[dazziep]

Hi,

I recently went out and bought myself a vinyl cutter and a heat press thinking how great it's all gonna be, I'm going to be printing t-shirts straight away, dead easy..

Nope ... day 2... loads of t-shirts ruined and nearly a full reel of vinyl gone and I haven't had 1 successful t-shirt.

I didn't get no info with the vinyl - (hot peel, cold peel, temp, time etc), so I just kept experimenting and keep getting same result..

black mess on t-shirt and vinyl sticking to backing sheet.. (I would add a photo but I'm not sure how)..

does this sound familiar to anyone??

please help me I foolishly have a martial arts club all waiting for their club tops I promised them.. and upsetting a room full of black belts is not something I really want to do..

Cheers

Darren

 

[propsuper]

Call your wholesaler and get the temp spec and dwell time for the vinyl you have. Ck the temp of your press (the dial is not always right).

 

[tiger24]

Darren, stop printing on "several t-shirts," use one and do a small test in a whole bunch of different areas of the scrap t-shirt ie.) front top, middle, bottom, back, arms, turn t-shirt inside out and practice there.

Do not waste another t-shirt until you find the right settings!

Do not use your final logo vinyl yet. Print the word "TEST" and make it 3"x4" and gang it on the vinyl. Print like 10 copies. Use this 3"x4" "TEST" patch on the scrap t-shirt.

Where did you get the vinyl? Ask them the temps, pressure and hold.

If you have to do it yourself by trial and error start with 300F, medium hold for 15 secs. and work from there.

You said some came out as a black mess, I would say the temp was too high. lower it.
Then you said the black vinyl stuck to the backing, I would say the temp was too cold as it didn't activate the melting of the vinyl to stick.

What ever those temps were record them and try something in the middle of those.

As for pressure I would stick to a medium pressure if you can't get the specs.

The question of when to peel? I would start to peel when it is warm to hot. If you see the black vinyl wrinkle and it wants to stay with the carrier stop and let the vinyl cool and try a cold peel.

Sometimes I take the whole tshirt with the vinyl on it and place it face down on my cold tile floor and step on it as it cools. Then the cold peel is a piece of cake.

That's all I got for you. I hate to hear you wasted t-shirts and a roll of vinyl. DO NOT PROCEED WITH USING ANYMORE GOOD TEES AND FULL FINAL LOGOS UNTIL YOU FIND THE CORRECT SETTINGS.

Like I said, use a scrap tee and try all locations. Gang a small "TEST" patch logo and cut 10 out to save your vinyl. Get in right then "go live."

Good luck brother,
Andy

 

[charles95405]

Andy that is very good advice.

 

[tiger24]

(I would add a photo but I'm not sure how)..

Darren

Hi again Darren,

I think the forum could use a picture and we could help you more.

To add a picture:

Beside "Post Quick Reply" there is a "Go Advanced" icon,
click that and when you scroll down a bit there is "Additional Options" heading. Go there and you will see "Manage Attachments" icon. Click that and "Bob's your Uncle!"

Good luck

 

[calhtech]

Hi,

I recently went out and bought myself a vinyl cutter and a heat press thinking how great it's all gonna be, I'm going to be printing t-shirts straight away, dead easy..

Nope ... day 2... loads of t-shirts ruined and nearly a full reel of vinyl gone and I haven't had 1 successful t-shirt.

I didn't get no info with the vinyl - (hot peel, cold peel, temp, time etc), so I just kept experimenting and keep getting same result..

black mess on t-shirt and vinyl sticking to backing sheet.. (I would add a photo but I'm not sure how)..

does this sound familiar to anyone??

please help me I foolishly have a martial arts club all waiting for their club tops I promised them.. and upsetting a room full of black belts is not something I really want to do..

Cheers

Darren

In a few days you'll look back at this and laugh. But for now, you must know the specs of your vinyl otherwise you'll be spinning your wheels (and ruining vinyl and tees). Hot Peel or Cold is the most critical of the specs. Temp and Dwell are important as well. But as a general rule, you can get away with too hot and or to much pressure. However, you almost NEVER get away with the PEEL! If its cold, let it cool, if its hot, peel it hot. I almost always press mine hotter than specified because I only have 1 heat press and usually when I work, I am pressing Plastisol and Vinyl at the same time. I don't have time to keep changing press temps. Rest assured, in the last two years, I have had ample time to WASH TEST my theory and it works. If you can't find out your details, give this a try. Set your press temp to 330 degrees F, set your time for 10sec, set your pressure to medium. Try COLD peel first, if no success, try HOT peel. I'll bet your vinyl is cold peel or your press temp is to low. Hot peels almost never stick unless the press temp is to low. I am NO expert by any means, but I use vinyl like Thermoflex, Eco Film, Easy Weed, Premuim Plus, Endura Tex, etc. I press all of them at well over the spec temp, but always adhere to the dwell and peel. Good luck

CalhTech>

 

[dazziep]

thanks for all the replies guys.

