My head is spinning, which printer?

[samirish]

So I put my soaps in individual bags and would like to print directly on the bags instead of labeling them. My husband says that is impossible because it would use way way too much ink and the ink is the most expensive part of printing.

Is he right? Is there a good quality printer that doesnt cost an arm and a leg for ink?

Thanks all
Stacey

 

[la-rene]

I would think that the seams in the bag would interfere with the printheads. Unless you get fabric designed for printing (sized to a piece of paper and made for ink) and then sew the bags. I don't think a regular inkjet ink would work on regular fabric like the type used in cotton drawstring bags. Though, I have taped floral ribbon to paper and ran it through my inkjet, though I'm still not sure it didn't rub on the printheads. It did look pretty good, but we went with something else so we never used this option.

Have you thought of a small screen printing outfit? Or a stamp with fabric appropriate ink?

 

[hellogorgeous]

Are the bags fabric, paper, glassine?? Each will be different. Can't print on fabric bags, it'll ruin your printer or will jam. Glassine dont print well either. Ink jet smears on them, and the wax on them ruins laser printers plus they won't feed properly. Paper bags are doable on either type of printer so long as they're fed flat and proper settings are used.

 

[la-rene]

Are the bags fabric, paper, glassine?? Each will be different. Can't print on fabric bags, it'll ruin your printer or will jam. Glassine dont print well either. Ink jet smears on them, and the wax on them ruins laser printers plus they won't feed properly. Paper bags are doable on either type of printer so long as they're fed flat and proper settings are used.

Ohhh, I never gave it a thought that paper bags would be used! Haha! Sorry about that.

 

[user 12568]

... the ink is the most expensive part of printing.

Is he right? Is there a good quality printer that doesnt cost an arm and a leg for ink?

Your husband is correct. The ink is the most expensive part of printing. You can buy a printer for $29, paper for $4, and ink (colour + B&W) for $60 or more. Printing labels is expensive, whether done at home or at a print shop. You should factor the costs into the price of your bars.

 

[Bigmoose]

I looked at buying bags with my company info on them but that costs an arm and a leg. So I print labels and stick them to my bags at a fraction of the cost.

Bruce