Can UV Printers Print on T-Shirts? We did a Test

UV printers have gained widespread use across various industries due to their excellent color representation and durability. However, a lingering question among potential users, and sometimes experienced users, has been whether UV printers can print on t-shirts. To address this uncertainty, we conducted an test.

UV printers can print on various surfaces, such as plastic, metal, and wood. But fabric product such as t-shirts, have different properties that may affect the quality and durability of the print.

In our test, we used 100% cotton t-shirts. For the UV printer, we used an RB-4030 Pro A3 UV printer which uses hard ink and a Nano 7 A2 UV printer which uses soft ink.

This is the A3 UV printer printing t-shirt:

This is the A2 Nano 7 UV printer printing t-shirt:

The results were fascinating. The UV printer was able to print on t-shirts, and it's actually not bad. This is the A3 UV printer hard ink result:

 This is the A2 UV printer Nano 7 hard ink result:

However, the print's quality and durability is not good enough: UV hard ink printed t-shirt looks good, part of the ink sinks but it feels rough with hand:

UV soft ink printed t-shirt looks better in color performance, feel very soft, but the ink falls off easier in a stratch.

Then we come to washing test.

This is the hard uv ink printed t-shirt:

This is the soft ink printed t-shirt:

Both prints can withstand washing because part of the ink sinks into the fabric, but some part of the ink can be washed off.

So the conclusion: while UV printers can print on t-shirts, the quality and durability of the print is not good enough for commercial purpose, if you want to print t-shirt or other garment with professional effect, we suggest using DTG or DTF printers(which we have). But if you don't have a high requirement for print quality, print only a few pieces, and wear only for a short time, UV prints t-shirt is ok to do.