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polarbear · March 14th, 2009

Hey guys, I have been doing a few transfers recently and I've noticed something strange.

I print out my imageclip transfers on the red paper with my OKI C5300 and that works fine.

I heat the press up and do the transfer with the green paper. Here's where something is wrong.

When I started doing these transfers last year the green sheet came out as a reverse of the image, polymer where there was no image on the red sheet. And polymer stuck on the images on the red sheet. That's how it's supposed to be right?

NOW when I do it the red sheet comes out with polymer stuff stuck everywhere and there's crap all on the green sheet. Sometimes it's worse than others, sometimes its just a few bits around the edges but usually theres lots.

And it results in a rather poor shirt, a bit of a polymer window and sometimes little bits of the image don't transfer properly.

And idea of the problem?

Also, I have an el-cheapo press but if it was working with the press earlier and not now maybe that's not my issue?

Lnfortun · March 15th, 2009

Maybe you have a bad batch. Did you talk to your vendor? Some vendor will offer to evaluate the transfer that is suspect and will ask to send some back for them to test.

You can also call Neenah.

polarbear · March 15th, 2009

I haven't considered that as the first few sheets worked well. It HAS been about 9 months in between uses... could that affect it?

dodank · March 15th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by polarbear


	I haven't considered that as the first few sheets worked well. It HAS been about 9 months in between uses... could that affect it?

could be a bad batch, which i have had a few in my day. i don't purchase from that vendor anymore, they did not refund my money or did they believe me. ( new owner had bought business) anyway it could also be ur press. for u know temp time and pressure should be consistant with this product. one more thing, it could be the way u stored it. did u keep it stored properly in the zip lock packaging.

Lnfortun · March 15th, 2009

I accidentaly press a pair about 10 mins. ago at 310F which should have been 210F. Duh! Trying to multi task, pressing the two sheets and feeding the laser printer while it is going. Not too smart. For A while I thought I am getting what you have. Wewh!

Anyway check the temp maybe it is fluctuating way too much.

polarbear · March 16th, 2009

It's possible because I DO have a bodgy chinese press, maybe one of the rubber bands holding it all together broke (haha)

But in all seriousness, I'm going to try with the silicone baking sheet I have around here somewhere...

Just need to make my friend hurry up and give me his order :P

Lnfortun · March 16th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by polarbear


	It's possible because I DO have a bodgy chinese press, maybe one of the rubber bands holding it all together broke (haha) But in all seriousness, I'm going to try with the silicone baking sheet I have around here somewhere... Just need to make my friend hurry up and give me his order :P

There you go. I have been preaching the silicon baking sheet for quiet a while now. Some members who have tried claim that the silicon sheet technique works. I just press 47 pairs. I lost 2 out of 47 pairs. Not that the papers were bad it was mainly my fault. One paper I set the press to 310F instead of 210F. The other pair did not transfer enough polymer because the lower platen cooled down while I was printing another batch of red sheets. I forgot to leave the upper platen down to keep the lower platen hot.

I pressed on 9 shirts both sides yesterday and 20 shirts both sides last night with no hiccup.

I pre-stretch the shirt to prevent cracking. I locate and align the transfer on the shirt, cover it with teflon sheet, press the transfer at 375F for 15 seconds with very high pressure, take the shirt off the lower platen by grabbing by the shoulders, wave it for 10 to 15 seconds to let the polymer set, press it again for 5 seconds covered with teflon sheet then peel hot with even motion. Never lift the transfer up when peeling otherwise the shirt fibers will be lifted. Keep it close to the lower platen while peeling diagonally.

I know it takes extra time. To me it is well worth it because I get positive result.

Anyhow here is how I press the two sheets with very good result:

1) Set the press to low pressure with nothing between platen. Clamp a strip of printer paper on one corner. Pull the paper. The paper should pull out with small resistance.

