Is there any elastaine/lycra in the fabric?

 

There shouldn't be - its certainly got none of the stretch. More like a polyester version of broadcloth.

 

I have had a similar experience with my clam-shell auto open press.
The solution was 1. to secure a scavenger sheet between fabric and top plate and, 2. preventing press from 'flying' open and 3. physically securing the scavenger sheet so it does not move when press opens.
Also, try a pre-press before applying the transfer.
I do believe 360 degrees will create unsatisfactory washablility for sublimation purposes.

 

Its not an auto-open, so I hope I don't have to open it slower cause I'm not sure I can XD

What is a scavenger sheet? I tried googling, and nothing, searching in the forum return people saying to use them, but not what they are.

more polyester fabric? Parchment paper? scraps of leather? ()

This texture came from the pre-press and then doesnt want to press out afterwards. It'll show up if I don't pre-press too, of course, but it doesnt go away either.

 

The elephant in the room is your press and the temps being off in different locations. Infrared is not the best way to check but it will still give you temps to compare. What is the front and back temps? Not sure your press has one or two heating elements. Typically when you have a different temp in the back from the front you would have two elements and one is starting to or gone bad. When this happens typically the (good) element will try to make up for the bad element which causes the area where the good element is to over heat. When thinner poly, poly used in sports wear as an example, gets hot it cause issues when removing from the press very similar to your pics. Pulling hot poly of a press will distort and it wont come out typically. In this case you have to wait maybe 10 seconds to remove.

First step again is to understand your front and back temps and how many heating elements you have.

 

So, I think I have just one heating element in my press - its a cheapie. (The only options that aren't china crapshoots that I can find are WAY out of budget. 2 grand or so out of budget - I'm in Canada)

If My temp is set to 400 the center is about 409, the front 401, and the back 395-9ish. The difference is more noticeable at slightly lower temperatures. ... and last time I measured XD


Now, I did get the problem to go away by putting an old towel on the bottom and making the pressure significantly higher - but, uh, I was leaving marks on edges already at the lighter pressure, so now thats a bit ridiculous... it looks like I've gathered my fabric (lightly) where the edge of the press is XD

 

That is strange that you have one element and 15 degrees difference from one spot to another. Realize the hotter the press the more likely poly will shrink. When you lift the press off the fabric and watch closely you an see the fabric shift (shrink). This is actually the main reason for ghosting.

You do not want firm pressure on most fabric and in fact the opposite. The more pressure you put on the more you will get the box (press outline) and it will not come out.

With all that said I am not sure the press is the main issue. At the lower temps you were first pressing, 365 give or take, poly should not deform like that. I would try a poly you know factually is 100%. Heck you can go to any Walmart or similar store and get 100% poly mens t-shirts for under $5.00. I would get something like that and test. You may be spinning wheels due to your fabric.

 

Try using a piece of fabric as cover sheet.

 

i'm not an expert on polyester

but could this fabric be the hollow type of polyester fiber, and the heat is causing a collapse

 

It is worrying that this is happening at such a low temperature. 360f is only 182c. I usually press at about 400f (205c).
Not withstanding the heatpress temperature issue you have to ask if the fabric is suitable for pressing. It looks like the warp or the weft of the fabric is contracting too much.

 

If its this specific fabric, that's fine I guess, I don't need this particular one for anything, I picked it up for practice XD. Its super cheap (& quite thin) fabric, so I doubt its anything fancy like a hollow weave, but who knows.

The fleece I picked up doesn't show this same issue, so that's good. (still have way too much edge showing, but that is less baffling)

Thank you all for the help.

 

The fleece I picked up doesn't show this same issue, so that's good.

That's because fleece does not create vacuum like thin polyesters do.
Try using a fabric cover sheet.