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t-shirt presses
was just reading signcraft and saw a writeup about pressing t-shirts.. i was wondering if its just a matter of buying some heat transfer vinyl and then ironing this on or do you need a proper t-shirt press (which from what i can see are around $1500 – $2000 NZ$) or can i just use a sandwitch press or iron??? I wouldnt mind playing around doing a few, but not keen to invest in a proper press as I wouldnt do these as part of the business just the odd one or two funny ones..
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7 Replies
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hi there
to do it proper and to run large runs of prints on fabric etc you would need a press. however, a house hold iron, and a clock with a second hand to time it, will do the same job.
we dont do printing anymore, but i do our own tops, overalls etc using an iron. works fine for us.
ide advise you to buy in a few metres and have a play around with some old t-shirts first. its not that hard.. but you do need to sus out how much heat to apply over 20-30 seconds or so.. depending on fabric and print material of course.. 😉 -
thankyou Rob, im keen to leave large runs to the pros. but just wanted to make the odd one for people / clients mostly as jokes etc. will order a couple of meters as its cheap enough and have a play around just like you said.
thanks yet again!
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A heat press also provides pressure as well as heat. I use Victory Hot Mark that requires 155/165 degrees and a fair bit of pressure so be selective of your material if only using a domestic iron.
alan -
what temperature is requied for pressing??? anyone got any idea?? and also what sort of press time at that temp are you doing.. I got a heap of offcuts and samples from our supplier that im going to play around with.
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I started doing vinyl work about 6 weeks ago, and I was happily pressing vinyl at my usual 180 degrees that I use for commercial transfers, all was going well (or So I thought) until I tried to press a piece of silver vinyl which stuck the backing paper to the shirt like ***t to a b****et (there’s something about that word blanket??) after inquiring with my supplier I was told I should use 155 to 160 degrees and light pressure on the press as heavy pressure squeezes the glue from between the vinyl and the shirt, sticking the backing paper to the shirt, the high temperature also breaks down the fabric of the vinyl.
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I have dabbled in tee shirt printing and found flock material the best to use with a household iron, it’s easier to weed and if you are doing small work like badges on a polo shirt you may find the iron quicker and easier than a t shirt press
Cheers Boab
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hey fellow kiwi, i have just been through what you are talking about, i did some touch rugby shirts cut out of iron-on vinyl and it worked ok for the small prints, however the iron doesnt give you consistant even pressure and the exact temperature therefore on the larger prints parts of the numbers came off, lucky it was my touch team.
I have since bought a press and it is brilliant, just a hassle if i have to do a lot of weeding. The temp is average 170 deg cel, for about 20 secs, but it varies depending what material you use etc. hope that hel 😀 ps.
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