Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I got my Alpha Gold today and I was so excited that I had to fire up the press. This is how it went....
I heated my press to 380 Degrees.
I pre-heated the lower platen.
I pressed the 100 percent cotton t-shirt for 5 seconds to make sure it was flat and dry.
I then tried to place the printed Alpha Gold and due to the heat and my slow progress the Alpha Gold started to shrink and wrinkle up. Wow.....Totally botched it!
Then, I started working with a cool t-shirt. I placed the Alpha Gold..........Placed parchment paper over the Alpha Gold.......Placed Teflon over the parchment and I hit it for 20 seconds.
The instructions say "Cold Peel" and to wait 15 seconds but of course I had to experiment. When I tried to lift the parchment, right away, the Alpha Gold left the T-shirt and stayed on the Parchment.
So I thought, that's why they say to cold peel so I waited the 15 seconds and the Alpha Gold then stuck to the t-shirt. As I started to pull the parchment paper the Alpha Gold was fused between the T-Shirt and the Parchment paper. The parchment paper would just rip apart as it stayed stuck to the Alpha Gold.
There were areas where the parchment pulled away and I could tell that I was going to love Alpha Gold if I could just figure out what I was doing wrong.
So I decided to press without parchment and to just use teflon. I could get the teflon to let go of the Alpha Gold and it looked amazing!
After it cooled I could see that some of the corners of the Alpha Gold were not stuck to the shirt so I pulled on the Alpha Gold and I could peel it off the the shirt for about a 1/4 of an inch and then I hit the part were it was really stuck to the shirt.
I could tell by the way it looked and how well most of the Alpha Gold stuck to the shirt that I will be very happy with Alpha Gold after I figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I tried a couple of different things but nothing has made the perfect print yet.
It's been a long day so I'm calling it a night but I sure would love some advice to wake up to : )
Befor I go, I figured some one would ask what parchment paper?.... The box says: parchment paper......good cook...real life, real cooking. So, is it the paper brand?
I would make sure the parchment is silicone treated as that is what makes it release is the silicone coating. Also as far as sticking well you might need to press a little longer, or maybe a little more pressure, or even maybe just upping the temp a couple of degrees. Every press is going to work differently so it is best to figure out what settings work best for your press. Hope this helps some.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Hey Dog, cold peel means when the temperature of the transfer and material reach room temperature. I really don't think 15 seconds is long enough for the material to cool down. That would be closer to a warm peel paper. Have tried letting it cool longer?
Hey Dog, cold peel means when the temperature of the transfer and material reach room temperature. I really don't think 15 seconds is long enough for the material to cool down. That would be closer to a warm peel paper. Have tried letting it cool longer?
Ya, That's a good point. The 15 seconds came from Alpha Gold's instructions, not me.
I thing you are totally right though and I think that because the parchment paper stuck, I was afraid to leave my teflon on too long for fear that it would never release.
Since then, I did a t-shirt forum search on parchment paper and found out that there are two kinds pf parchment paper.
One is good for pre-press because it doesn't leave a shiny patch and the other kind is good for the press because it will release from the transfer.
I also bought a silicon pad from Ace (Flex Pad, I think?) and I wonder if i use it for adding texture if it would stick to tranfers?
I will let the next Alpha Gold transfer totally cool before the peel and use a heat eraser to rub the design down as it cools.
here is a really good place for silicone paper, this is where I buy mine because their bulk price is very cheap Matfer Bourgeat EXOPAP - Parchment Paper , hope this helps
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
I have used Alpha Gold with good results. You should contact them. They are very friendly and will help you with any problem you might have. They also publish a bimonthly newsletter, called the "Toner Times" that has a lot of good information. Contact them at: 1-800-908-9916 they are located in Nashville, TN.
Thank you everyone. Cold peel does mean cold peel. Everything is good now. It's was the 15 seconds on the instructions than threw me and the fact that I had the wrong parchment paper.
Who knew? Not all parchments are created equal. One step forward....
I have been using my alpha gold this past week and it has been acting funny as well!!!!!
