Designing and Printing Your Own T-shirts From Home is Getting Easier all the Time!

Each year, fun new t shirt design products are released for craft and business applications. Often, these t shirt decoration methods are new takes on old ways, but sometimes they’re totally new!

One such product, which is a new take on the old, is Cricut Infusible Ink. I’m going to tell you all about it today!

Infusible Ink is a new way of applying sublimation-like transfers to garments, tote bags, coasters, and other poly coated blanks.

You simply purchase pre-printed sheets of transfer paper, cut out a chosen design with a cutting machine, and then apply it with a heat press.

While Infusible Ink can be used with most cutting machines, using a Cricut is best. Infusible Ink transfer sheets have been designed especially to work with them!

There are a range of Cricut machines which come in a variety of colors. If you were just thinking of getting started, then it’s often better to go with a Cricut bundle.

A bundle comes with everything you need to get started: the cutting machine, tools, materials, and other necessarily supplies. It sure works out a lot cheaper than buying everything separately. As yet, however, there are no bundles that include Infusible Ink.

Like everything, Infusible Ink has its pros and cons. Let’s consider some of them now.

Infusible Ink Pros & Cons

Pros

The main benefit of this new product is that it allows one to do sublimation transfers without the need for a sublimation printer.

Sublimation printers can be pretty expensive, and you have to keep using them often to ensure the print heads don’t dry out. With Infusible Ink, the printing part has been done for you!

1. Produce sublimation printed t shirts, coasters, and tote bags, without the need of an expensive sublimation printer

2. A huge range of colorful transfer sheets that can be cut out in an infinite number of designs

3. Make amazing t shirts to give to family and friends as gifts

4. Experience the satisfaction of designing and producing your own tees

5. Create popular products to sell on Etsy

Cons

The main downside of Infusible Ink is the same issue with sublimation on the whole. You can only apply these transfers to white (or very light) garments made of polyester.

The sublimation inks can only bond to this type of surface. Unfortunately, not everyone likes the feel of polyester on their skin, and the restricted color palette isn’t great either!

1. Getting set up with all the gear is expensive

2. You can only apply to white polyester garments or poly coated products

Heat Transfer Alternatives

However, if you have a cutting machine, you are not limited to only printing t shirts with Infusible Ink!

There are a huge number of ways you can make your own designs for t shirts. The baby onesie pictured above has a design made from both foil and glitter heat transfer vinyl.

Other types of transfer you can make from home include:

• holographic iron on, which reflects marvelous colors
• flocked iron on, which has a furry or fuzzy feel
• patterned iron on, which comes in a huge range of patterns
• transfer paper, allows you to print any image to apply
• screen printed transfers, gives a long lasting print

The types of designs you can make yourself at home is never ending!

For inspiration in your design task, take a look at this years international fashion trends. There are plenty of ideas to get your mind going!