Image Armor Dark Ultra Formula DTG Pre-Treatment - 1 Gallon
Ready-to-use professional DTG pretreatment engineered for dark garments, providing fast white-ink gelling, improved wash durability, reduced crystallization, and excellent white-ink brightness for high-quality direct-to-garment printing.
Characteristics
Image Armor ULTRA Dark Shirt Formula DTG Pre-Treatment is a professional direct-to-garment pretreatment designed for printing dark-colored garments with white DTG ink. Developed as an improved version of Image Armor's original Dark Shirt Formula, ULTRA provides enhanced wash durability, faster white-ink gelling, and improved production performance for modern DTG printing systems.
The ULTRA formulation promotes rapid gelling of white DTG ink, helping the ink remain on the surface of the garment rather than penetrating excessively into the fabric. This creates a smoother, brighter white foundation for subsequent CMYK printing and can support faster, efficient one-pass printing on compatible DTG equipment.
Its efficient pretreatment performance can also allow operators to optimize white-ink usage while maintaining excellent opacity and image brightness. Proper pretreatment application helps produce vibrant colors, sharp image detail, and dependable wash performance while reducing unnecessary ink consumption.
Image Armor ULTRA is formulated to significantly reduce crystallization on properly pretreated garments. Reduced crystallization helps produce cleaner-looking garments and provides a smoother printing surface for white ink and color layers.
The pretreatment is supplied ready to use (RTU) and does not require dilution for normal dark-garment applications. Simply shake the container before use and apply the pretreatment evenly to the garment. Mechanical pretreatment machines are recommended for the most consistent and repeatable application.
Application amount will vary according to garment weight, construction, color, and printing requirements. Image Armor recommends starting around 15-18 grams per 14" x 14" area, while approximately 18-26 grams may provide improved washability and optical white brightness on some garments. Testing should always be performed to determine the optimal application for each garment and DTG ink system.
For curing, Image Armor recommends heat pressing at approximately 330°F for 30 seconds or until completely dry. Additional pressing can be performed when necessary to remove remaining moisture before printing.
Image Armor ULTRA is an excellent general-purpose dark-garment pretreatment for professional DTG shops looking for dependable white-ink performance, efficient production, bright prints, and durable finished garments.
- Professional direct-to-garment pretreatment
- ULTRA Dark Shirt Formula
- Designed primarily for dark-colored garments
- Engineered for DTG printing with white ink
- Ready-to-use formulation
- No dilution required for standard dark-garment applications
- Fast white-ink gelling performance
- Supports faster DTG printing workflows
- Can support one-pass printing on compatible DTG printers
- Helps keep white ink on the garment surface
- Provides excellent white-ink optical brightness
- Helps create a smooth white underbase
- Improves color vibrancy over the white underbase
- Enhanced wash durability
- Can help optimize DTG ink consumption
- Reduced crystallization compared with conventional pretreatment formulations
- Helps create smoother finished prints
- Suitable for professional production environments
- Compatible with mechanical pretreatment machines
- Can be applied using properly controlled manual spraying methods
- Application amount can be adjusted for garment weight and color
- Water-miscible formulation
- 0% VOC according to the current ULTRA Dark Shirt Formula SDS
- Odorless according to the current SDS
- Designed, formulated, and manufactured in the USA
- CPSIA compliant
- RoHS compliant
- OEKO-TEX certified
- Convenient 1-gallon container
- Shake the container before use and before transferring pretreatment into a pretreatment machine.
- Image Armor ULTRA is ready to use and normally does not need to be diluted for dark-garment printing.
- Apply pretreatment as evenly as possible across the entire DTG print area.
- A mechanical pretreatment machine is recommended for maximum consistency and repeatability.
- Start with approximately 15-18 grams of pretreatment over a 14" x 14" area and perform test prints.
- For improved white brightness and wash durability, testing approximately 18-26 grams may provide better results on some garments.
- Heavier garments will generally require more pretreatment.
- Darker garments generally require a higher pretreatment application than lighter garments.
- Lightweight garments may require less pretreatment.
- Always test each garment style, fabric, color, DTG printer, and ink combination before beginning production.
- Use high-quality garments with a tight, smooth knit whenever possible. Ring-spun garments with a smooth printing surface generally provide better DTG results.
- Heat press the pretreatment at approximately 330°F for 30 seconds or until the garment is completely dry.
- If moisture remains after the initial press, continue pressing until all moisture has been removed.
- Brown Kraft paper can be used as a cover sheet during heat pressing.
- Avoid leaving the cover sheet on the garment after pressing, as trapped cooling vapors can contribute to crystallization.
- Adequate heat-press pressure can help flatten garment fibers and create a smoother surface for white DTG ink.
- If unused pretreatment is returned from a pretreatment machine, strain the solution to remove garment fibers, dust, dirt, and other contaminants.
- Keep pretreatment equipment and containers clean to prevent contamination.
- Pretreated garments may be prepared in advance, but Image Armor recommends using them as soon as practical.
- For garments stored longer than one day after pretreating, re-press for approximately 5-10 seconds with light pressure to remove absorbed moisture before printing.
- Avoid excessive handling, folding, or bending of pretreated garments before printing, as this can disturb the treated printing surface.
- Always confirm that the garment is completely dry and moisture-free before loading it onto the DTG printer.
- A white underbase should be used when printing CMYK colors on dark garments to achieve proper color appearance and wash durability.
- Dark cotton T-shirts
- Black garments
- Medium-to-dark colored garments
- White-ink DTG printing
- White underbase + CMYK DTG printing
- High-production DTG environments
- One-pass printing on compatible DTG systems
- Garments requiring bright white ink reproduction
- Applications requiring improved wash durability
- Professional garment-decoration production
Pretreatment requirements vary significantly according to garment construction, fabric composition, garment color, DTG ink chemistry, printer settings, and desired print characteristics. Always perform application, curing, printing, and wash testing before beginning a production run.
- 1 Gallon