[triplebtees]

I was at a store in San Francisco this past weekend and was watching the clerk press his shirts, after he pressed the design on the shirt, he quickly peeled off the paper, than placed a sheet of teflon paper over the t-shirt(and design) and pressed it again for about 3-5 seconds. Any idea why he would have done this? I should have asked, but there were several people in line. Also, the print was only on the front, nothing was on the back.

 

[jdr8271]

He probably did it to remove any buckling, or bubbling up that occured when he peeled the transfer off.

 

[Twinge]

The guy I bought my heat press from recommended doing that too, to help make sure the transfer was really set in. I don't think it makes a huge difference, but it couldn't hurt.

 

[AeonTees]

Wait a second!

I have a piece of teflon that the guy from All American Supply sold me. Would it be beneficial to place this on the designs after pressing/pulling and doing another quick press? If so, how long would you suggest doing a 2nd press. I wouldn't want to damage the designs, but this sounds very beneficial for those of us who use plastisol transfers.

Thanks for listening,

Chris
Aeon T-Shirts & Apparel

 

[Twinge]

You should probably be using the teflon on the first press as well; supposedly some of the ink can bleed out around the edges of the carrier and potentially get stuck to the top platen and such. Haven't seen such happen personally, but its not much effort to use it always - good habbit to get into too, especially if you're gonna be doing any vinyl transfers...

5 seconds for a second press is probably a good start. experiment and let us know if it makes any difference =)

 

[photodiver]

Hello,
The process is called :color fasting". The technique is used to remove any excess ink left behind. The idea is that by color fasting your fabric items that you will lessen the chance of colors running when washed.

 

[Twinge]

Oh? If that's the case, not worth the bother if you're using a pigmented ink then... still might be worth trying for plastisol.