Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
My back is killing me and my eyes are rolling around in my head from searching for a possible answer to this quesiton.
Can someone pleeeeeeze give a straight forward answer...Can I use a heat transfer (from Transfer Express) and press it onto a 100% polyester performance t-shirt. I'm looking at the Alo or Badger brand.
I do sublimation but this particular order has to be on a navy blue shirt and would just be the company name (approx. 3" x 2") in white for only 10-20 shirts.
I've sort of read here about the concerns of the high temps on poly so I'm curious if anyone has actually done this.
I do have an email into Trans Exp but I would like to see if anyone else has actually used this process.
Hi, You can press at high temp but if you are doing lettering only I think you would be better off doing vinyl,, lower temps less dwell time,, also you might want to look at expertperformancet.com great stuff and good prices
Thanks for the advise. Actually the lettering is sort of a specific font that is the company logo so it's not like block letters or something.
Unfortunately I can't produce the vinyl anyway. Transfer Express also offers a Polytrans transfer that presses at around 350 for 10 seconds so maybe that would be better. I'll see what they suggest.
Thanks for the the heads up about Expert Performance's website. There's certainly a lot to choose from!
I really appreciate that you took the time to answer. It's good to know that someone has actually done this because I know whatever shirt I get, it will end up being an expensive mistake not to know what may or may not occur.
You will not be able to use any ordinary plastisol transfer for performance wear. Most fabrics (with the exception of sublimatable ones like vapor) are very sensitive to direct heat. I've found that 300 degrees is about the upper limit on most, although they vary considerably, mostly due to the weave. You won't find many plastisol transfers that will press properly below 325 degrees.
I press on performance fabrics and have posted extensively about it here.
Get over it, you're going to have to experiment. Yes it can get pricey but be smart. Start off by getting a wholesale license and order some samples. They're great to practice on and it'll give you an idea of how things fit.
I would recommend you master transfers on cotton before you tacke performance shirts. Mistakes are much, much cheaper.
For this application I would use vinyl. I've had very good results with Spectra EZ-Weed (discontinued but you may find some out there). The new Spectra Eco Film is supposed to have the same thickness (very thin), same low press temp (302) and the same easy weeding. I did some tests and so far it's worked well for me.
As far as shirts go, I swear by the Zorrel Z500. Price is reasonable, it performs very well and is comfortable to wear. They have a Navy option that didn't make it in their 2007 catalog. I just got a batch so they're still making it. Make sure you ask for the newer, longer cuts. They had some QA problems and were shipping shirts that were WAY too short for a while. My last ones were ok but it won't hurt to ask.
Jose you are correct on the vinyl but it depends on the material "performance wear" seems to be a catch all phrase now days so you have to watch what you get.. bieng a baby boomer comming out of the 1960-1970 era we wore a ton of polyester clear into the late 80's,, we did all sorts of things to those trying to be individulized and that material was caveman style compared to what we have today, so I learned a considerable bit about polyester in those days,, so it boils down to be careful on the material you get if you use a heat press..
Lynn, The other thing I like about expert is that you can get a relaxed fit seems now that performance wear is geared to the body conforming stuff that athelete's like to wear.
expert's sizing is on the narrow side, which is ok for skinny people. The women's cuts are incredibly small. Seems that (at least when we sampled) they were using asian sizing. If you need something a little roomier, try wickid. They run quite a bit larger.
Jose you are correct on the vinyl but it depends on the material "performance wear" seems to be a catch all phrase now days so you have to watch what you get.
Yup, that's why I said the microfiber style fabric.
We sell primarily to runners. Material selection is very important to us. We've sampled everything we can get our hands on and have tested all of them as thoroughly as we could.
I would guess that a good portion of manufacturers are jumping on the performance fabric bandwagon strictly for the sake of getting a piece of the pie. We've been extremely disappointed with what some will try to pass of as good performing garments. I guess it really depends on your customers. To some, mediocre polyester is way better than cotton and that's good enough for them.
Relaxed fit will be the way to go for these shirts because they're to be worn in an un-air conditioned plant, so it's more about comfort and image. I'm not sure a bunch of overweight pressmen will do the body conforming shirt justice! Only kidding to any pressmen out there!
Hopefully Transfer Express will be able to steer me in the right direction. I just wish I could sublimate them and be done with it but you do what you have to do!
Thanks for all your insight! I'll try to post what Trans Exp's response is.
hey Lynn,
check out a post that i made about 2 weeks ago. I included some picks of the new dark transfer iron all heat press paper on polyester active tees and see how you like it and perhaps the visual will help you make your decision. Just search Underarmour and dark heat transfer and it will come up under my user name.
i was just on txpress's website and they have a new product Digi Prints that goes on performance wear. It stretches, can go on navy. I haven't used this product yet but i wouldn't doubt that it works if they say it does.
I haven't used Transfer Express transfers but if they are screen printed they may bleach out some of the fabric dyes when you press it. I tried some plastisol transfers on an Augusta dri-fit
The problem with digital transfers is the the edge of the transfer paper will leave a permanent impression on the fabric. I found this out the hard way after running a bunch of shirts with a "weedless" transfer paper. The shirts had perfect rectangles around them that you can still see a year later.
I'm am getting to ready to run transfers specifically designed for stretchy performance fabrics which hopefully will mitigate those aforementioned problems. I am sourcing them through Instagraphics (250 piece minimum at $1.25 each for 1" x 4", 2-colors). The product is called Ultraspan II.
Hi,
I know this post is dated but I too am struggling with heat pressing on performance fabrics. Transfer Express has been no help and they insist that their transfers can go on any fabric. I have been melting and scorching many shirts trying to get it right. I want to press on Under Armour.
Please help if you can.
Cheers,
Bradley
Heat Transfer on Performance Wear 
Only kidding to any pressmen out there! 
