Images_June_2020_Digital_Edition

KB MARKET INTELLIGENCE www.images-magazine.com 38 images JUNE 2020 manufactured for use in the workplace, supermarkets, public transport and the high street “represent huge opportunities for our industry”. He continues: “Personalised masks could prove to be an industry winner with people looking to wear a mask that is personal to them. It could be printed with their own facial features, a football team crest, company logo, pet or their favourite pop group – the list is endless. “Sports events such as football and rugby matches could see both fans and players wearing masks,” Dean adds. When Germany’s top flight football league, the Bundesliga, started playing again in May, everyone wore masks apart from the 22 on-field players, and those from Dortmund club were wearing branded face masks. “Sublimation represents an ideal platform to print and produce masks; the outer skin of the triple-layered mask would have to be polyester and, it goes without saying, breathable,” explains Dean. He puts forward two options for decorating masks, the first of which uses a sublimation printer such as a DGI, Mimaki or Roland with specially coated digital sublimation paper that can be printed on a roll and transferred via a heat or calender press on to a breathable, polyester fabric roll/piece. “The printed fabric would then be cut out in to pre-sized individual pieces and used as the ‘outer layer’ in the triple-skin mask, giving total print coverage to the whole of the front of the mask.” Alternatively, he recommends using desktop cutters and sublimation printers to print (or cut) designs before heat pressing them on to a pre-made mask. TheMagicTouch (TMT) offers a range of decoration options that Jim Nicol says are ideal for face mask personalisation and short-run production, and with the benefit of avoiding high minimum orders for customers. “Image transfer enables customers to have exactly what they want, with the advantage of being able to evaluate a sample prior to final order,” he explains. Suitable options from TMT include the TTC, T.One and Wow transfer papers, which Jim says are suitable for “most fabrics regardless of colour or composition” and can be applied using either a cap or combo heat press. “Using the latest Oki CMYK and CMYK+white toner printers together with transfer paper offers a quick, safe and very economical method for face mask production,” he concludes. The decorator’s view Custom Club Clothing is manufacturing its own face coverings, using its nine-needle, four-head Barudan embroidery machine for batch production and single-head Brother PR machines for smaller runs of personalised masks, reports the company’s director Sam Harris. “Keen to support our existing suppliers while offering a range of colours and styles, we are using T-shirt fabric from Gildan and Just Tees along with standard Madeira embroidery thread, and we have been fortunate to secure stock of UK-manufactured braided elastic. “We developed our design based on research of the most effective fabrics to use while ensuring we included the ability to add a supplementary filter. It has taken lots of prototyping to find the optimal size and elastic length to suit as many people as possible; we’re also offering the option of either over ear or round the head elastic to provide the most comfortable solution possible.” The coverings can be decorated with vinyl, transfer or embroidery, although the company is encouraging print where possible. “This maintains the integrity of both layers of fabric, though the embroidered masks still have an unaffected layer due to the design. Initials are proving popular as it ensures households can identify whose mask is whose, reducing the cross contamination risk.” It’s important to test the elastic, reports Sam, as Custom Club Clothing has found that some melts. He notes that small, single-colour logos printed to one side are particularly effective. “So far, demand has primarily come from our existing clients as we’ve advertised them purely on our social media channels. This is largely private individuals purchasing for their own use. We have also had enquiries from schools and businesses that are currently planning how they will reopen and the role branded face coverings might play. “We are delighted to see the brands starting to bring in their own masks and look forward to supplying these alongside our own product. We developed our own design out of necessity before the supply chain kicked in and welcome the volume that is now coming through the distributors – this will mean we can get our embroidery machines back to decoration rather than manufacture!” www.customclubclothing.co.uk Custom Club Clothing’s face covering – small, single-colour logos printed to one side are particularly effective, according to the company’s director Sam Harris [Credit: Custom Club Clothing Ltd / R Paul]