[fournwoof]

I am very close to pressing my first ever run of T-Shirts on my new heat press. The design is simple, only black ink, but my concern is that I will have to press 4 different times per shirt. Once on the front chest (just words), once on the upper back (small logo), once on the right sleeve (small logo), once on the left sleeve (small logo).

I have a few major concerns. A) That it is going to take way too long to press each shirt therefore wasting time, money, and energy. Does anybody have experience pressing multiple times on one shirt? I imagine it gets very annoying. Is it even worth it or should I reconsider the design? B) That I am going to damage the other transfers while pressing the new ones. Will something like a "Tee Pad It" totally relieve my concerns because it will lift the design free from everything else? C) How difficult is it to press a small logo onto a sleeve? Is is tricky to hold the shirt in place, align it, and press it? Any suggestions? I think that placing a small "Tee Pad It" in the sleeve will help.

Thank you very much for any feedback. This forum is great. I'm a newbie.

~J

 

[FRESH_PRINTS]

I've done this before. Its not as terrible as you may think. Do it in this order:

1. Front
2. Back
3. Sleeves

Try to keep the previous transfer out of the pressing area (as in when doing the backs, just put the top corner under the press). I have pressed the backs of shirts before, and the front has almost always remains fine. Pressing on sleeves is really easy once you get the hang of it. To get a good center, I pre-press the sleeve, then shift the sleeve so the crease is centered, put the transfer over it, press, and whammy, perfect alignment everytime!

It is time consuming however, so you might want to re-think your design

 

[proworlded]

It is not difficult, just time consuming. How many shirts do you have to do and did you figure in the extra time in your price?

 

[fournwoof]

Thanks for the advice guys. I did figure the extra time it would take into the cost. I have 75 shirts to do. I just like to be as efficient as possible, as we all do. It will be a learning experience for sure!

 

[wormil]

I go smallest to largest if pressing over another transfer (e.g. front and back). So I press the smallest (usually the front for me) then press the largest (usually back), then the sleeves. Make sure the other transfer is covered by a Teflon sheet otherwise it will stick to your pad or platen.

 

[vadan]

Another tip, similar to the sleeve also pre-press front folded and when u open u have ur centre line on front and back. Only needs a second.

We do sleeves first, but then depends on ur platen size. Ours is 28x38 so sometimes tricky to hold a sleeve in place.

 

[fournwoof]

I am going to use a Tee Square for alignment. Is it still a good idea to press for a center line anyway? Thanks for the tip.

 

[vadan]

Try both, see which works easiest for you.