Give Designs Flair with Flocking

From multimedia applications and CAD/Cut processes, to old-school methods, flock adds texture to your prints and profit to your bottom line.
Nov 1, 2007

Before T-shirts were printed with plastisol, there were printed bowling shirts with flock. Direct flocking was popular in the '60s and early '70s when sporting goods shops and pioneering garment decorators used small electrostatic flocking machines to personalize bowling shirts with the individual team member's names on the pocket of the shirt. As a young screen print equipment salesman, I would visit King Louie Intl. in Grandview, Mo., to watch them direct flock print bowling shirts with electrostatic flocking equipment. To this day, that process fascinates me.

DIRECT FLOCK

Electrostatic direct flocking machines consist of a shirt board, printhead, plexiglass flock hopper, a metal shirt board and an electric power source to create an electrostatic field over the garment. The garment is first screen printed with a flock adhesive, and loose flock fibers are broadcast across the garment. With the shirt board grounded, an electrostatic field is created, which causes the flock fibers to stand on end in the wet flock adhesive print. The garment is then removed from the flocking machine and heat cured to allow the adhesive to totally dry.

Once the flock adhesive is dried, the tips of the flock fibers are locked into the adhesive. The next step is to vacuum off all of the flock fibers from the non-image areas of the garment. The end result is a very plush, 3-D print that is pleasing to the eye as well as offering a velvet feel. Many early screen print shops started out as flock shops and it was an easy transition for these shops to get into printing plastisol when those inks were introduced since the shops already had screen printing skills. The downside of direct flocking is the fact that the process is labor intensive, time consuming and messy.

For these reasons, plastisol was quickly adopted by the majority of screen printers. Plastisol may have forced flock to take a back seat in the market for a while but fashion designers revived flock prints as the years went by and customers now embrace the plush, rich look and feel. Fashion designers love texture and no other printing method provides this much plush texture. The adage "Everything old is new again" rings especially true for flock, and it's no secret that flock is hot again. You can find it on the shelves in nearly every major fashion store in America.

Modern techniques for printing and applying flock don't have to be messy anymore. Let's take a look at the various flocking options available to decorators:


Figure 1.
Printing white flock adhesive onto flock transfer paper.


FLOCK TRANSFERS

Flock transfers offer a great alternative to direct flocking and are very easy to use. All you need is a heat press, and you are in business. Custom flock transfers can be purchased from a number of transfer printing companies nationwide. These flock transfer manufacturers can create custom artwork for you, or you can provide your own design(s). Making a flock transfer is a screen print process, so they first create a film positive of the artwork, make a screen and use it to print flock adhesive directly on the surface of flock transfer paper (Figures 1 & 2).

After the flock adhesive is printed, a heat seal crystal is dusted over the surface of the adhesive (Figure 3, below) and dried in a textile dryer with convection heat. After the transfer is cured in the dryer, the individual transfers are cut apart and can be heat applied (Figure 4, below) to a wide variety of substrates including T-shirts, fleece, corduroy, twill, polyester, paper, wood and more. Flock transfers can offer your shop the versatility to expand your printing services and offer a more upscale look to allow you to compete with embroidery.

In fact, flock transfers are the latest and greatest way to get into multimedia special effect printing. You can apply a flock transfer as one component in a design and direct print other elements with plastisol ink around the flock transfer. If tight registration is an issue, reverse the process and apply the flock transfer after printing and curing the plastisol. The flat printed plastisol next to the higher loft of the flock transfer provides a great multimedia effect and will have customers asking, "How did they do that?" This flock/plastisol combination is growing in popularity.

CAD/CUT FLOCK

CAD/Cut flock is an excellent way for T-shirt shops to personalize garments with flock. With this process you need a plotter/cutter, special software, CAD/Cut flock yardage, and, of course, a heat press. CAD/Cut flock is purchased by the roll and is available in a wide variety of colors. The great thing about CAD flock is the fact that you can be very vertical in your operation. You create your own design in-house, download it to the plotter and cut out the design in the PVC-backed flock material. After the design is cut out you weed (remove) the background flock around your design, which remains supported on a clear polyester backer. The weeding of the background is a little time consuming, but the end result is a very durable and clean look.


