mlsj4257

Looking for a good ink jet printer to use with eq printable or transfer eze "paper"/"fabric" - any suggestions?

BellaBoo

All inkjets work fine. I would suggest buying one that has the most economical ink refills. I have an older HP Photosmart and I've noticed that HP ink cartridges seem to have less ink in them now then when I first started buying them and at a higher price.

sharon b

I just use my old HP 3520 Deskjet- just have it set to photo quality for printing

jrhboxers

I have an Epson 310 that I bought earlier this year. And I bought the non-oem refillable ink cartridges that just came out in the spring. I never had any real luck with the cartridge refills with my old Lexmark. The Epson cartridges are expensive. With the refillables, I have printed TONS of stuff since I got this printer and I am still on the original bottles of refill ink. And the cost for the whole set of 5 bottles costs less than $20 including shipping. Yes, it screws up the warranty stuff on the printer but the printer only cost $100 to begin with. I more than make up the cost of having to buy a new printer when I have a problem with the savings on the ink.

The other thing that I really like about it is it is a straight feed printer. The material being printed on does not have to twist and turn, just feeds straight through. A big help when trying to print on fabric, envelopes, etc.

BellaBoo

I'm going to check out the Epson 310. Sounds exactly what I need. I do a lot of printing for my guild and quilt classes.

grammy17

Where do you buy your ink. I have a 310 and the ink costs lots more than that.

ckcowl

according to studies the inks used by HP and epson are the most (permenent) when doing any fabric printing. the refills do not work, they rinse right out, and some of the other printer brands have so-so results.

grammy17

Thanks. i've never tried printing on fabric but do have it in mind so...I'll keep this in mind.

jrhboxers

That was brought to my attention from a friend who knew that I had the Epson. So I put it to the test. I took several pieces of various quality of fabrics - i.e. WM, LQS, CT, Joanns, etc. - and print a total of 32 blocks. They vary from sayings to full color pictures. And I then pieced them into a throw. And it lives on my couch. It is used constantly - dogs, cats and all. The slipcovers on my couch and loveseat are washed weekly (sometimes twice a week) and this test piece and a couple of other throws are washed to. I made the test in July - when I heard about this. Well, except for some of the white not being so white and a couple of corners where the stitching is coming out. It looks really good. The full color pictures are obviously not as bright as they were, but all in all they look really good.

scowlkat

If you want some really good info, check out www.bryerpatch.com. Caryl Bryer Fallert has provided a lot of info on printing on fabric. She is a multi-award winning quilter and her work is incredible!