I bought the vinyl on ebay, and I have been contacting the seller asking all those questions, he keeps replying, but still hasn't told me the temp, time, peel etc..

I can't believe I didn't think of the obvious cut out some small test vinyl and use it all on a 1 old test t-shirt till I get it right..
DOH!!

I bought some more vinyl off ebay and this time looked for some that told you all the information in the description, so hopefully I should be able to get that right.. the only thing I am worried about is it says medium pressure... I only have a cheap press and you set the pressure manually by turning a big screw on the top..

how import is the pressure??? I can have a good guess.. screw really tight for a lot of pressure.. quite loose for light and somewhere in the middle for medium..

 

[calhtech]

thanks for all the replies guys.

I bought the vinyl on ebay, and I have been contacting the seller asking all those questions, he keeps replying, but still hasn't told me the temp, time, peel etc..

I can't believe I didn't think of the obvious cut out some small test vinyl and use it all on a 1 old test t-shirt till I get it right..
DOH!!

I bought some more vinyl off ebay and this time looked for some that told you all the information in the description, so hopefully I should be able to get that right.. the only thing I am worried about is it says medium pressure... I only have a cheap press and you set the pressure manually by turning a big screw on the top..

how import is the pressure??? I can have a good guess.. screw really tight for a lot of pressure.. quite loose for light and somewhere in the middle for medium..

Yea that's fine, I have a manual press too. Med means press with two hands but don't LEAN into it. I think you will be fine. The more important aspect is the peel. There is no getting around this. ESP if its supposed to be COLD peel. As I said previously, I always run my press temp way hotter than they require, but always stay around 10-12sec press time. First try cold, then try hot peel. If its not sticking to the fabric, it is likely your temp or peel. Also, make certain it is HEAT TRANSFER VINYL (HTV) this is the ULTIMATE important! Good luck, again.
CalhTech>

 

[dazziep]

thanks everyone, I've finally got it

and the funny bit is AFTER I managed to work it out, I got an email from the supplier telling me temp, heat setting etc

the main thing I was doing wrong was peel... I was pulling it off hot and it's cold peel.. I think because I'm new to it and it didn't quite pull off as easy as I thought it would when it was cold, I stupidly thought it should be hot.. DOH!!

I've added a photo of my finished garment..

1 last question though.. how do I now ensure that this is as stuck on as it is going to be and won't peel off after a few washes??

I have been told to put it back under for a few seconds with some special paper on it?? what is this special paper?? can I just use greaseproof paper??

Again cheers all for you help..

 

[calhtech]

thanks everyone, I've finally got it

and the funny bit is AFTER I managed to work it out, I got an email from the supplier telling me temp, heat setting etc

the main thing I was doing wrong was peel... I was pulling it off hot and it's cold peel.. I think because I'm new to it and it didn't quite pull off as easy as I thought it would when it was cold, I stupidly thought it should be hot.. DOH!!

I've added a photo of my finished garment..

1 last question though.. how do I now ensure that this is as stuck on as it is going to be and won't peel off after a few washes??

I have been told to put it back under for a few seconds with some special paper on it?? what is this special paper?? can I just use greaseproof paper??

Again cheers all for you help..

Yea, that's usually the case. You insure it's STUCK on by following the app instructions for one. Also, before you commit to SELL your products, you should wash test them. As for the "special" paper, I use Baking sheets - I get mine from ebay 16x20 press size, but you can get them at walmart (or other discount super stores in your area). Glad your in the game. Good luck with future projects.

CalhTech>

 

[drdoct]

I'll add this. Don't use ebay materials. I don't know where you are located, but if it's in the US then find a local shop that sells sign materials and you should at a minimum, find some thermoflex. It will be more expensive there, but at least you're getting something of a known quality. Look up Stahl's and order their fashion film. Or Siser from wherever. There are already a lot of things that can go wrong so why start with an inferior product like ebay vinyl? I bet it's not much cheaper at all than Stahl's and maybe even more than premium plus. Glad you figured it out, but like Richard says... be sure to wash test!

 

[Retired Ts APG]

Make sure your press is set on F degrees not Celsius
Also don't set you pressure to high on the press firm to medium pressure will work
most of the heat trans vinyl will use a temp of around 330*F to 350 *F for 15 to 30 seconds.
I hope this will help.