Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I am after some opinions. I have played around with a few different (store bought) papers and to my surprise, I'm reasonably happy with some HP cold peel paper I bought at my local OfficeWorks. It has quite a nice hand, matte finish, prints nice and sharp (the Avery paper sucked in that everything seemed blurred), etc. However, I'm still having a bit of a problem with cracking on garment stretch, which I understand is to do with using a hand iron.
E.g - will it give better results than a hand iron, and what would be the comparison to a professional heat press? Being in Australia, I'm not in a position to buy a "home made" press, and this seems like a cheap alternative. Apparently the pressure applied is 100 pounds, whatever that means. But of course, I've no idea what pressure a heat press applies, so...?
Should I just give up and wait to buy a professional heat press, or do you think I might get decent results with this?
No No No, that is for ironing shirts and pants. If you want to do this with an iron then I would go to your local Office depot and buy a large mouse pad. (same material as heat press bottoms) I have one that is 14 x 18 cost 10 dollars. Place it on a hard surface. Do not use an ironing board. Place shirt over pad and iron per instructions that come with transfer paper. ! Pre heat shirt about 6 seconds. Press each area of the 15 to 20 seconds (heat press is 15 to 20 seconds) so same with iron but because it is smaller you need to do each area. Then peel.
About the paper.. If you buying at any office supply you are paying way too much. try one of the sources we use. I use paper called Iron all from New Millford Photo. I love it and so do my clients that I sell shirts too.
OK, guess that idea is out! I think I'll persevere with trying to get a good transfer from my iron while I save for a heat press. Am I right that it's lack of pressure which is causing the transfer to fracture?
badalou - in terms of "paying too much" I'm concerned once you factor in shipping to Aust the price per sheet would work out about the same/more expensive. I'm willing to pay a bit more if the quality is better, but if I can find a decent product locally, that's better. For example, 25 sheets of A4 from New Millford will cost $9.50 USD to ship. That adds 0.38 cents to a 0.67 cent sheet of paper.
"iron press" - would this work? 
I think I'll persevere with trying to get a good transfer from my iron while I save for a heat press. Am I right that it's lack of pressure which is causing the transfer to fracture?
