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Girlzndollz · December 11th, 2008

For all of the folks that I've seen out there, who also don't like the "slightly gritty" feel of a pressed JPSS shirt, using parchment paper for a re-press is the answer!!

I never liked how JPSS has that slightly "gritty" feel after it is freshly pressed, and re-pressing with teflon didn't smooth it out. It stays that way until it is washed a few times.

When I press, I normally stretch the shirt, pre-press to remove moisture, press with teflon over top of the transfer, peel hot, stretch, and re-press with teflon over the image area.

NOT ANYMORE! haha...

Tonight I "re-pressed" with parchment paper after the hot peel and stretch. The result was a *very smooth and soft finish* on my shirt!! I was in Heaven!

I know other people have posted that they like the smoothness of parchment over teflon, but I never tried it out because I started out with Ironall as my paper, and that already had a smooth finish, with or without a teflon re-press.

Also, I didn't really want to spend the money on another consumable $ product that I'd have to keep replacing (the parchment paper) when I already had teflon here that was free with my heat press purchase.

Whoo hoo, just had to share my joy and news, which I know is not exactly brand new news, because parchment has been used before, but I've never seen it used to *smooth out* a *gritty finish* before.

I will still do my first press with the teflon to protect the shirt under the longer heated dwell time, but I will use a fresh piece of parchment for every re-press after the stretch. I'll probably put the teflon over the parchment on the re-press, as well.

This should also solve my pesky ghosting problem with my teflon, too, since I won't be using the teflon directly on the print anymore, and the teflon will no longer "see" fresh ink.

So for all of us or anyone else looking for a solution to the gritty feel of the JPSS finish, by trying different peels, etc, to smooth it out, here is another way out for us.

All the best to you, gals and guys! Hope this makes your day like it did mine. Happy Pressing!

splathead · December 11th, 2008

Kelly,

Where do you get your parchment paper? And you only use it once, then throw away?

marcelolopez · December 11th, 2008

My only concern would be the time it would take to complete a big order...but probably you would choose another route.. instead of JPSS...

Girlzndollz · December 11th, 2008

Hi Joe, I bought this at the grocery store for cookie trays years ago, and never bothered to line the trays. It's Reynolds Parchment Paper, it says on the box, The Simple Secret to Better Baking... I'll add "and smooth finishes on JPSS".

Hi Marcelo, very true, and you're right for a large order, someone might go plastisol if possible, but still, if doing a fairly large order, I might just spend some prep time ahead and tear the sheets off the roll and stack them. Could be a good job for a younger member in the household or a biz to take care of for you. Then when pressing, just pick a new one off the pile of pre-trimmed sheets.

I wish I had tried this a long time ago. I can't believe the difference in the feel from freshly hot peeled to re-pressed with parchment paper. It's like it's not even there.

Joe, sorry forgot the part about do I throw it away. Yes, I would. I saw a faint ghosting of ink on the parchment paper. I said to my husband, "That is what usually gets on my teflon and causes the ghosting on the next shirt." .. which he knows I hate bc it ruins the next shirt I do.

I am very tired of that, and I don't take the time to clean my teflon sheet after each press. To me, peeling the parchment paper and tossing it will be faster than cleaning my teflon sheet between each press. Peel, toss, start fresh on each, guarenteed no ghosting. I am really looking forward to the new method.

sunnydayz · December 11th, 2008

I have always used the parchment. I tried teflon once

and hated the glossy look and the feel on light transfers. After that one time I used the parchment and seen I get the smooth matte finish, I always used it from then on. Here is a really good place to get it fairly cheap Matfer Bourgeat EXOPAP - Parchment Paper. For smaller images it can be cut in half, and is also silicone coated on both sides, so you can get double the use out of it. Hope this helps for a good source

Girlzndollz · December 12th, 2008

Good morning, Sunz, and thank you for that link. I know you love your silicone parchments.

I won't use the parchement paper 2 or 3 times, because of the ink I saw on it after pressing. I wouldn't want to flip it and put that on my upper platen. I just don't want anymore ghosting, and I'd like to keep the upper clean. I have the EZ off (not oven cleaner for anyone new) platen cleaner, but don't want to go there, if possible.

I didn't get this gritty feel on JPSS from the teflon. The JPSS has a slightly gritty feel straight away from being pressed. Even if I don't re-press with teflon, the grittiness is there.

What I found with the teflon is the teflon does nothing to help that, but, the parchment paper makes it disappear.

I'm really happy with this situation. When I used Ironall light, I re-pressed with teflon and that came out smooth as butta and soft as anything. It's just the JPSS, but now that is solved.

I'll check that link for pricing, but I'm going to see if I can find some at the dollar store, too. I found some very cheap silicone baking sheets there, but I don't want to use anything I have to wipe off. I am just tired of ruining shirts with ghosting. It's not *every* other shirt I lose, but it's enough to really get annoying, and I never know which is the next shirt to be ruined.

Loving parchment paper, it's the bomb!!

DTFuqua · December 12th, 2008

Hi Kelly. I've used the parchment paper since getting my heat press. Not because of trials but just being cheap. I'm glad you made a comparison as now I won't entertain the thought I should get the teflon sheets. Are you using the claria inks? I am still ( not doing a lot of transfers as I can't leave the house for more than a few minutes at a time) using the claria and don't have any ghosting or leftover image on the parchment paper from either the JPSS or the alpha gold for darks. Good luck. Terry

Girlzndollz · December 12th, 2008

I'm using the Durabrite inks still. I was using red, and red seems to give trouble more than other colors for all sorts of reasons, so maybe that is part of it.