I did not have problems before!.... and this time .... same problems as you're having!!
I called Jack at Alpha and he told me to up my pressure(a lot) and time(a little) ...I did and now everything is good!
The transfer does feel different than the Alpha gold that I got in Feb...??? ....he explained that paper comes in different batches and every batch is not 100% the same as the last....?? chemicals are chemicals and it is hard to always get the SAME out come.
well, that stinks!
I want the ALPHA GOLD that I received in my SAMPLE pack.
IT ROCKED!!!!
maybe next batch!
I like this "different" batch of Alpha Gold ok..... but....
It does not feel as rugged.(good for those of you that want a softer "FEEL"...but I want rugged!!!)LOL!
I really do not think that I am ever going to TRUST any transfer paper again........ Different batches...different paper everytime????? oh well .... this is life in the transfer world I guess!!!!
Maybe I will find $15,000 along the road way and no one will claim it!!! Then ,I can go out and buy an ANAJET DTG printer!!!!!! .....
....well... after giving some of it away first ,of course!!!
__________________ For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Psalm 116:8
Last edited by ashamutt; May 23rd, 2008 at 09:31 PM.
Thank you everyone. Cold peel does mean cold peel. Everything is good now. It's was the 15 seconds on the instructions than threw me and the fact that I had the wrong parchment paper.
Who knew? Not all parchments are created equal. One step forward....
oops... forgot to mention in the last post...
I use silicone paper.
I get it in rolls off of ebay and then cut to the size I need.
__________________ For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Psalm 116:8
Ya, That's a good point. The 15 seconds came from Alpha Gold's instructions, not me.
I thing you are totally right though and I think that because the parchment paper stuck, I was afraid to leave my teflon on too long for fear that it would never release.
Since then, I did a t-shirt forum search on parchment paper and found out that there are two kinds pf parchment paper.
One is good for pre-press because it doesn't leave a shiny patch and the other kind is good for the press because it will release from the transfer.
I also bought a silicon pad from Ace (Flex Pad, I think?) and I wonder if i use it for adding texture if it would stick to tranfers?
I will let the next Alpha Gold transfer totally cool before the peel and use a heat eraser to rub the design down as it cools.
I'll post the results....
What is this silicon pad you speak of??
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pressing this new batch of Alpha Gold...
tips from a newbie........
I give the shirt a good pre-press to remove moisture....and since they are DARK shirts they seem to scorch/turn color easily so I close the press completely
for about 3 secs and then just "tap" the shirt with the hot platen a few times.
Then i stretch, stretch, stretch the shirt.....did I mention that I STRETCH the shirt?lol
I have the pressure set very high for this new batch of Alpha Gold!!!!! ...almost hard to close!
...and I have raised the temp about 12° because when I "took the presses temp" it was running low!!!LOL!!
I press for 23-25 secs!!! not 20!
......but if your press runs hot, I am not sure what this longer press time will do!?!
...after opening my press I remove the teflon S_L_O_W_L_Y.... because if i remove to fast the silicone/parchment paper comes right off with it(BAD!!!)
....then I get a nice large sock(dry eraser works too!) and rub over the silicone/parchment paper slowly NOT pressing down hard...just a light touch....this cools it down some
....then I remove it carefully from the press and lay it on my table.
I let my shirt cool to almost room temp before peeling.
...and I peel slowly!
hope this helps some.....
If you have any tips please let me know!!!!
__________________ For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Psalm 116:8
What is this silicon pad you speak of??
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Mrs. Bacon, I have enjoyed all of your posts.
Sorry for my lack of response. I've been out of town.
This is what I bought:
Flex Pad$19.00Our flex pad is designed primarily for computer cut films, but it will also give a nice textured matte finish to plastisol heat transfers. Flex pad is made of silicone with a textured surface and measures 18" x 18". This product was added to our catalog on Friday 01 February, 2008.
Alpha Gold Help - This is what's happening... 
Our flex pad is designed primarily for computer cut films, but it will also give a nice textured matte finish to plastisol heat transfers. Flex pad is made of silicone with a textured surface and measures 18" x 18".
