Images_Digital_Edition_January_2020

INDUSTRY NEWS www.images-magazine.com 20 images JANUARY 2020 Pin it... on the Images Pinterest boards: www.pinterest.co.uk/imagesmaguk/ The perfect fit Ever wondered which garments and accessories industry professionals prefer? Each issue, one reader tells us why they rate a particular style This month, Zsolt Petrik, managing director of Fifth Column, reports that his favourite garment is the organic cotton Heavy Jersey Long Sleeve T-Shirt (EP18L) from Continental Clothing’s EarthPositive range. Zsolt says: “We’ve been using EarthPositive garments since Continental launched them over a decade ago and the whole range has been very popular with our clients ever since. These EP18L long sleeve tees are the perfect fit. The weight is 190gsm, which works really well, and they have cuffs, which is a must these days.” As an ethical decorator, Zsolt appreciates the fact that EarthPositive garments are made from certified organic cotton. He says: “The manufacturing facilities are approved by the Fair Wear Foundation and EarthPositive is also climate neutral, which is something that’s important to us.” As an added bonus, the EP18L is easy to work with. “The cuffs aren’t too tight so loading/off-loading when printing is no trouble,” says Zsolt. “They come with a small size tag inside the neck, so adding a neck print is easy too. Larger, non-tear-away neck labels can get in the way, so this is a massive time saver. Unlike other organic cotton garments, these work really well with water-based discharge inks. We’ve just finished a print run of over 250 of these with discharge inks and the colour was consistent through the lot, which is amazing!” www.fifthcolumn.co.uk • Contact us at editoral@images-magazine.com to share your favourite garment or accessory style Zsolt Petrik rates the Heavy Jersey Long Sleeve T-Shirt from EarthPositive The new BigRed 4D-54 conveyor dryer has a 137cm wide conveyor belt, a pre-heating zone and airflow mapping READERS’ CHOICE Vastex unveils conveyor dryer with pre-heating zone and airflow mapping Vastex International has introduced a new conveyor dryer with a pre-heating zone and airflow mapping. The BigRed 4D-54 has been designed to achieve “ultra-high rates and side-to-side curing uniformity, while cooling the chamber skin, reducing noise and preventing dust contamination”, said Mark Vasilantone, president of Vastex. The new compact dryer has a 137cm wide conveyor belt, dual heating zones and four infrared heaters, which are said to be capable of curing up to 950 plastisol printed garments/ hour, 432 water-based or discharge-printed garments/hour, or 144 garments/hour printed with digital white ink. “A high-powered pre-heating zone surges ink temperatures past 150°C within the first several centimetres of conveyor travel, maximising dwell time at optimum curing temperatures and, in turn, conveyor belt speeds and dryer output,” explained Mark. The company added that its BigRed 4D-30 with a 76cm wide conveyor belt will be released soon. www.vastex.com