[Sh4dowcreep]

So I've used JPSS before (still do, love it) and I'm trialing a new paper atm.

The results are incredibly close to JPSS and maybe the only difference is a SLIGHTLY heavier hand, only slightly. Colour transfer is great and so far, really enjoying using something else.

I've got some Gildan shirts on the way, 50/50 is hard to find in Australia so they're Heavy Cotton 5000 I think. Before I press on them though, I'd like some feedback on this result. The shirt is a cheaper cotton shirt I picked up.

The slight cracks are not visible at all unless the garment is stretched quite a bit, probably more than what wearing a shirt would ever do. Once released, the image returns perfectly to how it looks naturally on the shirt.

My main question is, how much 'cracking (but not really) image separation (perhaps?) is acceptable on a cotton shirt after washing and stretching it (quite a bit)?


Last two pictures are the same area stretched, then a photo straight after released. Shirt has been washed 2 times and worn during a (sweaty) band practice haha!

 

[olga1]

they look really bad

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

they look really bad

Care to elaborate?

 

[into the T]

are you saving that much per shirt, or is there another reason to switch?

is that a heather sport grey or natural heather?
just because it does look like a little of the tee is coming through,
not a bad thing (it looks really good if it is a non-white, but if it is white, then i would say stick with jpss)

funny, just watched one of your countryman's drumming yesterday (spinning drum kit)
newsboys - duncan phillips (may not be your cup of tea music-wise, drumming starts around 3:30)

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

are you saving that much per shirt, or is there another reason to switch?

is that a heather sport grey or natural heather?
just because it does look like a little of the tee is coming through,
not a bad thing (it looks really good if it is a non-white, but if it is white, then i would say stick with jpss)

funny, just watched one of your countryman's drumming yesterday (spinning drum kit)
newsboys - duncan phillips (may not be your cup of tea music-wise, drumming starts around 3:30)

Well, truth be told these were shirts from Kmart. But not branded or labeled Kmart so I would imagine safe to resell? It only says 'Regular crew - made in Bangladesh' but I wasn't 100% sure. They are a raglan style shirt and that one in particular is Black shoulds/neck and a grey front/back with a black fleck weaved into them. This one is another example, colours popped really well however again, slight cracking when stretched. This was on a slightly off white. I'm starting to wonder if there's too much ink laid down and the cracks are because the ink has melted into itself and the fabric so it cracks when seperated. Is this possible? I used Epson Matte print standard quality with render intent set on saturation. Images are vivid and very close if not exact to screen image. The print on the shirt though, I can kinda feel the ink if that makes sense?


I've saved about 30c a shirt for the super basic ones I compared to but compared to another 'premium' shirt about $4 a shirt difference going to Gildan.

That drum solo/duet was pretty cool, I love call and response drumming - never heard of that band but will definitely listen to more of their stuff now haha

 

[into the T]

sorry, i meant what is the reason to switch from jpss (ie money,accessibility, etc.),
and whether that is it worth it for you
the t-shirts themselves are fine

i've sampled quite a few papers and jpss always wins (usually by a large margin)
if you look at the attached image you can see the difference of jpss (little blurry, my camera is not great)
it embeds into the fibers and not lay on top,
which is what it appears to be doing in your pics
i only say this because of the lack of uniformity in your cracks, it looks like the inks is cracking

this is an old 50/50 work shirt (about 40 wash/dry cycles in, no special care taken when washed or dried)
but if you get a dozen washes in and see no change,
i don't think it is that horrible (the colors are quite nice)

might even be just a function of 100% cotton
i did some digging and you are right about finding 50/50's down under
i would email gildan and ask if they can start supplying dri-blends there

 

[into the T]

also, i don't think olga1 'saw' your design
she may have interpreted as ink not adhering or not consistent color/quality

instead of a pure drummer and a grunge/sweat-flying background

i think it is a good design esp. at a slight distance for the full effect (the drummer really stands out)

 

[Stantse]

That's some great photo you uploaded here. Really, the quality of the photo is very good. Cause when I zoomed in, it was clear to me that the black doesn't look like black at all. Plus the could be better. The head of the drummer looks like an art of a poor or amateur cartoonist. Overall the print doesn't look solid. Sorry for the hard truth.

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

Ed thanks for the photo, that's exact what I would expect the transfers to do. I think cause of our climate here and humidity cotton is preferred. I will did deeper to see if there's any reasonably priced shirts that are 50/50 but yes, hard to come by. As for the paper switch, I've only been able to find one major supplier here in that is selling JPSS at about $1 a sheet. I ordered my first batch through an ebay selling who moves high volume and even with postage from the states, the sheets were .60c ea for 150 pieces. Trouble is, the seller didn't even post the sheets protected and the package arrived wet and although the paper wasn't wet, they had creased alot of the sheets from handling. Too much trouble to send back. I have the potential to by the new paper at about 60c a sheet if not less due to the seller offering me bulk discounts if I proceed.

