Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Firstly, what a great forum. There's so much fantastic info here. Thanks!
Secondly, myself and friend have been printing t-shirts with a heat press and plotter/cutter. We've tried a handful of different tshirts and vinyl brands, and obviously stick to the heat/pressure guidelines advised by the manufacturer.
However, we're still finding a certain amount of our designs don't adhere to the shirts as well as they should. I've checked various threads and FAQs on here but can't seem to get the info I need. Are there any hard and fast rules about what thickness flex to use, what temperature etc. e.g. Do you use thinner flex with thicker shirts, or lower temperatures with thicker shirts etc etc.
If we could get our heads around some basics "laws" it might help.
Also, we wonder whether our DF-280 Digital Clam Press is a bit too, ahem, "budget"....?
Location: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Heat press newbie (ish!)
I have been heat pressing cuttable tshirt vinyl for about 8 months and have used several different vinyls and have had excellent results with Joto Paper Products. They carry vinyl of several different types. I actually like it better than a lot of screen print.
Looks like they're based the opposite side of the Atlantic to us. Will see if they have any UK distributors.
Also kind of looking for any simple "rules of thumb" when heat pressing. There's so many variables (time, pressure, heat etc) that we never 100% know what we're doing right or wrong.
And I'm concerned that Googling for our heat press doesn't really get many results. Not convinced it's a well known one!
Looks like they're based the opposite side of the Atlantic to us. Will see if they have any UK distributors.
Also kind of looking for any simple "rules of thumb" when heat pressing. There's so many variables (time, pressure, heat etc) that we never 100% know what we're doing right or wrong.
And I'm concerned that Googling for our heat press doesn't really get many results. Not convinced it's a well known one!
I dont know anything about your press but would guess it has inconsistencies with the heat distribution.
I bought a laser thermostat from the hardware store and know where the weak spots are on mine. Mines a good brand..just ancient.
What timing! We actually bought a thermometer not dissimilar to that yesterday and did a test. Our heat press "reports" a temperature 10 whole degrees (c) higher than the thermometer says it is.
Our heat press was about 300-400 from memory. So certainly on the budget end of things.
We think a lot of it is to do with some thick flex we've been using, which just doesn't take as well. When we use the thinner, more expensive flex it seems to be fine...
Heat press newbie (ish!) 
