Impressions - March 2019 - 48

Say Hello To 'Mr. Clean'
Keeping your printer clean requires a concerted effort. However, it's paramount that you and your
staff develop good habits with the printer if you want to avoid unnecessary downtime. Follow the
manufacturer's cleaning guide religiously. After a day of printing, make sure to clean everything
thoroughly before shutting the printer down.

customers know how to get in touch to
place orders.
If someone orders 75 shirts, you can
hang-tag each one.This means every person receiving a shirt - whether it be for
an event, road race, school fundraiser, etc.
- will know who printed them. They
already are a captive audience and likely
will remember your business the next
time they need shirts.
Combining such a method with the
digital world of brand awareness can help
boost your sales and keep your printing
queue full.

We often get busy, are running behind schedule or any number of other excuses, and don't
properly clean critical DTG components. If you let ink build up around the print heads or capping
station, forget to flush the capping station or just neglect the printer for a period of time, it
may "call in sick" when you can least afford it to fail you. This can lead to costly downtime and
expensive repairs.

A good humidity/temperature
gauge will allow you to monitor
conditions in the room that
houses your DTG printer.

Know What You Can Print
DTG printers are designed to print garments, but that's not the only thing you
can print to make money and keep the
business chugging along.Though the inks
are water-based, you also can print stone
"soaker coasters," treated and untreated
wood, towels, hanging fabric calendars,
high-top shoes, wood nickels, baby beanies
and more. If you can find a way to fit it into
your printer, you may be able to print it.
Though many of these items can simply be printed, some - like wood -
may require some type of primer (like a
white underbase) to seal pores. Still, DTG
printing can produce nice-looking results.
Finding alternative products to print takes
a little time and experimentation, but it's
a fun exercise.
Downtime is not always a good thing,
and working to minimize it can boost your
bottom line.The more you are printing,
the more money you should be making.
Focusing on keeping the printer clean,
finding new products to print and new
customers are just a few ways you can
minimize slow periods in your DTG
printing business. 

A whole-room humidifier is a
simple solution for low-humidity
environments, which can be
detrimental to DTG printing.

Brian Walker has owned a screen-printing business,
developed quoting and pricing software, and also
launched a successful online direct-to-garment
equipment and supply business. He currently is
president of i-Group Technologies, makers of Viper
pretreatment machines for the direct-to-garment
industry, and founder and owner of RTP Apparel, a
supplier of ready-to-print garments for DTG decorating. For more information or to comment on
this article, email Brian at brian@igrouptech.com.
P.48

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m MARCH 2019

http://www.impressionsmag.com

Impressions - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - March 2019