Welcome fellow t-shirt entrepreneur...

Here's Your Fast Track Way to Starting a T-shirt Business on a Budget!

It's gonna be a long read ... But this write-up will provide you with the information you need to know to determine the best route for you to get started.

I'm excited though, because a new method for getting started in the t shirt business does not require you to purchase any equipment, nor hold any inventory, and no need to buy any supplies.

In fact, this company will actually take your artwork and will print it out and ship it directly to your customers with your company name on the package. They offer the highest profits and you get paid upfront before the order even ships out...

But I'll talk about that in a moment. So let's get started!

Starting a T-shirt Business with a Heat Press Machine & Plastisol Transfers

So ... When I started my t-shirt company nearly 20-years ago, I decided to go with the heat press and screen printed transfers. I made this decision after attending a weekend screen printing workshop, where they crash-coursed us through how the entire process worked.

It was simply too much ... I didn't understand half the lingo and I certainly didn't understand all of the processes required to make it work.

The equipment they had was ridiculous. There's no way this stuff would fit in my apartment and there was no way I could afford all of the equipment needed to get started.

Prior to joining the class, I found a table-top screen print setup and the guy who sold it to me had convinced me that was all I needed to get started ... Needless to say, after sitting in that screen printing class, I soon realized he lied!

The inks and fumes that filled the place was unbearable ... I couldn't imagine having to live and work around that stuff all day ... Cancer quickly came too mind (more like lung cancer).

After the 2 day class, I managed to make a t-shirt, and I went home dirty and covered in ink.

After that ordeal, I looked into other options for making t-shirts. My mom was already pressing t-shirts at local flea markets around that time. They were selling photographs of people on t-shirts and they were printing them from a color printer.

The quality wasn't great, but people still wanted shirts of their babies and their significant other.

Further research led us to pre-made designs that were already on the transfer paper. We ordered some and the quality was amazing. We were able to press them onto a t-shirt in under 10-seconds and when we washed them, the inks didn't come off like the ones made with a color printer.

What we discovered is that those transfers had plastisol inks applied to a special type of release paper.​ Plastisol inks are the exact type of inks used by screen printers to print onto shirts.

I learned about plastisol inks during my weekend screen printing class. So I was amazed to learn that these transfers were made with those inks. Our teacher told us plastisol inks was the best type of ink to print shirts.

​So this is how the process work ... You come up with a t-shirt design idea. You then get a graphic designer to create the artwork for you. You then take that artwork and send it to one of these screen printers that specialize in putting them onto that special release paper using plastisol inks.

(They go through the exact same process as they would if they were making a t-shirt. But instead of putting it onto a shirt, they put it on the release paper).

They send you a bunch of the plastisol transfers with your designs on them (also known as 'screen printed transfers'), and now you can use your heat press machine to press the design onto the shirt.

Regarding the heat press ... It works like a big hot iron. For most transfers, you need about 385 degrees fahrenheit of heat. 

You lay down the blank garment on the base of the press and then you put the heat transfer paper ink-down onto the t-shirt. You then clamp down the heating element on top of the transfer and t-shirt.

This puts an extreme amount of pressure onto the transfer and t-shirt. Combined with the heat, the inks are then transferred onto the t-shirt or garment.  After about 8-10 seconds, you remove the heating element from the t-shirt and simply peel the transfer from the t-shirt.

This puts an extreme amount of pressure onto the transfer and t-shirt. Combined with the heat, the inks are then transferred onto the t-shirt or garment.  After about 8-10 seconds, you remove the heating element from the t-shirt and simply peel the transfer from the t-shirt.

This puts an extreme amount of pressure onto the transfer and t-shirt. Combined with the heat, the inks are then transferred onto the t-shirt or garment.  After about 8-10 seconds, you remove the heating element from the t-shirt and simply peel the transfer from the t-shirt.

(play video below to see this process in action - skip to 1:00 minute mark)

Buying a Heat Press Machine

The heat press machine will be the largest lump-sum purchase you'll make. If you're buying new, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1,200 to $2,100. 

Sometimes, you can find some pretty good deals on sites like Craigslist.

If you can afford to buy new, I'd recommend it. These machines last a life time if you purchase the right brand.

I personally recommend Hotronix. Their lifetime warranty on the heating element makes this a great investment. If anything goes out on this machine, it's likely the heating element. As I mentioned, you're practically getting a machine for life.

*Disclosure: I am an authorized distributor for Hotronix. I believe they have the best machines on the planet. Their machines are made in America and the quality and craftsmanship is absolutely amazing. By far, their machines are the best and after you see and use them, I’m sure you’ll agree!

