5 Tips To Choose The Right DTF Hot Melt Powder

2024-10-23

DTF hot melt powder for direct-to-film printing is a specialized adhesive powder for the DTF process. It is one of the three most important consumables for DTF printers to create vivid and durable fabric patterns.

This hot melt powder acts as an adhesive with excellent adhesion and durability, and adheres the printed pattern from the PET film to the fabric during the thermal transfer process, enabling all types of fabrics to achieve vibrant colors, sharp details, and durable, long-lasting print results.

The previous article explained how to choose the right DTF transfer film. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive introduction to DTF hot melt powder, explain its role in DTF printing, and discuss how to choose the right DTF hot melt powder.

Table of Contents

What is DTF hot melt powder?

DTF hot melt powder is a new type of polymer environmentally friendly hot melt adhesive, usually in the form of white powder. This kind of powder is in a high elasticity state at room temperature and becomes a viscous flow state after heating and melting, which has the characteristics of fast curing speed, high viscosity, water washing resistance, and so on.

DTF hot melt powder is one of the indispensable consumables in the DTF white ink heat transfer printing process. It is often used with DTF water-based pigment ink and DTF PET film to ensure that the printed pattern can be firmly attached to the fabric.

The role of hot melt powder in the DTF transfer process

During the DTF transfer process, DTF hot melt powder plays multiple roles, including:

Enhance adhesion

The key role of hot melt powder is to strengthen the adhesion between the pattern and the fabric. When DTF hot melt powder is heated, it can quickly adhere to the white ink and fabric fibers, forming a strong adhesion and ensuring that the print pattern is not easily removed.

Enhance durability

The function of hot melt powder is not just as simple as an adhesive, it can also keep the pattern on the fabric for a longer time. The principle is that DTF hot melt powder builds a stable bonding layer between the pattern and the fabric, ensuring that the pattern is not easy to peel off or damage when it is washed or worn daily. This feature also makes DTF transfer technology the preferred solution for making durable clothing and fabric products.

Improve transfer effect

The use of hot melt powder can further improve the final effect of DTF transfer. It can form a uniform protective coating on the pattern’s surface to ensure the printed pattern’s clarity and fineness, making the pattern more realistic and vivid.

Improvement of handfeel and softness

Using high-quality hot melt powder, it can form a soft and elastic adhesive layer after melting at high temperatures, effectively preventing the pattern area from becoming stiff or affecting the wearing comfort.

Classification of DTF hot melt powder

Classification by color

DTF white powder

DTF white powder is one of the most commonly used colors in DTF printing. Its white characteristics enable it to cover or block the color of the original fabric well during the transfer process, thereby achieving a purer and brighter printing effect.

DTF black powder

DTF black powder is mainly used on occasions where black or dark printing effects are required. Compared with white powder, black powder can present a deeper and fuller black effect during the transfer process.

DTF hot melt powder

Classification by particle size

DTF fine powder (0-80μm)

The particles are small and easy to distribute evenly, suitable for printing tasks with high requirements for details and precision. Fine powder is more suitable for printing smooth and flat fabrics and can provide better printing resolution and clarity, making the printed pattern more delicate.

DTF medium powder (80-170μm)

Medium powder is suitable for general textiles, with moderate particles, suitable for both machine powdering and manual powdering. At the same time, medium powder can provide balanced adhesion and coverage during the printing process, so that the printed pattern has sufficient clarity and maintains a good feel.

DTF coarse powder (120-250μm)

Coarse powder has larger particles and is mainly used for rough or thick fabrics such as flocking transfer, suitable for processes with larger particle adhesion. Coarse powder can provide better adhesion and wear resistance, making the printed pattern more durable on coarse cloth or occasions requiring higher wear resistance.

5 Tips To Choose The Right DTF Hot Melt Powder

Particle size

When choosing hot melt powder, you need to consider its particle size, because the particle size will directly affect the printing quality and adhesion performance. To ensure the best printing effect, you should choose a powder particle size that matches your DTF printing process and meets the required printing resolution and adhesion requirements.

Generally speaking, fine powder is suitable for printing tasks that require high clarity and fineness, while coarse powder is suitable for occasions that require strong adhesion.

Adhesion performance

The purpose of hot melt powder is to activate when heated, so as to firmly bond the ink on the transfer film to the fabric surface. It has excellent adhesion performance, ensuring that the printed pattern can still fit tightly on the fabric even after multiple washings.

Temperature resistance

DTF hot melt powder needs to withstand a certain temperature during the heating and melting process, so high-quality DTF hot melt powder should have high-temperature resistance, be able to maintain a stable melting state at high temperatures, and will not burn or deteriorate due to excessive temperature.

Compatibility with other DTF consumables

Without DTF hot melt powder, only DTF ink and DTF PET film exist, and the DTF printing process cannot be completed smoothly, so compatibility with its DTF consumables is also one of the factors to be considered when choosing.

High-quality DTF hot melt powder should be able to form a good match with these consumables to ensure the integrity and durability of the printed pattern.

Washability

High-quality DTF hot melt powder should have good water resistance and durability, maintain good adhesion and clarity after multiple washings, and will not fade, fall off, or crack over time.

Summary

Choosing the right DTF hot melt powder is essential to ensure the quality and effect of DTF printing. When choosing, you need to consider key factors such as particle size and particle size, bonding performance, temperature resistance, compatibility with other DTF consumables, and washability.

By carefully comparing different brands and models of DTF hot melt powders, combined with actual testing and application requirements, you can find the DTF hot melt powder that suits you best, thereby creating a more high-quality and durable printing product.

If you still don’t know how to choose the right DTF hot melt powder, you can contact the professional KingJet team to get relevant advice.

FAQ

Generally speaking, DTF printing requires hot melt powder, but there are also new powderless DTF printers (no need to use DTF hot melt powder, the printing process is simpler). If you are interested in no-powder DTF printers, you can check out this article: Powderless DTF printers.

Yes, DTF hot melt powder is an environmentally friendly polymer hot melt adhesive that is non-toxic, odorless, solvent-free, and non-irritating to human skin. During use and handling, no harmful substances and pollution will be generated, which meets environmental protection requirements. Therefore, DTF hot melt powder has been widely used in textile printing.

When using DTF hot melt powder, you need to pay attention to the following points:

1. Ensure that the printing equipment and consumables are clean and dry to avoid the influence of impurities and moisture on the printing effect.

2. Select the appropriate particle size range and powder spreading process according to the printing requirements and fabric type.

3. Control the heating temperature and curing time to ensure that the DTF hot melt powder can be fully melted and tightly combined with the fabric fibers.

4. Follow the instructions and precautions in the product manual to avoid problems caused by misoperation and improper use.

DTF hot melt powder is a polymer environmentally friendly hot melt adhesive designed for DTF printing. Compared with other types of hot melt powders, its particle size and particle size are more uniform, the bonding performance is better, and it has good water resistance and compatibility with other DTF consumables.

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