Transfer Express

Transfer Express is a custom heat transfer manufacturer based in Mentor, Ohio that produces screen-printed plastisol transfers, hybrid full-color transfers, and DTF transfers for the apparel decorating industry. The company was incorporated in December 1990 through a merger of Stahls' (the Detroit-area heat transfer pioneer founded in 1932) and Weaver Screen Print of Mentor, Ohio (founded in 1978). In 2004, Transfer Express became a wholly-owned subsidiary of GroupeSTAHL, the international parent of the Stahls' family of heat-printing brands. The Mentor facility manufactures most of the company's transfer output and ships orders directly to apparel decorators across the United States.

It is worth clarifying upfront where Transfer Express fits on a DTF directory. The company's flagship product family is plastisol screen-printed heat transfers, which is a different process than direct-to-film. Screen-printed transfers are produced by pushing plastisol ink through screens onto a release sheet, then cured and shipped flat for the decorator to heat press onto the garment. DTF transfers, by contrast, are digitally printed onto a PET film, dusted with hot-melt adhesive powder, and cured. Transfer Express does sell DTF under the UltraColor MAX line, and many DTF print shops keep a Transfer Express account on hand for jobs where screen-printed transfers, name and number lettering, or hybrid full-color transfers are a better match than gang-sheet DTF. The company is included in this directory for that overlap.

Goof Proof is the company's core screen-printed plastisol transfer and the line most often associated with the brand. Goof Proof transfers are real plastisol, available in roughly 70 stock ink colors, and are designed for cotton, polyester, and cotton/poly blends. Application is a hot peel: cotton and blend single-color jobs press at 365°F for 4 to 6 seconds at medium-to-firm pressure, while 100% polyester runs cooler at 325 to 335°F for 10 to 12 seconds. Multi-color Goof Proof jobs press for 10 seconds at 365°F. Transfer Express publishes wash testing of 50 cycles and offers Goof Proof in standard 11.25 by 14 inch gang sheets and jumbo 12.5 by 17.5 inch gang sheets, with a six-sheet minimum.

Hot Split Retro is the company's vintage-feel screen-printed option. Unlike Goof Proof, Hot Split Retro contains no adhesive layer; the plastisol ink fuses directly into the fibers of the garment, which produces a thinner, softer hand and the broken, faded look associated with retro tees and burnout fabrics. Application runs hot at 360 to 370°F for 8 to 10 seconds with a hot peel. Hot Split Retro is recommended for cotton, polyester, and blends, with the best results on lightweight garments. The line shares the same six-sheet minimum and stock color palette as the rest of the screen-printed family.

Elasti Prints is the screen-printed line built for performance polyester and stretchy athletic fabrics. The formula uses a low-temperature plastisol that applies at 290°F for 15 seconds with a cold peel, which helps avoid scorching and dye migration on jerseys, performance tees, and other heat-sensitive synthetics. Elasti Prints carries the same 70-color stock palette as Goof Proof and ships in the same standard and jumbo gang-sheet sizes with a six-sheet minimum. Multi-color Elasti Prints jobs require either an outline color shared by all artwork or a clear backing layer.

UltraColor Pro is Transfer Express's hybrid full-color transfer, combining digital CMYK printing with a screen-printed adhesive backing. The result is a thin transfer with clean edges, fine detail, and a semi-gloss finish that the company markets as a lower-cost full-color alternative once order quantities reach 25 or more pieces. Application is a fast hot peel at 340°F for 10 seconds on cotton and blends, or 290°F for 15 seconds on polyester. UltraColor Pro is OEKO-TEX and CPSIA certified and ships in 11.5 by 18 inch gang sheets with a six-sheet minimum, or as single images in packs of 25.

UltraColor Stretch is the hybrid full-color line engineered for elastic and performance apparel. It applies with a cold peel at 340 to 360°F on cotton and blends, or 290 to 320°F on polyester and synthetics, for 12 to 15 seconds at medium pressure. The recommended fabric list extends beyond standard cotton and polyester to spandex, Lycra, and woven nylon, and the formula is engineered to stretch and rebound with the garment. A separate UltraColor Stretch with Blocker variant adds a backing layer that helps prevent dye migration on darker or sublimated base garments.

UltraColor MAX is Transfer Express's direct-to-film product and the line that most directly competes with what the rest of this directory covers. UltraColor MAX is a true DTF transfer printed on film with a powdered hot-melt adhesive, applied at 290°F for 12 to 15 seconds with a hot peel. The recommended fabric list covers cotton, polyester, cotton/poly blends, triblends, and Lycra/Spandex. Unlike the screen-printed and hybrid lines, UltraColor MAX has no sheet-count minimum: orders start at a 35 cent per piece minimum and scale down on gang sheets, with single images priced by square inch. The company offers an EasyRip perforated sheet option, a recently added AI Assist artwork tool, and same-business-day shipping on orders placed by 9 AM Eastern.

Easy View Designer is the company's online artwork and ordering platform, sometimes referenced as Easy Prints in older marketing. Decorators create a free account, build artwork from a library of more than 250 fonts, more than 6,000 layouts, more than 8,000 clip art elements, and 77 stock ink colors, then send the design directly into a transfer order. The tool is built around the kinds of high-volume custom jobs that decorators repeat often, including team and event shirts, spirit wear, and corporate uniforms, and it allows users to upload their own artwork as well.

Name and number transfers are a long-running specialty for Transfer Express and one of the reasons many uniform decorators keep a wholesale account. Through the Express Names program, decorators can order individual screen-printed names and stock numbers that are pressed onto jerseys in a single application step, which speeds up team-uniform turnaround compared to cutting and weeding heat transfer vinyl letter by letter. Stock numbers and personalization options are designed to be ordered alongside or separately from team-logo transfers.

The customer base is primarily wholesale apparel decorators, screen printers, embroiderers, schools, athletic programs, league organizers, promotional product distributors, and small custom-shirt businesses. Pricing is wholesale-tier and varies by line, with the screen-printed transfers (Goof Proof, Hot Split Retro, Elasti Prints) carrying six-sheet minimums on gang sheets, the hybrid lines (UltraColor Pro, UltraColor Stretch) using either six gang sheets or 25 single images as the entry point, and UltraColor MAX DTF available with no sheet minimum. Specific pricing is published on the Transfer Express website and in account dashboards rather than on this listing, since rates change with quantity and sheet configuration.

For decorators evaluating where Transfer Express fits alongside a DTF workflow: the screen-printed lines tend to win on per-piece economics for high-volume one or two-color jobs, on the soft hand of true plastisol, and on the vintage feel of Hot Split Retro, while UltraColor Stretch and Elasti Prints address performance fabrics where standard DTF can crack or dye-migrate. UltraColor MAX covers the no-minimum, full-color, gang-sheet use case that DTF is typically chosen for. Decorators frequently run a Transfer Express account in parallel with their in-house DTF printer or another DTF supplier to cover the full range of jobs that walk through the door.