Figure 2.
Adhesive printer on transfer paper.


FLOCK LETTERING

Flock lettering has been around since the '60s, and this retro look is once again popular in 2007. T-shirts that sport current sayings are quite popular with today's youth and individual die cut flock letters or flock letters that can be peeled off of a master font sheet are perfect for this application.

Individual flock lettering is a great way to personalize garments while the customer waits in your shop. Flock lettering also is a way to add value to a preprint line of garments by adding a name drop or popular saying. Flock lettering is a time-proven profit center for any T-shirt shop. Once again, the popularity of the old look is new again.


Figure 3.
Applying powder adhesive to the wet print.


RF FLOCK WELDING

My curiosity got the best of me the first time I saw RF flock welding and I had to research the process to find out how it was done. You probably have seen an RF flock weld on a hat or garment. If you're not sure, the best way to identify an RF flock motif is to look at the outer edge of the design. It will have a groove or a seam that imbeds the logo into the substrate and the flock image will be slightly curved and raised from the surface of the garment. This is an upscale look that can be done only with an RF (Radio Frequency) machine, which is not a common piece of equipment in most printing shops. You need to have large volume orders and a reliable niche market to justify buying this expensive piece of equipment. It is common to find RF flock welding designs of action figures and superheroes sold at major shopping centers.

How is RF welding done? It is the process of fusing PVC to fabric. This process is accomplished by dielectric heating of film on RF welding machines (a.k.a. high frequency welding machines or heat sealing machines). While all of the above words are generally interchangeable, the term most commonly used in the imprinted sportswear industry is RF welding.

With RF welding, a metal die is created from the customer's artwork. The printer affixes the die to an upper platen on the welding machine. You then lock down this upper platen directly onto the PVC-backed flock. This process directly fuses the PVC backer on the flock material to the garment. The cycle time for each impression is between 6 to 15 seconds.

The die serves to both dimensionalize and cut out the image. After welding the flock image to the garment, the excess flock material must be weeded, or picked out, from the outer perimeter of the design and discarded.


Figure 4.
Heat transferring the final product.


LEXTRA FLOCK TRANSFERS

It wouldn't be possible to write a story about flock without including a section about Brown Abrams, one of our industry's early pioneers and experts on the flock process. Brown has dedicated his life to the refinement and study of flock transfers of all types.

I first had the pleasure of meeting Brown in the early 1980's at his company FiberLok, Inc., which was then located in St. Louis. At the time I thought I knew a lot about flock transfers, but after a visit to his factory I felt like a novice on the subject. FiberLok produces millions of multicolored flock transfers for major companies across North America and overseas. During one of my visits to FiberLok, Brown literally was working around the clock fulfilling a huge flock transfer order for a breakfast cereal company. Each box of cereal contained an multicolor flock transfer of an action figure that was individually sealed in a small plastic bag, which included instructions on how to apply with a standard home iron. This was my first introduction to mass production of flock transfers.

FiberLok today is located in Fort Collins, Colo., and is the exclusive North American licensed manufacturer of patented Lextra brand flock transfers. Lextra Microfibre multicolored heat transfer graphics are created using dyed nylon fibers instead of printed rayon. This inkless process allows for brilliant color (which will not fade), superior durability, soft texture and fine detail. Lextra is used in the fashion, uniform, and corporate/promotional markets for apparel, towels, hats, bags and polyester fleece.

Flock is not just found in our imprinted sportswear industry. Flock is all around you and can be found in packaging for perfumes, model railway landscapes, eyeliner brushes, scrubbing pads, and automobile glove boxes, headliners, floor coverings and door mats. The list goes on.

To add a new dimension to your shop's printing options (and bottom line), add one of the above mentioned flock processes to your printing arsenal. Flock is one of the most sought-after special effects in textile embellishing and is a niche that will set you apart from your competition.

James Ortolani has more than 25 years experience in the decorated apparel industry, specializing in hands-on direct screen printing and heat transfer production. He has worked for many industry suppliers, and currently serves as national sales manager for Hix Corp.

To comment on James' article, email him at jortolani@hixcorp.com.

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