Applying Heat Transfers - Eight Tips
Quality hot-peel transfers can be easily accomplished from a home printer using the proper paper, and can match the quality of direct printing methods such as screen printing. Designing your own one of a kind artwork, printing it out on your home printer and creating your own one of a kind shirt in minutes is a lot of fun! There are other things that you can print other than shirts. You can also print baseball caps with heat transfers, while the same techniques apply, you would need a cap press. We'll focus proper technique for them below:
Quality hot-peel transfers can be effortlessly accomplished from a home printer using the correct paper, and can rival the quality of direct printing methods such as screen printing. What could be more fun than developing your own one of a kind design, then printing it out on your own printer and having your own one of a kind designed t-t-shirt within minutes! There are other things that you can print other than t-shirts. You can also print baseball caps with heat transfers, while the same techniques apply, you would need a cap press. Let's start our tutorial:
(1) Use 100% cotton or a cotton-polyester blend for best t-shirt results. Many are available and we find that the Haynes or Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton or blends work best for a large range of heat transfers.
(2) For the greatest results, start by setting your transfer machine to 375-400? F (190-204? C).
(3) Place the shirt over the pad of the heat press and smooth out any wrinkles. For best results, you can even pre-heat the t-shirt which warms it up and flattens out those wrinkles.
(4) Put the transfer paper with the printed side down (so you can read it through the paper) and place it about 1/2 finger's length from the t-shirt collar... about three inches.
(5) Lock the heating element into place and press with both hands - this requires a decent amount of pressure - this is the most common beginner's error in not applying enough pressure. If you fail to use the right amount of pressure, the result will be that not all of the artwork goes onto the t-shirt.
(6) After about 10 seconds (fourteen seconds for 100% cotton) you will need to release the heating element. This is a general rule, but don't leave it down for more than-- seconds.
(7) Peel the heat transfer from the shirt immediately, beginning at the top right corner and going towards the bottom left corner in a rapid motion.
(8) In a few minutes the shirts should be cooled and ready.
When laundering the shirt, inform your customers to wash it without bleach and to take it out of the washer imediately. To dry the shirt, tumble dry them no higher than the medium setting and turn the t-shirt inside out. And we never suggest ironing the transfer area of course (but believe us people do try this and wonder what happened)!
Quality hot-peel transfers can be effortlessly accomplished from a home printer using the correct paper, and can rival the quality of direct printing methods such as screen printing. What could be more fun than developing your own one of a kind design, then printing it out on your own printer and having your own one of a kind designed t-t-shirt within minutes! There are other things that you can print other than t-shirts. You can also print baseball caps with heat transfers, while the same techniques apply, you would need a cap press. Let's start our tutorial:
(1) Use 100% cotton or a cotton-polyester blend for best t-shirt results. Many are available and we find that the Haynes or Fruit of the Loom 100% cotton or blends work best for a large range of heat transfers.
(2) For the greatest results, start by setting your transfer machine to 375-400? F (190-204? C).
(3) Place the shirt over the pad of the heat press and smooth out any wrinkles. For best results, you can even pre-heat the t-shirt which warms it up and flattens out those wrinkles.
(4) Put the transfer paper with the printed side down (so you can read it through the paper) and place it about 1/2 finger's length from the t-shirt collar... about three inches.
(5) Lock the heating element into place and press with both hands - this requires a decent amount of pressure - this is the most common beginner's error in not applying enough pressure. If you fail to use the right amount of pressure, the result will be that not all of the artwork goes onto the t-shirt.
(6) After about 10 seconds (fourteen seconds for 100% cotton) you will need to release the heating element. This is a general rule, but don't leave it down for more than-- seconds.
(7) Peel the heat transfer from the shirt immediately, beginning at the top right corner and going towards the bottom left corner in a rapid motion.
(8) In a few minutes the shirts should be cooled and ready.
When laundering the shirt, inform your customers to wash it without bleach and to take it out of the washer imediately. To dry the shirt, tumble dry them no higher than the medium setting and turn the t-shirt inside out. And we never suggest ironing the transfer area of course (but believe us people do try this and wonder what happened)!
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