T-shirt home printing is big business, especially these days when pretty much every home across the board has at least one computer and a printer. And while screen printing is taking off in a big way as an affordable and accessible type of home printing, it remains those ever-trusty transfers and iron-on accessories that rule the roost for most.

Why? Well, for no reason other than it’s a seriously cheap option and one that doesn’t need any real skill or experience to have a go at. It doesn’t demand any specialist gear either, making it just the ticket for those with creative souls and less-than abundant resources to play with. Of course, to say ‘results may vary’ would be a bit of an understatement as home-printed t-shirts can look anything from catwalk-worthy to well and truly dustbin-ready.

So in the spirit of staying well and truly away from the latter of the two, here’s a quick overview of a few tips and tricks for achieving better results at home.

1 – Be Realistic

First and foremost, if you have a home printer that costs about as much as a grapefruit and has been faithfully doing its business for years, you really can’t expect the same kinds of results a pro printer like DTGPrintz.com can come up with. It really doesn’t matter how creative you are or what kinds of genius visions you manage to bring to life on the screen in front of you – everything you do will be limited by the quality of the equipment and materials you use. So if you’re not convinced, you might want to outsource it to the pros.

2 – Reel it In

Unless you’re already pretty well-experienced in the whole subject and have succeeded on many prior occasions, don’t forget the importance of learning to crawl before trying to fly. Or in other words, it’s much easier to start out with a smaller, simpler designs just to get to grips with the basics than something of wrap-around print that’s only possible by linking a bunch of sheets together. Of course, it’s also worth bearing in mind that keeping things simple just so happens to be one of the most important rules when it comes to this kind of design in general. It’s technically pretty easy for anyone to come up with a weird and wonderful pattern that catches the eye for no reason other than it features about a million colours. By contrast, turn heads with a simple pattern and just a few colours and you’ve pulled off something seriously impressive.

3 – Trial Run

So you’ve come up with the design you simply cannot wait to show off and you’ve been out and spent top-dollar on a super-premium heavyweight t-shirt – chances are you’ll now think there’s only one thing left to do. And you’d also be wrong, as before you go wrecking your pricey garment by making some rookie error in the printing process, it’s a much better idea to grab the oldest t-shirt, ideally one that’s ready for the bin anyway, and do a trial print using this one instead. It looks like an easy and fool-proof job, but it’s surprisingly easy to do something silly and find yourself out of pocket with a heavy heart.

4 – Be Patient

When you print directly onto any kind of fabric, there’s a set amount of time you’re advised to wait prior to wearing or washing the garment. And when you use transfers or anything else, there’s also an amount of time you’re told to wait before going any further. These kinds of guidelines exist for a reason and, when ignored, could easily see your hard work reduced to rubble before your eyes. So if it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing with the necessary level of patience.

5 – Buddy Up

Last but not least, these are the kinds of fiddly jobs where there’s always a very good use for a second person within arm’s reach. Whether it’s to pass you something while you’re in a bit of a bind, to hold a corner flat while you’re doing your business with the iron or simply to cast a second eye over things like straightness and positioning, it’s a much easier and more pleasant job if you don’t go it alone. And if you get the feeling you really can’t do any step in the process properly until you get another person along for the ride, don’t!