www.images-magazine.com APRIL 2022 images 33 IS DECORATOR PROFILE started my own business 20 years ago, you might have 150 designs in your range and everyone would be happy with that as a retailer could stock only 10 or 20. Now with the internet, you can go on forever. So the appetite for designs has gone through the roof but, at the same time, the appetite for big numbers has disappeared. Now they want little and often, and that’s where digital comes into play.” In-house garment printing for Fashion UK and Heroes Inc in the UK has been carried out on an MHM Synchroprint 4000, with 18 heads and 16 stations, with the rest, such as headgear and footwear, produced at offshore factories. This press was acquired six years ago from MHM Direct GB when Fashion UK moved into its current base in Leicester city centre, while a second smaller M&R Chameleon manual screen print press is on hand for sampling. These operate alongside an Adelco Vortair gas conveyor dryer and an Exile V-Lux LED exposure unit. Despite the expertise in printed licensed apparel at Fashion UK and Heroes Inc, management decided to bring in specialists to support the new DTG operation. Dan Creasey, who has a background in digital garment printing and founded his own custom clothing company, Penny Crayon, joined the team in November as P&P manager. Then in February – tying in with the installation of the new Brother GTX600s by MHM Direct GB – Steve White arrived as senior DTG operator. Steve has worked in digital garment printing for nearly 20 years, including at garment decorator Fanéla, CID and licensed apparel company Merch CMT before it moved from Leicester to Norwich. During the first lockdown, he set up Deadstar Clothing, designing streetwear for “rockers, radicals, revolutionaries, rebels and renegades”, mostly printed and sold through print-on-demand fulfilment platforms such as Redbubble. This has grown to more than 700 designs across 17 Deadstar online stores, but remains a side line now that Steve is running Fashion UK’s DTG operation, supported by trainee Carlos Fernandez. A Brother fan The timing of Fashion UK’s move into DTG was perfect for the launch of the industrial Brother GTX600. Distributor MHM Direct GB has been working with Gurdev Mattu since he began apparel printing in 1997, making him one of its first and longest-standing customers. Steve is a fan of Brother DTG machines after working with them in three of his previous jobs. Since the two GTX600 machines were installed in February, supported by MHM Direct GB’s Derbyshire-based technicians, he has been impressed with their performance. The GTX600 is Brother’s first DTG printer designed especially for mass production, with 16 ink channels jetting from staggered, industrial print heads with internal cooling fans and a built-in humidifier for continuous print operation. “I’ve been timing the prints and most of them are under a minute, even full-colour,” Steve says. “Everything is automated so the machine will tell you when the waste tank is full or when it needs more white ink or cleaning fluid.” The inks come in nine-litre and new 18-litre tanks to help reduce packaging waste. “Buying the ink in bulk in tubs seems expensive, but the way the machine uses it, it is not only twice as fast, it looks like the price per print is half what it used to be.” The new DTG set-up – all from MHM Direct GB – also includes the UK’s first Schulze Pretreatmaker V, an automated pretreatment machine, which features five nozzles instead of the previous model’s four. “The spray overlaps a little more to give it more coverage and there’s an easier-touse control panel,” Steve points out. We can offer exclusives because we don’t have to print so many The two new Brother GTX600 printers Steve White at work on the Schulze Pretreatmaker V The company’s MHM Synchroprint 4000 au to T-shirts being cured on the Chiossi e Cavazzuti dryer
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