2) Set the temp at 210F.
3) Set the timer to 10 seconds.
4) Press the two sheets for 10 seconds.
5) Open the press.
6) Cover the two sheets with silicon baking sheet
7) Press it again for another 10 seconds.
8) Wait 10 seconds before peeling the sheets apart.
9) Do not remove the silicon sheet. It keeps the two sheets hot while being peeled.
10) Lift the corner of the silicon sheet to gain access to the corner of the top sheet.
11) Peel both the silicon sheet and the top sheet together, while keeping the pair close to the lower platen, with even motion.

I don't know if it makes much difference but I put the green sheet on top.

The green sheet should have a very faint trace of toner on it. The red sheet should have even coat of polymer and very little speckle of polymer left behind in unprinted areas.

The silicon baking sheet does make a difference.

Shpenny · April 21st, 2009

I think I'm going to ask a dumb question. I just started to experiment with ImageClip inkjet paper and I'm seeing references to "green" and "red" sheets on some of these threads. Can I ask what this means?

I thought I was to print my negative onto a plain sheet of paper.

Thanks,
Jake

Lnfortun · April 21st, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shpenny


	I think I'm going to ask a dumb question. I just started to experiment with ImageClip inkjet paper and I'm seeing references to "green" and "red" sheets on some of these threads. Can I ask what this means? I thought I was to print my negative onto a plain sheet of paper. Thanks, Jake

The green sheet is one of the pair used for laser version. You are right the inkjet version uses plain paper for the negative/mask. I use premium laser paper for making the negative/mask.

Shpenny · April 21st, 2009

Thanks for clearing that up Luis. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this, but I'm slowly making progress

Thanks!
Jake

thornnspear · 1 Week Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lnfortun


	There you go. I have been preaching the silicon baking sheet for quiet a while now. Some members who have tried claim that the silicon sheet technique works. I just press 47 pairs. I lost 2 out of 47 pairs. Not that the papers were bad it was mainly my fault. One paper I set the press to 310F instead of 210F. The other pair did not transfer enough polymer because the lower platen cooled down while I was printing another batch of red sheets. I forgot to leave the upper platen down to keep the lower platen hot. I pressed on 9 shirts both sides yesterday and 20 shirts both sides last night with no hiccup. I pre-stretch the shirt to prevent cracking. I locate and align the transfer on the shirt, cover it with teflon sheet, press the transfer at 375F for 15 seconds with very high pressure, take the shirt off the lower platen by grabbing by the shoulders, wave it for 10 to 15 seconds to let the polymer set, press it again for 5 seconds covered with teflon sheet then peel hot with even motion. Never lift the transfer up when peeling otherwise the shirt fibers will be lifted. Keep it close to the lower platen while peeling diagonally. I know it takes extra time. To me it is well worth it because I get positive result. Anyhow here is how I press the two sheets with very good result: 1) Set the press to low pressure with nothing between platen. Clamp a strip of printer paper on one corner. Pull the paper. The paper should pull out with small resistance. 2) Set the temp at 210F. 3) Set the timer to 10 seconds. 4) Press the two sheets for 10 seconds. 5) Open the press. 6) Cover the two sheets with silicon baking sheet 7) Press it again for another 10 seconds. 8) Wait 10 seconds before peeling the sheets apart. 9) Do not remove the silicon sheet. It keeps the two sheets hot while being peeled. 10) Lift the corner of the silicon sheet to gain access to the corner of the top sheet. 11) Peel both the silicon sheet and the top sheet together, while keeping the pair close to the lower platen, with even motion. I don't know if it makes much difference but I put the green sheet on top. The green sheet should have a very faint trace of toner on it. The red sheet should have even coat of polymer and very little speckle of polymer left behind in unprinted areas. The silicon baking sheet does make a difference.

Just tried this with my first imageclip pressing. Thanks to your method, my first pressing came out beautifully!

Only thing I had to change was I pressed the sheets together at regular pressure, when I loosened it so a piece of paper could slip out with resistance the toner came out too light (did make for a nice distressed pattern though!).

I have a 16x20 Mighty Press... YMMV as we all know with any instructions for pressing.

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