As for the design, it was done by another artist, but I enjoy the simplistic approach of a cartoon style. Not the greatest, but unique in it's own. It does look much better from a distance.

I think if I get some time I will try a sheet of JPSS and this other paper side by side. When I did my test strips of this paper I was VERY impressed with the results as it bonded very well into the fabrics. These are the test strips, no cracking when stretched and very deep in fibers. I reckon I may have had my printer set at Plain paper and high quality instead of matte though. Less ink means it couldn't pile on top of the fabric perhaps?

 

[NoXid]

Ed thanks for the photo, that's exact what I would expect the transfers to do. I think cause of our climate here and humidity cotton is preferred. I will did deeper to see if there's any reasonably priced shirts that are 50/50 but yes, hard to come by. As for the paper switch, I've only been able to find one major supplier here in that is selling JPSS at about $1 a sheet. I ordered my first batch through an ebay selling who moves high volume and even with postage from the states, the sheets were .60c ea for 150 pieces. Trouble is, the seller didn't even post the sheets protected and the package arrived wet and although the paper wasn't wet, they had creased alot of the sheets from handling. Too much trouble to send back. I have the potential to by the new paper at about 60c a sheet if not less due to the seller offering me bulk discounts if I proceed.

As for the design, it was done by another artist, but I enjoy the simplistic approach of a cartoon style. Not the greatest, but unique in it's own. It does look much better from a distance.

I think if I get some time I will try a sheet of JPSS and this other paper side by side. When I did my test strips of this paper I was VERY impressed with the results as it bonded very well into the fabrics. These are the test strips, no cracking when stretched and very deep in fibers. I reckon I may have had my printer set at Plain paper and high quality instead of matte though. Less ink means it couldn't pile on top of the fabric perhaps?

Other than richness/accuracy of color, your print settings are not really a factor. It is the plastic layer of the paper that gets transferred to the shirt, and which cracks or embeds into the fibers.

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

So why do you think the test strips worked much better? Slightly different fabric weaves? I'm trying to determine exactly what the problem was/is as the test strips worked well. I think it's to the point I'll have to do two exact transfers two different papers exact print and press settings and stress test the results to see how they behave

 

[NoXid]

Time, temp, and pressure matter, and different papers have different requirements.

With JPSS, best technique was to press it, peel it, then stretch the garment, and press it again with a layer of parchment paper over it. I don't know if that is appropriate for other papers, or not.

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

Time, temp, and pressure matter, and different papers have different requirements.

With JPSS, best technique was to press it, peel it, then stretch the garment, and press it again with a layer of parchment paper over it. I don't know if that is appropriate for other papers, or not.

Yeah that's what I've done with jpss. 185-190deg C for 30sec then peel while hot in fluid motion downwards, stretch and repress for 10 sec.

This other papers instructions are virtually the same but press at 200deg C and hot peel. I actually find the paper while hot behaves exactly the same as jpss so I'm really hoping I can nail it to use it

 

[into the T]

here is a good thread for jpss with settings, etc.

not sure of your sop, but the plain paper setting is preferred for the jpss
the paper really should have been in a seal-able plastic envelope

for the extra $0.40/sheet, i would not hesitate to go with jpss
just the fact for when you pin down your sop, you never have to worry about whether it will be sub-standard

i have several work shirts that were my very first tee presses with jpss,
and some have over 50+ wash/dry cycles (no, i don't separate whites and colors, hence the dingy appearance)
and although the colors may have muted by about 15% they still look the same as when they came off the press
there is a poster on here who has a 10 year-old sweatshirt with hundreds of washes w/jpss,
and it still was in great shape
here and here

 

[into the T]

that second set of pics looks better than the first,
the ink looks to be embedded into the fiber

i have begun doing an initial luke-warm peel with jpss instead of hot,
no stretching at all on the initial peel
(hence the luke-warm peel, too hot and you should stretch to account for angle of peel,
too cold and the paper sticks too aggressively)
on the second press i cover with parchment and press for 12-15secs, then remove parchment immediately and stretch tee
so far the wash/dry/hand/quality has been the same as the initial hot press, with no scorched hands
when i have at least a dozen wash/dry cycles in i'll post results

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

here is a good thread for jpss with settings, etc.

not sure of your sop, but the plain paper setting is preferred for the jpss
the paper really should have been in a seal-able plastic envelope

for the extra $0.40/sheet, i would not hesitate to go with jpss
just the fact for when you pin down your sop, you never have to worry about whether it will be sub-standard

i have several work shirts that were my very first tee presses with jpss,
and some have over 50+ wash/dry cycles (no, i don't separate whites and colors, hence the dingy appearance)
and although the colors may have muted by about 15% they still look the same as when they came off the press
there is a poster on here who has a 10 year-old sweatshirt with hundreds of washes w/jpss,
and it still was in great shape
here and here

That still looks really good for its age! What type of shirt is that on? Yes you're right, 40c doesn't seem too bad, but again, I think we get ripped off in the country because nearly every seller is a middle man and the government wants a good piece out of everything $$$$

