How to Create your Own T-shirt Motif with a 3D printer?

3D printing two-dimensional creations sound silly, and as a waste of 3D printer potential. Is that right? Well, we’ll try to change your mind. Using a 3D printer to print on fabric can have great results and also might save you some money. With this guide, you will be able to create cool original t-shirts for every day!

Music: Slynk - Road Trip, Huma-Huma - Not Too Cray

[gustavrsh]

Bringing a whole new meaning to ironing for 3D prints

[angelorf]

I've printed on several shirts with TPU a couple of years ago and they still hold up. Here's some tips:
- If you notice that the first layer is overextruding then that can mean one of two things: either your flow is too high, or the first layer height / Z lift is too *HIGH*. If the nozzle is too far from the textile the material can bulge out on top of the textile instead of permeating into it.
- Different materials require different settings of flow and nozzle height. I used a small patch on the back of the shirt to test settings. Those patches are still there, tho.
- Use clamps to keep your fabric flat, but don't stretch your fabric too much, because the print doesn't unstretch after removing it from the bed.
- In Cura there's options for the Cross infill pattern to make the pattern follow the grayscale tones of an image.

[DouglasCooper]

I was sure you were just gonna make a stencil. This is cool too.

[friddevonfrankenstein]

LOL I had tried this exactly two days before the video came out because I was curious and it sounded like a good idea. I can confirm that TPU works beautifully. I have the fabric flush on the heated bed and I preheat it to 90°C and 260°C nozzle temperature to make the TPU really soak into the fabric. You can twist it, stretch it, wash it, pour boiling water over it at stab the shit out of it with a spatula. Won't come off :D

[ehamster]

In Fusion you can right click the body in the list on the left, then select “save to mesh”, this will create the svg and can be set to automatically open that mesh in Prusa Slicer, saves a step or two.

[philipbyrnes]

I love how you are continuing to expand the usefulness and value of 3D printers.
It’s brilliant that you aren’t sitting on your laurels and just trying to rake money in but seem to be completely immersed and invested in all aspects of the business and are doing your best every day to make it better and better.
Thank you from one small Aussie that is growing and learning from your hard work and for all that I will achieve in the future from it I am truly grateful, thanks mate,
11 out of 10 👍 . 😎

[Violianom]

Had this idea for a while, but never made it yet: colour changing filament on the shirt. Would be cool to see it in action when you step out of your house on a hot day

[chaios]

This gave me an idea. 3D print the negative image directly on a traditional silkscreen, and voila!

[alexanderunguez]

Since it's spring steel, there's no reason not to use magnets to clip the shirt to the bed. You can place magnets around the section that needs to be flat and then tuck in the shirt, that way you don't run into issues with pre-stretching the fabric during the application (and you don't have to take the metal tabs off of your clips)

[jakubruzicka]

Finally a reason to iron T-shirts at all :D That is very cool idea. Thanks for sharing.

[LimpiezasMyG]

perfect for single use tshirts like parties, or for staff in events

[pietervb]

I saw this on YouTube 3 years ago, nothing new. Glad you liked it

[UnderwaterAnxiety]

I have been printing and ironing TPU prints onto my t-shirts for about 2 years now. Exactly like you guys show in the video with the iron.

TPU prints that are ironed on typically last around 30 washings in the washing machine on super heavy wash mode.

They also go into the dryer with all my other clothes and have never come loose that way.

[iskandartaib]

Ah... IMPORTANT piece of information on this video. Cleaning nozzles externally with a WIRE BRUSH!!! Need to get a wire brush.. 😁 I've been plagued by dirty nozzles, wasn't sure how to clean them before this.

[vasiliynkudryavtsev]

Brilliant! I was thinking the same idea, but was not sure which filament to use and how to transfer image printed on the bed to fabric. So far, I envisioned to print on glass bed, put fabric on top and iron until plastic melts (or heat the bed to 100C). This way I could remove the skirt beforehand.

[benjaminholcomb]

I could see this being exceptionally useful for printing logos / identifying marks on pieces where the fabric stays stiff.
Things like shoulder pads on armor. Where you want a fabric outer layer over some sort of structure, like foam.

Might work well on things like hats as well, although they might not Cooperate well with the printing process.

[iskandartaib]

Interesting. I wonder what happens if you make an iron-on decal using TPU rather than PLA. Also I wonder if there's a Z-lift equivalent in Cura.

[mikefer]

This is so cool! I spent months in the past looking for a method to do this and you showed it in a few minutes. Love you! Keep it up with the good content!

[redfoxnl]

Great vid!!! Love that you have several options for printing and step by step guide. Thanks!

[DJapan]

Very interesting. This past summer I was making t-shirts by laser cutting stencils out of freezer paper, sticking them to the shirt with an iron, then spraying with bleach.