Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Hi guys
Can I ask do most of you all print onto light coloured t-shirts due to the extra cost/hassel of printing onto dark colours?
If you do print onto dark colours then what method do you use?
Hi there.
I personally use plastisol transfers on dark shirts. It works great and I suggest everyone who is thinking of expanding from white/ash shirts give it some consideration.
There are a number of places that will do it, but I've been sticking with Silver Mountain and so far, they have been just great.
I use opaque transfer for dark shirts. It works fine and the quality is ok, but not as good as the quality of transfer for light fabrics. I usually wear my own tees all the time to see what will happen to them after a bunch of washes etc.
By the way - something else I wanted to share with you all.
I emailed a company who sells t-shirts asking them how they print onto dark shirts and they came back with this answer;
"We have two options for printing full colour dark garments, either with toner
transfers through a full colour laser printer or a wide format ink jet printer
using out magicut dark transfer film."
Whats magicut dark transfer film and whats Toner Transfers, anyone?
I wasn't impressed with the quality of opaque paper myself. Its only good for big block images that you can cut right up to, and it feels really plasticy and I've heard it usually doesn't last very long.
Aeon: What settings are you using for transfering the plastisol you're getting from Silver Mountain? We just got in our first order from them today, and they aren't quite working perfectly. So far I've determined that 400 degrees seems to work a lot better than 375, but other than that I'm not certain (especially reguarding the cold peel for extra opacity).
Aeon: What settings are you using for transfering the plastisol you're getting from Silver Mountain? We just got in our first order from them today, and they aren't quite working perfectly. So far I've determined that 400 degrees seems to work a lot better than 375, but other than that I'm not certain (especially reguarding the cold peel for extra opacity).
Hey twinge, I press the plastisol transfers at just a hair under 400 degrees (my press isn't digital, so I would say approx 395 degrees) for 8 seconds. Afterwards, I run a rolling pin over the design for approx 10 seconds and then peel. It works like a charm, especially in areas with very thin lettering. I was having a terrible time getting the skinnier portions (small lettering and fine print, so to speak) of my designs to adhere properly before trying that.
Of course, you don't have to use a rolling pin. Simply rub the design down with a clean dry cloth and you will be fine. The rolling pin thing is something I thought of and it actually works very well. Perhaps because of the even distribution of weight.
There are a couple things I would like to point out though. As you know, if you peel immediately, the design tends to look a little "transparent". That is, all the ink doesn't adhere completely to the fabric. But, if you wait too long to peel (over 20 seconds) the transfer will not peel properly. I was running into that a lot when I first started doing plastisol transfers. If you try the settings I suggested, you should have no problem.
Please follow up once you have had a chance to test the settings. I'm curious to know how it worked out for you.
Sure, I'll try that tommorow. The one I didn't peel hot I rubbed down for about 20 seconds and then peeled and several of the small links pulled up with the transfer.
Sure, I'll try that tommorow. The one I didn't peel hot I rubbed down for about 20 seconds and then peeled and several of the small links pulled up with the transfer.
Yeah, I'd say 20 seconds is maybe just a little too long. Then again, like they say, everyone's equipment is different so experimenting with various temps and times is the only way you will know for sure what works best for your setup.
Well, its getting better. Still not perfect. Seems like the plastisol ink doesn't press in all the way, but if you re-press them afterwards (with teflon in between, of course) part of the ink transfers to the teflon and it loses some opacity (thought it does stick in better at least). Also, The ink on the side where I first start removing the carrier (right side in my case) doesn't transfer fully either, so that part of it leaves some ink on the carrier and isn't fully opaque.
Tried using a rolling pin... I didn't have any good way to keep the shirt from flailing wildly all over the place, but it still seemed to do an okay job in spite of that. I think I'll stick with a cloth or somehting for now.
And one other note, when I pull off the carrier paper it kind of jerks a bit whenever it gets to an ink portion, and this leaves some of the edges of letters, for examples, a little jagged. This one probably isn't a huge deal, but smoother would be better.
Opaque transfers..how come not many other people choose to use this method? Seems straight forward.
Most people think they don't last as long as transfer for light fabrics, wich is true, but I still think the quality is ok. And as someone else said, Opaque transfer works best if the deign is square or circle shaped etc.
Dark shirts 
Re: Dark shirts 
Re: Dark shirts 