I could try a warm peel like you suggested and I'm going to read over those other forum posts now, thanks for that! Would it be wise to finish the product off with a warm stretch as opposed to repressing and no stretch? I'm thinking after the stretch it would allow the inks to dry within the fibres more instead of repressing and joining on top? Maybe I'm over thinking it lol

 

[into the T]

that tee of mine in the last post is white gildan dri-blend

it is a sad sight to behold in person, but the design is still great

here is the 'standard/secret' sop for jpss:
- place tee on lower platen, keep collars/arm cuffs off lower platen (or use a teflon pillow)
- sticky brush/lint roller tee, and lay hot press on top for 5-7 secs to remove moisture
(no pressure just the weight of the platen on it)
- center jpss on tee, cover with parchment paper
- use heavy pressure (needs to be difficult to close) and press @ 375F for 30 secs
- lift press and immediately peel from upper corner to bottom corner in a smooth motion keeping it as close to the tee as possible
-give the tee a light stretch vertically and horizontally, cover with parchment paper and re-press for 10-12 secs
- peel parchment immediately and re-stretch lightly
(parchment is cheap in rolls at costco, so don't reuse after the second press,
because it will take up a layer of ink and can cause ghosting on your next tee)
- let cool and do not wash for 24 hours (wash cold water inside out, hang to dry, nobody does this, so don't test this way)

unfortunately i have some small elements in some designs that are by themselves,
and i noticed on the initial hot peel they would skew with the peel direction and stay that way
plus i always found it too hot to peel properly and i ended up rushing and crying from the heat
rushing and crying, crying and rushing, vicious circle
so i am trialling the new luke-warm peel with no stretch then a hot stretch after 15 sec second press

if you are curious what jpss looks like on dark tees check the below image
it can be done with the foreknowledge that you will be getting the equivalent of a 50% translucent design
my thought is you could bump the saturation up to make a faded old design, or down to make a more purposeful 'ghosted' design
obviously would not work for photos, but actual designs might achieve some interesting results

 

[into the T]

on the warm stretch the answer is no
you need hot ink and hot fibers
then the stretch lets the ink flow into the crevices and then cools in the fibers,
as opposed to most that just lay on top of the fibers

you should do a vigorous raking of your fingernails all over your designs and see if you can flake anything off

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

that tee of mine in the last post is white gildan dri-blend

it is a sad sight to behold in person, but the design is still great

here is the 'standard/secret' sop for jpss:
- place tee on lower platen, keep collars/arm cuffs off lower platen (or use a teflon pillow)
- sticky brush/lint roller tee, and lay hot press on top for 5-7 secs to remove moisture
(no pressure just the weight of the platen on it)
- center jpss on tee, cover with parchment paper
- use heavy pressure (needs to be difficult to close) and press @ 375F for 30 secs
- lift press and immediately peel from upper corner to bottom corner in a smooth motion keeping it as close to the tee as possible
-give the tee a light stretch vertically and horizontally, cover with parchment paper and re-press for 10-12 secs
- peel parchment immediately and re-stretch lightly
(parchment is cheap in rolls at costco, so don't reuse after the second press,
because it will take up a layer of ink and can cause ghosting on your next tee)
- let cool and do not wash for 24 hours (wash cold water inside out, hang to dry, nobody does this, so don't test this way)

unfortunately i have some small elements in some designs that are by themselves,
and i noticed on the initial hot peel they would skew with the peel direction and stay that way
plus i always found it too hot to peel properly and i ended up rushing and crying from the heat
rushing and crying, crying and rushing, vicious circle
so i am trialling the new luke-warm peel with no stretch then a hot stretch after 15 sec second press

if you are curious what jpss looks like on dark tees check the below image
it can be done with the foreknowledge that you will be getting the equivalent of a 50% translucent design
my thought is you could bump the saturation up to make a faded old design, or down to make a more purposeful 'ghosted' design
obviously would not work for photos, but actual designs might achieve some interesting results

Some very good information here, thank you very much. I've printed out two designs, 1 jpss and 1 for the other paper, Identical print settings, dpi, quality etc... I've printed them, cut them out and will hopefully get to transfer them when I'm home from work. I'll be transferring the designs side by side, using the same settings and stretch method etc for both and this will show me how they hold up in a direct comparison

Will post results once done and update further after washing etc. Thank you for posting many informative tips, great to know help is still out there on this forum

 

[Sh4dowcreep]

So I pressed another shirt using the two different papers. I reckon they both came out awesome but the real test with be after the wash. Both papers behaved exactly like eachother. The logo is the same as one of the papers.

1. Pre pressed shirt 10 sec @ 187deg C
2. Lined up images and pressed at 187deg C for 30-32secs (two beeps after timer finished on press)
3. Hot peeled all and immediately stretched warm shirt
4. Recovered images and pressed again for 10secs then removed and stretched again.
5. Let cool and play the waiting game haha

Will be interesting to see the wash results, can you guess which image is what paper?