What is Forced Air Conveyor vs. Heat Press Curing?
Technical definition, shop floor implications, and pricing strategies for commercial apparel decorators.
The two methods for curing water-based DTG inks: Forced-air conveyor ovens circulate high volumes of hot air to evaporate water, while heat presses use contact heat and hover cycles.
Deep Dive & Practical Application
Water-based digital inks contain up to 70% water that must be completely evaporated for the binder resin to polymerize.
While small shops use heat presses (hovering for 60s, then pressing for 60s), this creates a major production bottleneck (2 minutes per shirt).
Commercial production utilizes high-velocity forced hot air conveyor dryers (like BBC or Vastex ovens), allowing operators to load finished prints continuously and cure 60 to 150+ DTG shirts per hour.
Shop Floor & Profitability Impact
Upgrading to a forced-air conveyor dryer unlocks high-volume fulfillment capacity for digital DTG and DTF print lines.
The Print Life DTG & Sublimation Operating System
Related Industry Terms:
Run Your Print & Embroidery Shop on Autopilot
Connect your quotes, invoices, matrices, online stores, and production calendar in one unified platform for $49/month with unlimited users.