Because of a huge demand for personalized products, it has become a great business idea today. Just like all other personalized products, personalized t-shirts have also won people’s hearts worldwide.

So, if you are thinking of starting a business, a t-shirt printing business can be a ground-breaking business idea. But for well printed t-shirts, good printing machines are also necessary. Without a good t-shirt printing machine and t-shirt design software, it is impossible to progress much in this business.

The ‘heat press transfer’ method is one of the most popular t-shirt printing methods. To help you decide the best heat press printing machine, here is the list of 4 highest rated t-shirt printing machines.

Top 4 Highest Rated T-Shirt Printing Machines

1. Fancierstudio SwingAway 9”x12” Heat Press

It is a swing away model and you can turn its upper heating platen 360°. Thus, it is totally safe for users and minimizes the risk of accidental burns.

Further, the teflon coating on the heating platen provides extra durability and longevity to it. It also lets you select between Celsius and Fahrenheit scales.

The highly adjustable temperature range of 0–500°C and a vast time range of 0–999 seconds makes it way more useful. The silicon gel baseboard also makes the base soft for the substrate one’s got to place on the platen.

Even if you have to heat press a thick substrate, it applies uniform heat and pressure. Thus, the printing work becomes smooth and seamless.

2. Fancierstudio DG Heat Press Digital Sublimation T-Shirt Heat Press

This heat press is cost-effective and equally suitable for both commercial and domestic purposes.

Its large heating surface area of 15” x 15” makes it ideal for larger print artworks. You can adjust the temperature anywhere between 0°C and 500 °C and heating time anywhere between 1 second and 999 seconds. Its adjustable pressure knobs let you adjust pressure easily as per the thickness of the substrate.

Besides, it takes very little time of around 5 to 10 minutes to heat up. This machine is easier to use even in smaller workspaces due to its upward opening. As it can reach and sustain higher temperatures easily, it can easily replace irons for artwork transfer.

Its maintenance cost is very low as it has very few moving parts. So, lesser wear and tear of parts results in lower maintenance cost. Digital temperature and timer control make it easy for you to view and edit temperature and time.

3. ePhotonic Swing Away Sublimation Transfer Heat Press Machine

It is a swing away model and has a heating platen of size 9” x 12”. The heating platen of aluminum has a coating of teflon. This ensures complete safety of clothes during artwork transfer.
You can set the time for heating, and the timer on reaching 0 second produces an alarm. This way, it prevents overheating of any substrate. It is ideal for industrial and domestic purposes owing to its compact size. Its light weight makes it easily transportable over long distances.
Further, it is also suitable for other materials besides T-shirts like jigsaw puzzles, ceramics, mouse pads, etc.

4. PowerPress Industrial-Quality Digital Sublimation T-Shirt Heat Press

With a large printing area of 15” x 15”, this heat press machine comes in handy for printing on large-size objects. Its robust steel body makes it highly durable. A temperature range of 32°C-500°C and a timer range of 0–999 seconds makes it suitable for a wide variety of print requirements.

Further, fewer moving parts reduce the maintenance cost to the minimum. The fact that it has a replaceable fuse saves it from shocks and overheating. It distributes heat evenly which makes it ideal for not only t-shirts but also many other flat surfaces.

Adjustable pressure knobs enable you to set the pressure according to the nature and thickness of the substrate.
After investing in a t-shirt printing machine, it goes without saying that you will need to take good care of it. So, we’ve listed some tips.

Tips to Take Care of T-Shirt Printing Machines

Clean the Upper Heating Platen

Always ensure that you have cleaned the upper heating platen before using it. This will ensure that there is no residual ink remaining from the previous transfer work. Further, a clean surface ensures more even heat distribution and better efficiency.

Clean the Teflon surface platen with only a clean cloth. It is because irregular or rough cloth will cause scratches and injuries.

Clean the Air Systems Properly

Compressors in an automatic heat press pump air from outside into its air system. So, it is highly advisable to clean them thoroughly on a regular basis. Otherwise, the particles and moisture in the air may cause damage to the machine resulting in the air leakage.

So, to avoid such damage, replace the air filters on a regular basis. This will keep the capacity of air filters intact to block the air particles out.

Timely Machine Lubrication

Every machine, especially one that has got moving parts, demands timely lubrication.

The same holds true for heat press machines. If you don’t lubricate the moving parts of a heat press machine, pivot points will face more wear and tear. The stress on the pivot parts will wear them out over time.

So, you must properly lubricate your heat press machine to prevent damage due to wear and tear.

Always Use the Center of the Platen

If you don’t place the substrate at the center of the platen, it will lead to an uneven distribution of pressure across all four corners.

Thus, the side of the platen under more pressure will wear out comparatively faster. As a result, the upper heating platen will also become uneven. Thus, subsequent artwork transfers will be poor. So, always use the center of the heating platen to place your substrate on.

In A Nutshell

With the correct choice of the t-shirt printing machine and proper maintenance tips, you can easily start a successful t-shirt printing business.

Author's Bio: 

Mr. Pratik Shah is Creative Head of Brush Your Ideas, a Web-to-Print technology solution offering custom product design software and Web-to-Print Storefront Solutions. He is a tech enthusiast and an avid blogger and writes about ecommerce and web-to-print industry.