Fightsport

First post here peeps so be gentle.
The polymer that is on the transfer paper, regardless of type, does what exactly ?
Is it merely a transfer agent or does it seal the ink into the shirt?

 

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Nvr2Old

Quote: Originally Posted by Fightsport First post here peeps so be gentle. The polymer that is on the transfer paper, regardless of type, does what exactly ? Is it merely a transfer agent or does it seal the ink into the shirt?

Hi Fightsport,
Welcome to the t-shirt forum.

When you print an image to light paper, you apply the printed side of the paper down, so the ink and transfer media "soaks" into the material. You need to print mirror image to the transfer paper. This paper gives very good results on very light colors, especially if you print with pigment based inks.

When printing to dark paper, you print your image (non mirror) on the top side of the transfer paper, then press it on top of material. Ink side is up and away from material, with parchment paper in between the heat platen (I also use teflon sheet) and image to keep it from sticking to the press.

Thus the age old problem of finding a good quality dark transfer paper. Hoping to find something I like soon, I'm trying a couple of new dark papers so we'll see. I have heard of a new self weeding laser printer paper from Neenah called ImageClip Laser Dark and ImageClip Koncert T's but it is a bit pricey and I don't want to buy a laser printer to use it.

For now I'm using a vinyl cutter and Eco-film transfer vinyl from imprintables warehouse on darks. It gives more of a screenprinted soft hand, and will outlast the garment.
Only problem is I'm limited to 2-3 color designs.
Hope this answers your question,
Good Luck

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baddjun1

The polymer is the coating on the transfer paper. The area on the transfer that is not covered with the image also transfers to the fabric. Some paper like JPSS leave less polymer on the fabric than others and it may disappear after the first wash. Some like Imageclip are self-weeding and leave no polymer. If you have a vinyl cutter/plotter you can cut around the image to eliminate the polymer.

 

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Fightsport

Thanks folks
As the pigment ink seems to be reasonably wash resistant on its own i found a demo on you tube of a paper called sheer heaven. Its not cheap but it will take virtually any medium and transfer it without any polymer. I contacted the website and they have prices,shipping etc listed. For light garments it seems a great way to transfer images without the need for weeding. If you google sheer heaven it lists the paper and the demo video on you tube. Have a look and comments welcome as i am going to order some next week.

 

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