The brochure says its “white ink ready”. Does it print on dark garments?
Yes. Four of the process colors on the Direct Advantage can be replaced with white ink. However, printing with “White Ink” on any Direct-to-Garment Printer will be difficult, and most competing product vendors do not inform the consumer of the following complications. 1) White ink does not bond to cotton, so the dark garment must be pre-treated. The pre-treatment is typically applied with a power sprayer and if it is not applied properly, the printed image will wash off quickly. 2) The pre-treatment process is difficult to do correctly. Many shops normally lose up to 30% of a production run due to problems related to incorrect application of the pre-treatment. This greatly increases waste and undermines profitability. 3) Since installing white ink requires the use of four of the eight ink cartridges, the printer cannot run in the intended dual CMYK configuration. Having only one set of color cartridges will slow the print speed and reduce productivity for both dark and even light garme