I've included the top 3 heat press machines I recommend ... No matter which one you buy, you're getting a great machine, backed with a great warranty.

My entire business was started with a manual clam heat press like this. There's absolutely no shame starting here. I used the manual clam presses for about the first 6-8 years of our business.

You don’t have to start out with the most expensive machine. We've pressed tens of thousands of tshirts using a basic manual press like this.

16x20 MAXX HEAT PRESS
$1,175 + FREE U.S. SHIPPING
(NO International Shipping)

*We're authorized resellers for Hotronix. All dealers are required to sell Hotronix equipment at the same price. You won't see it cheaper anywhere else. If you found our information helpful, please support us by purchasing through TshirtRiches.

This machine is great if you're going to be cranking out a bunch of t-shirts.

It locks down easily with patented magnetic assist, causing less fatigue on wrists and shoulders. A manual press can wear you down if you're pressing a bunch of t-shirts each day. I wish I upgraded to this type of heat press much sooner. My team and I wore ourselves out unnecessarily. 

16x20 HOTRONIX AUTO CLAM PRESS
$1,600 + FREE U.S. SHIPPING
(NO International Shipping)

*We're authorized resellers for Hotronix. All dealers are required to sell Hotronix equipment at the same price. You won't see it cheaper anywhere else. If you found our information helpful, please support us by purchasing through TshirtRiches.

Often imitated, but never duplicated. The Hotronix Fusion is the world's most technologically advanced and brilliantly engineered heat press. It's the industry's first heat press equipped with Touch Screen Technology and the only heat press in the industry with a patented dual function to perform in a swinger or draw motion.

This is the Cadillac in heat press machines ... I absolutely love mine.

16x20 HOTRONIX FUSION
$2,100 + FREE U.S. SHIPPING
(NO International Shipping)

*We're authorized resellers for Hotronix. All dealers are required to sell Hotronix equipment at the same price. You won't see it cheaper anywhere else. If you found our information helpful, please support us by purchasing through TshirtRiches.

Buying Plastisol Transfers
(screen printed transfers)

This part is fairly straightforward. Don't buy any of the stuff you print from home. The quality just doesn't work well ... People will be mad with you.

The first time you put it in the washing machine, the design will immediately start to peel, crack and fade.​

In my opinion, there aren't any good methods for printing your own stuff and I have absolutely no recommendations for where you can find transfers to print on your own.

The only transfers I recommend are plastisol transfers. I've received complaints from people indicating the costs were too high. Upon further investigation, I found out that people were only trying to order 5 or 10 transfers at a time.​

You ain't gonna get a good deal ordering in small quantity. You have to order a decent amount to get a good rate. If you walked into a screen printing shop and only wanted 7 t-shirts, the costs would be astronomical.

You must remember screen printers have to do a lot of prep and setup work in order to make your designs. It's not worth them going through the entire setup phase to print only a handful of t shirts. ​If you insist on small quantity, they're going to charge you through the roof.

Here's a chart of a company that list their pricing breakdown for screen printed transfers:

Let's assume you wanted 100 sheets of a 1-color design. As shown in the chart above, you'd pay $130 for 100 screen printed transfers. Order more, like 300 sheets, and your costs drops to .88 cents per transfer ($264 for 300 transfers).

The 12-in x 12-in size sheet is the standard size transfer that'd go on an adult size t-shirt.

Now take a look at the prices on the JUMBO sheets ... It keeps getting better!

In this example, if you order 100 sheets of the 25 inches x 38 inches jumbo sheets, it'll cost you $281 for a one-color design(s). But because the sheets are larger, you can get about 6 adult size transfers onto 1 sheet.

So for $281, they'll be sending you a total of 600 transfer designs ... Which breaks down to about .46 cents for each transfer.

But it gets better...

​If you have 6 designs. And they're the same 1-color.  Then you can put all 6 of your 1-color designs onto the jumbo sheet. So when you order 100 sheets, you're getting 100 sheets with 6 of each designs on the sheet.

​In the end, you wind up with 100 transfer sheets of each of your 6 designs (total of 600 transfers and the price remains $281).

That is a steal ...​

As I've mentioned ... plastisol transfers are the only way to go. No other method gives you a better quality other than screen printing itself.

The designs won't smear, smudge or peel away.

Are you finding this information helpful?

I hope you are ... if you haven't already, I invite you over to take a look at our full online course about starting a t-shirt business. I've taken all of my experience and have dumped it in a password protected area of my website. Only members have access to the trainings and tutorials, and you get access to ask all the questions you want to me and my team members.

Click here to check it out!