eezo

Hello

I'm new to the forums and to t shirt printing in general. I have recently bought my first cutter and my first heat press. Everything was going well until I tried to press my vinyl to my t shirt!

The vinyl I bought was mdp flex from http://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk

It says on the website that I should heat press at 150 for 12 seconds and that’s exactly what I did but it did not press the vinyl? I thought I would crank it up to 200 to see if that did anything but still nothing so I put it up to 240 and it just melted the vinyl!

Have I maybe been sent the wrong kind of vinyl or am I just being stupid and have done something wrong?

Thanks in advance.

 

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CUSTOM UK

If it's garment vinyl, press at 160C for about 15-20 seconds. That is the optimal setting. Ensure the vinyl is shiny side (backing) up and the dull side against the garment. Pre-press the garment to remove any moisture.

 

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splathead

Make sure you are not confusing Celsius with Fahrenheit. 150c is 302f.

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Joe
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CUSTOM UK

Joe is right about checking your press is set up to Celsius. Most sold in the European market are set to Centigrade, but the ones with dual displays usually default to Farenheit.

Most vinyl available in Europe, including the ones supplied by MDP are optimised to press at 160C, so another possibility is that the temperature controller on your press might not showing the right temperature. You can purchase some inexpensive test strips that will indicate the ACTUAL temperature at your heat platen. Some presses are better made than others, so fluctuations in the displayed temperature and true plate temperature is quite common.

 

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cookiesa

I don't use the mdp product but these are the things I would be checking..

T-Shirt - Press it before applying the vinyl to make sure there is no moisture in it, this will stop adhesion.

Vinyl - Some come with a clear carrier on the "glue" side as well as the clear carrier layer. This can be hard to see sometimes. Once pressed the vinyl has actually stuck... it is just it has stuck to this clear carrier.

Temp - If they didn't supply the temp/times when you bought the vinyl I would contact them (either check their website or a phone call) as these setting vary not only between brands but also can be different between different ranges within the same brand.

Good luck... and let us know when you place your first pievce of vinyl the wrong way up and stick it to your top platen! (LOL then you start using the protective sheet each time... maybe lol)

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