I'm still going to use teflon for the main press, just going to use parchment for that re-press, to get that smooth finish and no ghosting.

I still like how teflon protects the shirt from heat, but, there are folks who press the main press without teflon or parchment. So it's just a matter of preference unless you run into a scorching situation, then teflon is the answer.

Aw, I hope things improve for you guys, with the holidays coming. My prayers are with you. All the best, Terry.

sunnydayz · December 12th, 2008

I myself do not get this ghosting either. I make sure that the transfer is dry before I press it, and never had any ghosting issues. Maybe it is the particular ink you use? Usually I would print my transfers the day before and then press them the next day to make sure they were nice and dry. That's the nice thing about the forums though is that everyone has their preference of what they like, and works best for them. Its good to let others that are just learning, know that there are many ways to accomplish one goal

mrdavid · December 12th, 2008

I have always used the parchment would never use teflon am to cheap two !!!!!

LOL

Girlzndollz · December 12th, 2008

My ghosting is due to my teflon for sure. It's built up ink, and now I just don't want to deal with it. Even if I can my teflon totally clean, it's just a matter of time until the ink builds up again. Unless I am diligent, and clean it after each use (that is so not me! haha) - then it's just a clock ticking down to the next ghosting episode. Sometimes, the ghosting is just a little 1" area, but it marks the shirt and then that's that. Ka-put.

The ink is most likely getting on the teflon because of how I stretch the shirt while hot, and then re-press with the teflon *directly* on the image, and under the heat, the ink and polymer are melting all over again, and all over the teflon.

Rhinestones and vinyl! Hmmm, no ghosting there either! Haha

.

sunnydayz · December 12th, 2008

Hahaha too funny

That is true though, no ghosting with either of those

DTFuqua · December 12th, 2008

hi Kelly. Didn't you already get yourself a cutter? I got my Graphtec a couple of weeks ago and got it working well enough. My biggest problem has been putting the carrier sheet on after weeding. Tried putting it on first and weeding backwards but still had bad wrinkles. I have cut three sets of lettering for some magnetic signs so far and saving the last one till I get a rack made for the roll the carrier paper comes on. I need to build a rack to hold the roll with a little tension and try applying the carrtier paper on then. I did the pen thing till I got what I expected on paper and saved a lot of vinyl getting the thing setup right. User error as usual. And I had to get the flexi starter to get it to cut things I did in corel, couldn't ever get cutting master plugin to work and robomaster didn't like importing things I did in corel so I got lazy and bought something that would work. If I had to do it over again, I'ld probably go ahead and get the Roland believing that I would have been better satisfied with the software and the cutter is supposed to be as good.Good luck.
Terry

sjidohair · December 12th, 2008

Thanks girls for the info, on the parchment,, I know sunny mentioned it along time ago,,

Girlzndollz · December 13th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTFuqua


	hi Kelly. Didn't you already get yourself a cutter? I got my Graphtec a couple of weeks ago and got it working well enough.

Thanks, Terry. I did get a cutter. I now have the blades and blade holder, but now I need the little spring to make them work together.

I'm glad to hear you got your set up working and useable. I think if I ran into issues like those, it'd be more than a few weeks to get me past them.

After the new year I may dive in, when the holidays are over and packed away again. Have a nice weekend, Terry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjidohair


	Thanks girls for the info, on the parchment,, I know sunny mentioned it along time ago,,

Yes, Sunny and a good bunch of others use parchment paper, while a good bunch of us use the teflon.

I'm going a kind of different route, I am going to be a half breed. I haven't heard of anyone 'mixing' the methods before, and it seems to meet alot of my needs that teflon alone wasn't, and parchment alone wouldn't. I think this will work best for me overall.

I know there are other teflon users who are getting the slightly gritty feel with JPSS, and don't like it, just like me. Although, that gritty feel has nothing to do with teflon, it feels like that after the peel, the teflon isn't helping it out at all, but the parchment does

, so I wrote this to share with anyone else in my spot, and I know they are out there. Teflon users not using parchment in the process at all.

I don't know why, but as a teflon user who had parchment in the house, I just didn't try it, as I really love my teflon. Maybe other teflon users will want to try parchment for the re-press now.

I am still going to press with my teflon -- I still believe in it's protective qualities for heat protection, as well as something about it gives me reason to believe it is helping to disburse the heat evenly across my upper platen. I found a cool spot, and when I use teflon to press, the cool spot is not evident, the teflon aids in dissipating the heat more evenly than without... so I'm sticking with teflon for the main press.

I'll only use parchment for the re-press, for the smooth finish on JPSS and a clean sheet each press.

Overall, I do believe the teflon to be a more economical choice. I have seen teflon sheets for $10. A teflon sheet can last for five years or so. A box of parchment paper is a few bucks, and will not last. It will need to be replaced over and over during the course of the same time span.

PS: If I still used Ironall, I may not go this route, I might have stayed with Teflon and just cleaned it after every press, to save money on parchment paper purchases. But because of the slightly gritty finish on JPSS, I'm thrilled to feel the difference with parchment.

I hope you guys all have a great weekend, and best wishes for happy pressing no matter what you use to press! It's all good.