For years, there have been various means of printing t-shirts: screen printing, digital printing, plastisol heat transfers and heat transfer vinyl printing are just some of the most common types of t-shirt printing options.
Despite the advantages of other types of t-shirt printing, heat transfer printing is regarded to be one of the most used types of decorating methods for garments because of the excellent quality of print this method produces – the prints don’t fade or crack. Aside from the topnotch quality, designs printed through the heat transfer process are considerably long-lasting.
The two main types of heat transfers, plastisol and vinyl.
Plastisol heat transfers are generally produced by screen printers that are set up for this. It is not something you can typically do at home unless you have the necessary equipment. Plastisol transfers are made from the same inks used in screen printing but are printed in reverse on a paper carrier sheet. An adhesive powder is then sprinkled on top of the wet ink, dryed and then shipped to you. The manufacturer will send pressing instructions along with the prints but you may need to adjust the settings on your heat press to achieve the best results. Click here to read more about plastisol heat transfers.
The heat transfer vinyl printing process includes the cutting the design using a graphics cutter. Then, you would have to get rid of the excess and unwanted parts of the vinyl, called weeding. Once you have peeled all the excess vinyl pieces, you may now transfer the design to the fabric with the use of a heat press. After you have pressed the transfer, wait for a little bit before you peel the backing and voilà! – you now have your very own heat transfer printed shirt. Click here to read more about heat transfer vinyl.
Just like any other t-shirt printing methods, there are common problems that happen. Here are five of them:
Your heat transfer is not sticking to the shirt or fabric.
You will need a heat press to transfer the design to the garment, and there are three components to achieve a proper finished product.
The process needs the right amount of heat, the right amount of time, and the right amount of pressure for the design to properly stick. Sometimes, we tend to focus more on the timing causing us to miss out on one the most critical parts – the required pressure.
If the heat transfer is not sticking, add more pressure to it. Refrain from making the temperature higher right away because doing so could lead to more problems such as the transfer losing its adhesive properties, or the quality of the t-shirt being affected. Additionally, follow the instructions which would usually give you direct information about the appropriate temperature as well as the exact amount of time you should be pressing your plastisol print on to the t-shirt.
Another typical reason why heat transfer won’t stick is that the type of fabric you are applying the design too is not correct. There are certain types of materials that have coatings applied. These coatings are found on sports apparel or waterproof garments. These fabrics were created to repel moisture and could stop the heat transfer from sticking to the fabric, but it could be resolved by pre-heating the fabric with the use of silicone paper to take in and get rid of the added coating. Shirts and fabrics with anti-odor or anti-microbial properties also have special coatings on them just like waterproof garments.
Your plastisol heat transfer or vinyl is peeling off.
Just like the heat transfer not sticking to the shirt, there are also many possible reasons why the heat transfer vinyl would stick at first but would peel off after some time.
One of the reasons this happens is due to insufficient heat applied when transferring the printed design. This is actually why most of the time, using a heat press is way better than using your trusty iron at home. So, next time you try to do heat transfer vinyl print at home and ask ‘Why does my iron on transfer won’t stick?’ – your iron may not be producing the temperature required for the vinyl to stick.
It’s still possible to come across this issue even when you use a heat press – that is when you use a heat press that doesn’t have a good enough quality or an old heat press that doesn’t give off uniform, evenly distributed amount of heat. Make sure that you regularly check the condition of your heat press or iron, and always choose to invest in a heat press of good quality.
Another potential reason for the vinyl peeling off is because of the kinds of transfer films used on the garment when you use layered designs. There are primarily two types of transfer films – hot peel transfers and cold peel transfers. It’s best to use the same types of transfers together for different layers, that is, use cold peel transfers with cold peel transfers and warm peel transfers with hot peel transfers. Mixing the two would most likely lead to a peeling vinyl later on.
It is also a common issue for heat transfers coming off after wash. When this happens, it is usually because of the garment not being washed the right way. In washing or laundering t-shirts with heat transfer vinyl, keep in mind that you should wash it inside out. Use only cold water in laundering as hot or warm water may trigger the peeling. It would also be a wise move to wash your clothes with heat transfers together with your delicates and use a low heat dryer for it to dry.
Films being incompatible with the type of fabric used could also be the reason for peeling. Read the instructions that come with the film carefully to find out which types of fabric are compatible with it. Keep in mind that plastisol transfers that are made for cotton and polyester materials would not stick well to nylon fabrics.
Your heat transfers wrinkle after cooling down.
The wrinkling of the vinyl itself could be a result of the t-shirt shrinking after the wash. One way you can prevent this from happening is by pre-washing the shirt or the garment before doing the heat transfer process.
However, if you are not particularly fond of pre-washing clothes, you can always opt to use pre-shrunk t-shirts instead. Some pre-shrunk t-shirts still shrink after washing, but you can have confidence that the shrinking would be kept to a minimum and would not make the print wrinkle.
You could also avoid this problem of vinyl/plastisol transfer wrinkling by being a lot more careful during the heat transfer process. Make sure that you lay the garment flat, straight, and not stretched too far before you apply the vinyl. By not stretching the shirt enough before pressing, you might get wrinkling as well – just like stretching the garment too much.
You should also allow the vinyl print to dry for at least 24 hours before you wash it after the heat transfer process.
The color of the shirt migrates to the plastisol transfer.
This problem is also known as dye migration, color migration, or ‘bleeding,’ and it happens when the color of the garment bleeds into the transfer itself because of extreme heat from the press or iron.
The quality and type of t-shirt used in printing plays a big role in dye migration. If you ever come across this problem, the best thing that you can do is to replace the shirt to something that is made from 100% cotton material whenever you can – because dye migration usually affects fabrics made from polyester.
However, if you are unable to change the material of the t-shirt you were supposed to print on, switch to a low bleed heat transfer film or a low bleed heat transfer dye instead.
There may be times that even when you use low bleed heat transfer films, the color still migrates; this may be unavoidable for some types of garments. What you can do is to perform testing of what temperature works best to steer clear of any dye migration before doing the actual process of heat transfer. There are also many transfers available with Subli-block properties that will stop the dye migration.
The design was printed in the wrong area, the print is not straight, or the print is backward.
Mistakes can easily happen to anyone doing heat transfer vinyl printing – especially if it is your first time. Unfortunately, a crooked, backward, or erroneously printed design doesn’t have many options for remedy (see article on fixing mistakes) – you would have to learn from your mistake and try it again. You can prevent these mistakes by being a little more attentive and meticulous in your printing.
For instance, a crooked print may be avoided by using simple tools that you can normally find in your home, like a ruler or one of the most useful tools you will find anywhere, the t-shirt printng tee square, available on Amazon. It will save you loads of headaches when trying to align your plastisol heat transfers. Take your time in ensuring that the design is as straight as it can be before proceeding to the heat transfer.
As for the design being printed in the wrong area, again, you can prevent this from happening by not being hasty. Remember: slowly, but surely.
A backward print is the result of the transfer maker screwing up. If you are cutting vinyl transfers at home, this can be fixed by making sure to flip or mirror your design when cutting. Putting a written reminder to mirror the image near your workstation would help to correct this mistake as well as helping you save time and money.
Conclusion
There can be several challenges you may come across with if you are new to the plastisol heat transfer or heat transfer vinyl printing business, but once you get the hang of it, you would be able to do it more efficiently and effectively – it just takes practice and dedication.