Discuss the many aspects of plastisol (screen printed) heat transfers. Topics include where to buy, how to put them on t-shirts, quality, pictures, stock (pre printed) transfers and more. Read the definition of a plastisol transfer here.
Hi , just got my first samples of plastisol transfers and was a bit disappointed. I was hoping they would be much more like a screenprint and not so rubbery feeling.
Were my expectations too high or am I doing something wrong? To me they look and feel like a rubbery sticker that can be peeled off. I got samples from F & M and First Edition. While the F & M transfers went on very well, I did not like the hand , or the ring around the images. The first edition ones were very inconsistent, most of them not tranferring well, but I did like the hand of the hot split. Any suggestions, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Look's like you didn't research this very well. That's what plastisol ink feels like, rubbery and not much of a soft hand. If you want a soft hand feeling go with waterbased ink. But for that you would need to find a screen printer.
that's the 'hand' of plastisol. the thick rubbery transfers are ideal for uniforms etc. the hot more towards fashion closest to screenprinting you're going to find. i actually like the feel of a print that has a touch to it. like rough. means someone actually laid down some ink. i use howard sprortwear Howard Sportswear Graphics | Home Page they have a couple of formulas of prints that i use. the 'howard super hold' and 'howard hot peel'. call them and ask them to send samples. just did 120 shirts for a customer using the howard super hold and the customer loved them.
One thing I forgot to mention. This process will give you a flat looking print too, just like plastisol transfers. What Ambitious was saying is, if you want a soft, no hand feel to your prints, then have it screen printed directly on the shirt with water based inks.
Not sure what your final application is going to be but I have used both hot peel and cold peel (mostly from First Edition) for a few years now and have nothing but great responses from my customers. I deal mostly in the school/little league business and have continually increased business by referrals alone. In fact I have some clients that ask for the cold peel due to the fact that the designs really seem to pop off of the darker shirt colors.
If you are getting inconsistent results with First Edition I would give them a call. I use them 95% of the time. I just ran through about 1500 prints for various clients in the last three months and the only issues I had were some user related problems (usually peeling too soon on cold peel or cold peeling hot peel prints!!). I specifically use first edition because I feel that I can produce a consistent product. The hot peel from First Edition i think is excellent. I see kids in track shirts from two years ago with minimal fading.
I also use F&M's four color process which is thick but when I get an order for 25 shirts and more than three colors this makes it cost effective for the clients I work with. I just keep samples on hand so they know there options and what they are getting. Setting the expectations with the client goes a long way.
Request samples from different printers, it won't cost you a penny and you'll see all the different possibilities.
I tried a few, and I prefer the feel of the hot split samples I just got from customironons.com -- i was interested in them because they have 19x25 in low runs. They are super nice too, answered all the questions I had (newbie here).
I don't want to post bad things about other suppliers cause I am really new and could be because of bad manipulation, but I got some from another printer and well.. some of them just didn't peel properly while others peeled perfect. Not sure what I did wrong as anything else I tried went good.. I mean it's not very hard, digital timer does the work for me.. So what I can suggest to you is to try different printers =)
One thing I forgot to mention. This process will give you a flat looking print too, just like plastisol transfers. What Ambitious was saying is, if you want a soft, no hand feel to your prints, then have it screen printed directly on the shirt with water based inks.
That article was written in 2002. I was not aware that we are able to purchase waterbased transfers. I have always hoped that it would become available. So, who makes the waterbased transfers? I would like to try them in place of plastisol transfers. I would think that they would have a very soft hand.
Thanks,
Ray
That article was written in 2002. I was not aware that we are able to purchase waterbased transfers. I have always hoped that it would become available. So, who makes the waterbased transfers? I would like to try them in place of plastisol transfers. I would think that they would have a very soft hand.
Thanks,
Ray
I don't know if you're looking for someone to make the transfers for you or you're looking to make the transfers yourself.. I did find this if it helps, this is one of the transfer papers you can print on with water based inks:
That article was written in 2002. I was not aware that we are able to purchase waterbased transfers. I have always hoped that it would become available. So, who makes the waterbased transfers? I would like to try them in place of plastisol transfers. I would think that they would have a very soft hand.
Thanks,
Ray
There are no commercial water based transfer printers that I know of. These were more DIY instructions.
I don't know if you're looking for someone to make the transfers for you or you're looking to make the transfers yourself.. I did find this if it helps, this is one of the transfer papers you can print on with water based inks:
Thanks,
I am looking for a company that makes them for us. I use First Edition for my custom plastisol transfers & was not aware that waterbased transfers were available anywhere on the market.
Plastisol transfers not what I was expecting 
