Curing Equipment
After you use your DTG printer to pretreat or print, you will need a machine to cure the pretreat fluid or ink. The size and style of drying machine you use is dependent on your garment business’s needs. With a better understanding of this process, you can make an educated decision on a DTG curing solution that is right for you.
Curing 101
As part of the curing process, pretreat or ink needs to be cured using heat. The heat helps remove the carrier fluid and allows for the chemicals in the pretreat and ink to properly bond with the fibers in the garment. Properly curing the garment gives the printed design more resistance to natural wear and washing, and is an essential aspect of direct to garment printing.
Hotronix MAXX 2G+ Heat Press
This heat press is one of the accessories that can be purchased for GTXpro. The MAXX 2G+ is designed to generate consistent heat for a predetermined time and temperature before automatically opening. The operator of the heat press will simply load the garment under the heating element and manually close the press. The machine applies pressure during the heating process while keeping a properly positioned garment flat. Curing equipment like this is designed to be operated by a single person. For those that have higher volumes of garments, look for a heat press that offers pneumatic solutions; these can ease the physical labor of closing the press, helping you to increase production numbers.
Firefly Conveyor Dryer
For high volume print shops, a conveyor dryer may be a more efficient method of curing garments. The Firefly comes in various lane configurations; it is also a part of Brown’s Synergy + Firefly all in one solution for pretreating and curing. This high-volume curing solution has a conveyor belt that carries garments under quartz heating elements. These quartz heating elements are controlled by thermal cameras that ensure the temperature of a garment does not exceed desired settings.
Curing Equipment Information
Want to learn more about curing equipment used for DTG printing?