Jhamelton

another newbie. you guys are amazing

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Completely new to the vinyl world. ive had my cutter for about a month and I am absolutely loving it. ive ventured into the heat transfer vinyl a little and made a couple shirts for me and my daughter. I just used an iron and it has worked fine. I'm starting to get interest from my baseball team and my daughters softball team for shirt orders. im not mass producing shirts with an iron. lol.

so ive started looking at presses. im completely clueless on them. what are some things to look for/have to have/stay away from, etc? this wont be a full time business type deal. more of a side hobby for me and make a few shirts for friends and family type deal so I obviously just need a low budget one.  I searched ebay and amazon tonight and checked out several different ones, but im not even sure what I am looking for. I saw several that were less than $100. seems like a no brainer, but didn't want to get one that cheap and it not have something I need or wrong size, etc. any help is appreciated, as I know there will be. this forum is a great asset, especially to a newbie. lol.

another thing, what does everyone use for shirts? my first couple I did I just ran to the local fabric/craft store and paid astronomical prices just to try it out and was pretty happy with it. nice to have something local if I was ever in a pinch. ordered some siser easyweed and am in the process of making some work shirts for my dad with that. just didn't know if there was something else out there that was a little cheaper and still worked good or not. we all know even if its not a business, the more profit the better :). so what does everyone else use or stay away from? just trying to get a little background on this stuff so I can at least pretend I know what im doing :D:D

 

thanks again everyone!

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Welcome to the forum. There are several options for clam presses that are really affordable. Just be sure they have a center load point that is capable of a little swivel action so the press can adjust to thicker garments like hoodies. I personally started out with a 15"x 15" swing model. I think they run in the $350-$400 range which is more than you mentioned but they are really a nice ay to go. I would guy at least a 15" press. The smaller sizes are fine for certain specialty applications but are really hard to get your shirt centered and correct placement on. 

For shirts as a newbie and not a full on business try out Jiffyshirts. They are fairly affordable and lots to choose from. I also run grab shirts in a pinch from Hobby Lobby. They carry Gildan blanks in various colors. Not sure if they do the same all over the country or not. 

Siser is IMO the BEST option and I do hundreds of yards a year. I really like the stretch version although it has limited colors. It adheres to a few more stretchy style shirt fabrics and will outlast regular (and regular will usually outlast a typical t-shirt). Good luck in your new hobby. That's how mine started and now it's turned into a real part time business making a decent profit. Still tons of fun too!

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