I am not familiar with SEMO heat transfers as I live in the Pacific and must get my stuff from China, in the beginning I had many sleepless nights as a lot of my xfers werent sticking after the first wash. I'd see wrinkles, bubbles or even just parts of the xfer hanging off already. I did what the manufacturer recommended like using their suggested heat and pressure, that didnt work out too well for me, i had to do my own testing on a lot of material, writing down on each transfer the temp and time it was pressed.
The recommended settings was 160c for heat at 7 secs but that seemed to melt the xfers as i was peeling them and those that did survive the peel did not last the first wash. Going higher just made things worse. I tried adding a silicone pad to add to the pressure to see if the adhesive would really get in there but I still had bubbling issues.
What worked for me though is actually lowering the temperature
- anywhere b/w 135c to 140c
- 20secs first press on med pressure
- hot peel
- 2nd press about 12 secs
* I know my temps are not what most people press on and is not the suggested temp as the manufacturer has recommended but it works for me. As long as it sticks, survives multiple washes and I see customers coming in with shirts they bought from my shop still intact...then ill stick to that method.
This seems to work best for me for most of my PH Xfers, like I mentioned earlier, it's not SEMO, but I'm just sharing my experience with PHX and what worked for me. Maybe it can help you out too.
