In June, we had the chance to ask Mathieu Lemarchand, manager of the company Ker Créaabout his experience and more precisely about his beginnings with the DTF technique. You will find in this article some extracts of this interview. It is also available in full on Spotify, in the Training / Support / Youtube section of our website, or directly by clicking here.

"You've been equipped with this technique for almost a year now, can you tell us more about your debut in DTF?"

We first equipped ourselves with the DTF in August 2021. So we were really at the beginning of the DTF. At the time we had a small 30cm - 4 head printer and we had a lot of maintenance and low productivity. But in the end we learned a lot on this machine.

On the side, we were working with a lot of associations and that was a real springboard. It helps at the beginning to have a base of potential clients.

In terms of orders, we were supposed to be about 50% Flocking and 50% DTF. Today, we are at 70% DTF and 30% Flocking. That's also why we changed our machine to a 60CM - 2 heads. Now that we have a lot of orders, we don't even ask the question and we do DTF.

"What made you want to start using the DTF technique? What did you finally miss with the other techniques?"

At the beginning we were mainly equipped with Flockage, on Embroidery. We tried DTG too. With flocking, we cut, weeded, we glued... but it takes time. We also had the constraint in Flockage to have only one colour or to have to do superposition. We couldn't reproduce a visual identically.

In Flocking, we have the constraint of a color or the superposition. You can't have gradients, you can't reproduce a visual identically.

 

Compared to the DTG technique, there are a lot of constraints, especially with white inks for example. And then we work directly on the textile so we have to wait for it to cool down and work one by one. With DTF, we print on a film so we can really gain in productivity.

The DTF offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of managing its work.

 

With the DTF we can print visuals in advance and it's not lost. Because we work with a lot of associations, especially sports associations, and their logos don't change every time, so we can reuse them.

Afterwards, DTF will not replace flocking of course, especially for all the creative effects. But DTF has enabled us to respond in a timely manner to certain clients that we would not have been able to reach with flocking. For example, in May, we had orders to be made urgently for large quantities and we were able to meet their expectations with DTF.

"Have you tested any other media?"

DTF is used on many different materials. We've tried it on Nylon and Polypropylene. So obviously on these materials, we are at 5 seconds of pressing and the result is really top.

We also tested on cardboard boxes. We were asked to make boxes and instead of ordering stickers or that kind of thing, we were able to use the DTF to make them.

Then we also had to do some large runs, for example 1500 t-shirts. The peeling on the DTF is normally done cold but for large quantities like that we don't have time to wait for it to cool down. So we did our tests and found that 140°C for 5 seconds with immediate peeling after pressing worked just as well. We systematically do a second pressing of the shirt with a protective paper and we are delighted with the result.

"For clients who would like to start with DTF, are there any constraints or points of vigilance? For someone who would be a complete novice for example?"

In itself, anyone can do DTF. But you have to ask yourself if you have enough orders to do it. If you have small needs, small quantities or one-off requests, it can be dangerous to equip yourself. Because in the end, you spend more time on maintenance than on productivity.

The machine has to work, it has to be printing all the time.
If it's not, you're going to spend all the time it's idle in maintenance.

 

The technology itself is good, but you need the production to go with it.

What I would also advise is to start by ordering transfers in DTF, the Prêt-à-Presser, to see the result. And then to start a technique, you have to devote time to it. You have to be efficient as quickly as possible, so you have to invest time.

  

Would you like to listen to Mathieu's feedback in full? Then go right here to listen to the whole interview. And find all our podcasts on Spotify by simply typing in " Créadhésif "!

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See you soon,

The Team Créadhésif