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cbs1963 · June 24th, 2008

Hey guys, could anyone point me to some good info on layering vinyl on t-shirts.

victorysign · June 24th, 2008

I don't think there is anything special about it - we layer vinyl all the time - the only thing I have done is adjusted the press time for the first layer. (I don't press the first (bottom) layer as long since it will be pressed again when the 2nd layer is added.)

Good Luck!

cbs1963 · June 24th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by victorysign


	I don't think there is anything special about it - we layer vinyl all the time - the only thing I have done is adjusted the press time for the first layer. (I don't press the first (bottom) layer as long since it will be pressed again when the 2nd layer is added.) Good Luck!

Thanks Misty. If you were going to do something like the flag, how would you make sure the top layers were lined up correctly?

theflowerboxx · June 24th, 2008

If you use a vinyl with a sticky backing it's easy, actually without a sticky backing would be easy too. Just remember when designing, the vinyl will shrink just a hair when it's pressed, so if you are butting vinyl together it won't butt up exactly right.

Also I press all my colors except for the last one for 8 seconds then peel backing and do next color, until I get to the last color then I press it for 20 seconds.

victorysign · June 24th, 2008

That's true - the vinyl does shrink some - most of what we do is for an outline effect (such as team numbers, outlined wording, etc), so we just eye the placement of the 2nd color. I can't think of anything we have done that had to be lined up perfectly - so I wouldn't be much help there.

I can attest to the fact that it will shrink and separate though! When weeding one of our transfers, we jerked too fast and a letter "ripped" a little - I thought it would press together and didn't really worry about it, BUT, once it was pressed, it separated a tad, leaving a tiny line showing the shirt color through the letter.

If you were doing a flag, I wouldn't think it would be much harder to do - when you design and cut it, one color would be your main background color and should cut the full size of the flag design- then all you'd have to do is lay color #2 on top, eyeballing the placement, press them and do the same with color #3 and so on.

Being a person who has to actually "see" things and not just visualize, I usually cut one and then lay it out to make sure it will all line up the way I have thought it out in my head! That has helped me out a lot! About a week ago, I was doing a lady bug - red with black spots - cut everything and put it together - low and behold - I weeded it WRONG - so I had a black ladybug with red spots - I kept thinking something just did not look right - and finally my husband clued me in..

what a dummy I was!

You'll have to forgive my terrible explanation - I'm not very good at explaining without visual aids

- as my hubby says - I think everyone should know what I am referring to when I use words like "do-hickey" and "whatchamacallit"

We also do as the above poster - after all colors are pressed, we go back and cover it with the teflon sheet and then do a final press for about 15-20 seconds

Hope I haven't confused you! Good Luck

kpk703 · July 13th, 2008

Has anyone come up with a method to avoid overlapping vinyl when doing multiple colors, or a formula to account for shrinkage? I'm currently overlapping colors, but I hate what it does to the feel of the shirt when I have 3 or 4 colors overlapped. Thermoflex Plus loses that almost-screenprinted feel and takes on a heaviness I hate. Even had a customer complain about it a few months ago. Wish I could avoid the build-up of layers, but the heat shrinking from layer-to-layer makes alignment difficult or impossible. Since the vinyl shrinks in all directions, everything moves. Very frustrating. And I've noticed the shrinkage can be quite different from one t-shirt material to another with the same vinyl. Alas...nothing is easy.

COEDS · July 14th, 2008

I think overlapping is the only way to avoid gaps in the design. ..... JB

kpk703 · July 14th, 2008

I was afraid that's what I'd hear. Was hoping for a stroke of genius...but not all problems have a solution. I've been struggling with this for some time. Guess I'll pass on the 6 color or sub it out to the screenprinter. Problem is these are low volume items and either screenprinting or plastisol aren't economically viable. Looking more like the Versacamm is in my future...now just got to figure out how to keep my wife from killing me.

COEDS · July 14th, 2008

Ken try to just barely overlap and see if that helps the feel. I try to cut ,so the overlap is real small. ..... JB

daveym · July 14th, 2008

in the past when i have tried different layers, i seem to get a little excess glue residue around the edges of the top layer when i overlap...is this because i'm not using the right vinyl or is the pressure is too high!

I also don't use the thinest vinyl...could this be the reason?

COEDS · July 14th, 2008

I would suggest using thinner vinyl and less pressure to see if it makes a difference. .... JB

BRC · July 15th, 2008

For the low volume, multicolor jobs you might want to find someone doing direct printing to sub to.

COEDS · July 15th, 2008

I would think keeping small orders in house would pu more dollars in your pocket. .... JB

huub · July 22nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpk703


	I was afraid that's what I'd hear. Was hoping for a stroke of genius...but not all problems have a solution. I've been struggling with this for some time. Guess I'll pass on the 6 color or sub it out to the screenprinter. Problem is these are low volume items and either screenprinting or plastisol aren't economically viable. Looking more like the Versacamm is in my future...now just got to figure out how to keep my wife from killing me.

I am also not the one who can give you a stroke of genius, but I do have the same issues with vinyl. Could you please tell me in what way a Versacamm would be a solution (for both light and dark shirts?!).

Thanks in advance for your reply.