Heat Transfer Vinyl

Pre-Press Apparel

For a flawless print, pre-press your garment before applying vinyl. Heating up the garment before pressing it helps release moisture and eliminates wrinkles. When you press the platen down, it is normal to see steam seep out of the edges of the heat press. The trick is to press until the steam no longer is visible, usually about 5-10 seconds. Sometimes heavier materials, like 100% cotton hoodies, need to be pressed longer to expel all moisture. This being said, some synthetic materials, like nylon,  might not need any pre-pressing.

Straighten up your Design

One of the most common mistakes when heat pressing is having the artwork go on crooked. Without lasers or rulers, it can be tricky to confidently line artwork up. Some foolproof ways to ensure straight artwork is to simply fold the shirt down the middle, so both sleeves are touching. Crease the shirt so you can see the line running vertically down the middle of the shirt. This ensures your art is in the right area and helps with left and right chest prints. Some printers also use the three finger rule. This is laying three fingers (usually two inches) directly under the collar of the shirt for the art placement.

By far the best way to straighten up your design is to make sure the garment is laying straight on the heat press in the first place. A trick is to line the shirt's tag up with the backbone of the heat press, ensuring there is an equal amount of space between the sleeves and the platen. Make sure you are not stretching the garment, which can cause skewing issues.

Maintain your Press

The number one way to ensure you're printing pristine pieces of artwork every time is to make sure your heat press is operating at full strength. The rule of thumb is to check your press' temperature and pressure accuracy every six months. You can test the temperature with Thermolabels. Make sure to test all areas of the platen for consistent temperature. Cold spots in your press could mean application problems. To test the pressure, hang a piece of paper off the edges of your heat press and press it with a low-medium pressure. Pull the paper and ensure that all corners have similar resistance.

Source link: https://www.pressnwear.com/