - seems good and easy to use - unless someone can recommend something better!

durasol 3.5 glossy vinyl for car decals - thats what they sold me anyway

I also just bought some oracal 3651 clear for some acrylic tumblers I want to make for family and friends! (hope this works on the cups!) because they need to be dishwasher safe.

someone told me I could also use some clear laminate spray from michaels after I print the design before putting it on the acrylic cup. any thoughts?

 

I am interested in making some labels for my kids school items, etc - would any of the vinyl I have work for that?

 

I would also love to know if there is a way to print and cut iron on labels for kids clothing. is that vinyl? I almost bought some from someone on ebay it said it was vinyl, so I was curious if I could just make it myself.

 

sorry for all the questions -  am just so excited about finding different uses for the new machine! would love some advice and sharing!  I am off to read more!  thanks!

 

 

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NOT being snotty and somebody might chime in and help . After answering the basic questions many times over the years , many tire of it . The search function here is not that easy to use , but there is little that is not covered . Takes ALOT of reading :) . Skeeter deserves a trophy for typing the instructions about adjusting blade depth a zillion times or more :) .

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To answer a part of your post. There are t-shirt transfer options available. I do 90% of my stuff with Jet Pro Soft Stretch, you will see it referred to as JPSS in the forum. Good stuff and made to work on white or very light colored garments. There are several brands but I would recommend using a good quality brand rather than the crap they sell at wallyworld. They sell some here at USCutter but I have not tried the brand. I have purchased my JPSS from Coastal and also found great deals on Amazon. The transfers for dark products are similar but I have yet to find one I like the feel of. You go about them a little different and a little research on the subject will get you a lot of info. 

 

For vinyl to cut and press on garments I have pretty much converted to the Siser easyweed that is here at USCutter. There are other brands that also work good but I have had the best luck with Siser. It's light and goes on at a lower temp and bullet proof. They have stretch versions and then a whole plethora of other fancy types. I use about 5 colors mostly and do TONS of business on shirts and hoodies. 

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The Roland BN-20 is an Eco-Solvent based printer, so you won't need to worry about JPSS, Jet Opaque or 3G Opaque type t-shirt transfers, unless you want to.  You'll be able to use better quality t-shirt transfer materials intended for those types of printers.

 

You'll want to look at products like Siser's Color Print II designed specifically for eco-sol printers like your's.  The other types I mentioned are for people with dye or pigment based ink printers.

 

You may want to ask these questions in the Printers sub-forum as that's where the people with printers are most likely to find you.  Change your thread title to indicate that you're dealing with printable vinyl vs. regular cuttable vinyl and that will help get their attention, too.

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Thanks for the replies....and Mr karma - I DO a lot of researching and reading here and on many other forums. I understand there might be frustration in sharing tips and tricks but trust me I have googled and searched just about everywhere to get the answers I need -

 

hence I'm already in the hole for 3 purchases of printable vinyl to go on an acrylic tumbler and nothing stays on in the dishwasher - yet a ton of people are selling them so someone must have an answer.

 

I'm sorry to have asked so many things at once and apparently not including the correct information like I need printable vinyl not dye sub or heat transfers since I already do both of those, I thought I wrote all of that.

 

I'm trying not to be snotty myself but I thought forums were a place for sharing information for those of us that are new to a process. 

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I wish that were the case but either all the sellers are incorrect or there is something.. because many of them have the following text:

 

Dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe, and super permanent.

Our dishwasher safe vinyl is very durable, and will withstand normal settings on most household dishwashers.

Our labels are waterproof, dishwasher and microwave safe. They will hold up through heavy duty (and toddler throwing) use, and lots of dishwasher runs

 

and their materials list says - 

  • Materials: super permanent adhesive, dishwasher safe vinyl

on other labels sold for single use only it says:

  • Materials: dishwasher safe vinyl, temporary adhesive
  • Our Removable (Single Use) labels are waterproof & weatherproof. They will hold up through heavy duty (and toddler throwing) use, and you can peel them off easily at the end of the with no sticky residue

anyway, I'm just frustrated because I am $8000 into this machine and I want to use it for EVERY single application I can think of besides t shirts. and no one has been able to find me the answers. :-(  with every variety of vinyl I see on each online site there are massive amounts to choose from and when I called Roland themselves, the support lady didn't even know what an acrylic tumbler was let alone why I would want to use vinyl on it.. LOL

 

I think most people just think of the standard uses - t shirt, signs, stickers, car wrap.. well I started out in the kids retail area and that's what I'm good at.. so I hope I haven't offended anyone or caused any trouble. just a little frustrated is all.

and I have googled every word, sentence, thought, etc that I can think of... nothing.

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I've used Oracal 651 and Have been told it holds up well in the dishwasher by my customers. I'm pretty sure you can print on 651 but that's the only thing I've had personal experience with.

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A quick google search for dishwasher safe vinyl finds several people have had luck with oracal 651. I also found a post that suggest the temperature at which the vinyl starts to loose it's adheasion is close to the temperature of most dishwashers so it's a hit or miss kind of thing. Some people with colder dishwashers won't have a problem, some with hotter ones will.

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The Roland BN-20 is an Eco-Solvent based printer, so you won't need to worry about JPSS, Jet Opaque or 3G Opaque type t-shirt transfers, unless you want to.  You'll be able to use better quality t-shirt transfer materials intended for those types of printers.

 

You'll want to look at products like Siser's Color Print II designed specifically for eco-sol printers like your's.  The other types I mentioned are for people with dye or pigment based ink printers.

 

You may want to ask these questions in the Printers sub-forum as that's where the people with printers are most likely to find you.  Change your thread title to indicate that you're dealing with printable vinyl vs. regular cuttable vinyl and that will help get their attention, too.

Wow that shows you how much I pay attention! LOL

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Wow that shows you how much I pay attention! LOL

 

I had to look up the Roland's info to make sure...

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I have a roll of oracal 3651 coming- apparently the printable companion of 651. So I'm crossing my fingers! And after testing it myself I'll let you all know the results!!

One dealer suggested Arlon 8000 but it's $450 a roll and I would have to cut it because it's wider than the bn-20 can handle.

I'm not ready to spend $400 on a guess though.

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Thanks for the replies....and Mr karma - I DO a lot of researching and reading here and on many other forums. I understand there might be frustration in sharing tips and tricks but trust me I have googled and searched just about everywhere to get the answers I need -

 

I'm trying not to be snotty myself but I thought forums were a place for sharing information for those of us that are new to a process. 

 

Just to make sure you got my point that I was trying to help with ... searching here is what I advised . There is probably not many subjects that has not been covered . This place is the Best , 4-get the rest !!!

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