New to sublimation. What's up with colored threads showing after pressing?

I haven't had too much problem with Vapor Apparel, but it was a misery with Hanes SoftLink. Before starting, I clean my laminate work surface with Windex and a lint-free towel, then lint roll the front of the shirt, flip it over and lint roll the back, then flip it back and lint roll one more time. I use parchment paper to line the bottom of my heat press, then put another piece of parchment paper over the top of the shirt and transfer before setting the teflon sheet down and pressing. It's a pain the first few times, but you get into a rhythm, and can usually get the next shirt lint-rolled while the first one's cooking. I use the bottom parchment paper for 3 shirts, the the top for only one or two (and save them for use as bottom sheets for hard goods). The parchment paper is available from restaurant suppliers (I use the silicone coated, but plain is available as well). If you know a local restaurant owner, see if you can get him or her to order it for you -- it's really not very expensive.

Cleaning the work surface before you start is really key, especially if you also process cotton shirts nearby.

And they will NOT disappear when you launder -- it is dyed in. Since going through the process I described above, I almost never have a problem.

Hi, I would firts of all try pressing a shirt without a transfer in order to determine if the problem comes from the shirt itself. If it does return them, the shirts are made for dyesub and if they don't work you should not pay for them. If the problem does not appear wen pressing the shirt alone then you can add each of your components and press one at the time: eg. if you use parchment paper, add the paper and press then check for the same problem. All of this will help you isolate the source of the problem.
If at the end the problem is caused by the paper, you have to find out how the color gets from the image to the areas that are affected, here are some suggestions:

• If you stack your paper as it comes out of the printer make sure that it is completely dry before you do.

• Try not to rub the paper on other sheets of paper or surfaces, the dry ink and coating might "powder off" and float down on the shirt while you are positioning the paper on the shirt.
• Make sure that all the surfaces touching the shirt during the transfer are clean
• Make sure you are applying a good ammount of pressure and make sure that the pressure is even. If the issue appears in areas that are close to the edge of the press, you might have a problem with uneven pressure.

Try posting a photo of a shirt so we can take a look at it and see if there is something else that we might have missed or that you might not consider important and failed to mention.

I hope this helps...

Milabix