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Printing on Tote Bags

It’s evident that tote bags have become ubiquitous in everyday life, with grocery stores even reminding customers to bring their own upon entering the parking lot. Given the enduring popularity of tote bags, it’s worth considering how incorporating them into your offerings can serve as an additional revenue stream for your business. While there are many options for decorating, UV printing on reusable bags has taken off within the last year. 

In addition, UV printing not only provides vibrant and durable designs but also aligns with eco-conscious consumer preferences, further enhancing the appeal of tote bags. By embracing this trend, businesses can not only enhance their branding but also contribute to sustainability efforts, attracting a broader customer base seeking both style and environmental responsibility in their purchases.

Methods for Decorating Tote Bags 

Tote bags come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, durability and materials. Different methods of decoration for tote bags include heat transfer, sublimation, screen printing, direct-to-garment, and machine embroidery. One of the most recent methods to join the running is digital UV printing for full-color, CMYKWW, stunning prints on bags.  

Read our blog post: Rise of the Reusable Bag Different Methods for Decoration

Screen Printing 

Screen printing, also known as silk screening, transfers images onto surfaces using a squeegee on a nylon screen. It’s ideal for printing durable designs on tote bags. Rotary screen printers are best for tote bags, offering efficient high-volume printing of single or two-color images. While cost-effective, screen printing becomes challenging with more colors, requiring drying between layers and occupying significant floor space with additional equipment like dryers. 

Learn more about Screen Printing

Sublimation 

Sublimation, akin to digital heat transfers, presents a unique approach with a distinct outcome. Unlike digital heat transfers that overlay an additional layer onto the material, sublimation integrates ink into the fabric itself, lending the bag a more natural look and feel. This method excels in decorating white or light-colored polyester bags, delivering full-color, high-quality prints. However, it’s essential to acknowledge the limitations concerning bag material and color compatibility. While sublimation works well on polyester, attempts on cotton bags may yield poor-quality prints with faded colors. Thus, careful consideration of bag material and color is crucial when opting for sublimation as a decoration method. For white or light-colored polyester bags, sublimation offers vibrant and long-lasting prints, making it an excellent choice for this application. 

Direct-To-Garment (DTG) 

Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing emerges as a top choice for decorating natural fabrics due to its seamless integration of digital technology and high-quality output. By directly spraying ink onto the garment’s surface, this method achieves vivid prints that blend effortlessly with the fabric, necessitating an additional drying step. Notably, DTG printing is recognized for its sustainability compared to other techniques, while still delivering exceptional full-color results. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge the limitations of this approach, particularly regarding the reproduction of transparencies in designs. Achieving transparent or semi-transparent effects poses a challenge due to the nature of the process. Consequently, designs requiring such elements may not be the best fit for DTG printing. Despite this, DTG printing remains a sustainable and efficient solution for achieving high-quality, full-color prints on natural fabrics, provided designers carefully consider the process’s capabilities and constraints. 

Embroidery 

Embroidery, while not strictly a printing method, is highly sought-after for tote bag decoration. Machine embroidery involves sewing thread or yarn directly into the material, creating intricate designs efficiently and with less labor-intensive effort compared to manual stitching. This method produces stunning artworks reminiscent of hand-embroidered craftsmanship in less time and with reduced potential for human error. 

Heat Transfer 

Digital heat transfer is a method used to achieve full-color, photographic prints on tote bags. It employs heat and pressure to create vibrant designs on various substrates such as canvas, jute, and non-woven fabric bags. This technique is well-suited for small-volume projects requiring colorful prints on both light and dark bags. However, it’s important to consider the limitations of this method. Bags must withstand the heat applied during transfer; synthetic bags can melt, and certain materials in red bags may experience fading. Additionally, digital heat transfers generate paper waste from the transfer backing, impacting the overall sustainability of the decoration process. 

Read our blog post

Digital UV Printing on Tote Bags 

Achieve rapid, full-color, high-quality prints on various bag materials through digital decoration and UV curing. This method offers superior print quality, time savings, and enhanced flexibility by instantly curing ink without the need for additional drying steps. Various types of UV printers, including flatbed and cylindrical models, utilize specialized UV inks and lamps to reproduce stunning graphics onto flat or slightly curved substrates like bags, providing exceptional results for bag decoration.  

Industrial UV printers take digital images and directly print them onto various substrates. UV printers can be specialized based on the application, for instance, cylindrical inkjet printers are for straight walled and tapered cylindrical items like drinkware, candle holders, various other products. 

Digital UV Flatbed Printers for Bags 

First of its kind, direct-to-bag UV printer, the XJET Switch was designed with tote bags and totes in mind. Standard, the XJET Switch comes with two platens, two-up. UV digital printing of bags answers all of the problem areas of competitive methods, for instance, digital printing offers full color, instantly cured images, on a wide variety of materials.  

Learn more about the XJET Switch

Digital UV Inks for Tote Bags 

A key consumable for digital printing is UV Ink. Typically, UV inks are specialty, meaning that they are designed for specific substrates. For instance, the xFlexx Series is a durable, flexible UV ink. Intended for a wide range of materials such as tote bags, the xFlexx Series can move and flex alongside the substrate without cracking or distorting the image.  

Learn more about xFlexx

Vivid White UV Ink for Bags

The xFlexx Series UV ink line includes a Vivid White that rivals the bright white typically only achieved with screen printing.

Learn more about Vivid White

Non-Woven 

If you’ve purchased the budget-friendly and resilient tote bags from the grocery store, they’re likely made of non-woven material. Non-woven bags differ from traditional tote bags because of their distinctive non-planar structure, commonly found in grocery stores and ideal for carrying food products. Enhance the visual appeal of your non-woven bags by digitally decorating them  with intricate, full-color designs. 

PVC Concert Bags

Stadium-approved bags are typically made from clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC by manufacturers. Decorating these materials poses a challenge because of their sensitivity to heat, which eliminates traditional methods like heat transfer, screen printing, or sublimation. However, digitally decorating PVC bags eliminates this typical hurdle for decorating this highly heat sensitive material. 

Per the NFL, logos on clear concert bags cannot exceed 4.5” tall x 3.5” wide.  

Read: Untapped Branding Opportunity: Clear Concert Bags

Polyester Bags 

Drawstring bags are used for various purposes, including promotional giveaways, school use, travel, fitness, outdoor activities, beach trips, and everyday use.  

Cotton Tote Bags 

Durable and eco-friendly, cotton bags offer a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics, boasting thick and long-lasting construction. Their ability to withstand substantial weight makes them an ideal choice for heavier shopping trips. However, decorating cotton proves challenging with traditional methods due to its ink-absorbing nature and tendency to shrink. For this reason and others, consider the XJET Switch to decorate cotton tote bags.  

Paper Gift Bags

Remaining a favored choice for retail packaging, paper gift bags offer both recyclability and biodegradability, making them an eco-conscious option. With their flat surface ideal for branding, many companies are increasingly opting for paper over plastic.

Read: Application Showcase: UV Printing on Paper Bags

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