By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A small-town shop with nationwide ambitions is one way to describe Ellinwood's newest business. Chris and Jennifer Knop recently announced the start of Armor Ink, a custom-apparel store that will operate out of 14 N. Main Street in downtown Ellinwood. The Knops hope to serve customers near and far.
"We will be able to fulfill custom apparel orders for schools, businesses, sports teams, or any other organization here in Ellinwood and the surrounding communities," said Chris. "We can also ship our ink transfers nationwide to boutiques or any other business that wants to make their own merchandise. Becoming a supplier for businesses nationwide is another goal of ours."
The company was founded due to frustration with the lack of quality print-on-demand providers available. The Knops use an industrial Direct to Film (DTF) Printer for creating the full-color ink transfers. The improved technology has limitless color possibilities, and the graphics can be used with any fabric of any color.
"We've done a lot of research with trying to figure out what is the best method to create apparel," said Chris. "We’ve also looked at screen printing, vinyl, and direct-to-garment printing. We found DTF technology, and we feel like this is what the apparel-decorating industry will be moving to because of its allowance for full-color designs, superior durability, great feel, and how it can adhere to anything."
The Knops not only did the research before purchasing the equipment, and the training on how to use it after it arrived, but they have also put their products to the test with months of runs through the washing machine. "The oldest test garments have been washed over 60 cycles and the designs haven’t lost any color and look just as good as when we applied them," Chris said. "They've shown great durability, which is exactly what we wanted to see."
Armor Ink is currently a two-person operation with Chris and Jennifer handling orders and production. Visit their website armorink.com for more information on DTFs, and to order DTF transfers. You can also follow their Facebook page Armor Ink to stay up to date with their offerings and order custom apparel.