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A couple of questions about vinyl for garments
Hi
Right got my Pcut mini working (thank god) Got my heat press off ebay (non wobbly base).
Got my Vinyl (Grafiflex) for the t-shirts, run off a couple of samples and all seems cool.
But I have a couple of questions
1) What heat and time do I need to bond the vinyl correctly? I used 170C for 70 Secs, it’s grafiflex Thought it would come with some info but didn’t, The T-shirt seems fine but I have yet to wash it!
2) When doing a larger design do you cut this at full size? what I’m trying to say is do you lay out on the vinyl how it will look and waste loads of vinyl or do you layout so you get the maximum out of the vinyl (like a dressmaker does) and the space out on the garment before pressing? does that make sense??
Thanks for any help as always
Chris
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7 Replies
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170 for 70 secs sounds a bit high and far too long. Check with Grafityp – they will tell you the settings you need, but from memory that material should be 150-160 and for 15 seconds. We recently bought some vinyl from Victory and they included a set of instructions with various useful info with each roll. Don’t know why Grafityp don’t do this, but they will gladly fax you the spec sheet if you ask.
As for the layout, you need to work out whether the time taken to cut with minimal waste and lay it up would be more useful spent in other ways. If you’re just starting up and you can afford the time, then theres absolutely nothing wrong with making the vinyl go as far as you can. However when you get busier, you might find that your time becomes more valuable than the vinyl.
Regards
Robert
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I use 140 degrees for 10 seconds….
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Thanks for the replies,
yep 20 secs sounds a lot better it may be that the temp is not what it says
Also thanks for the advice robert, yep time = money.
Thanks for the advice
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I would press at 150 to 155 degrees for 15 seconds, harder to apply garments then extend the application time rather than raise the application temperature.
170 degrees or higher is close to the materials breakdown point and will be detrimental to the life of the material.
Nigel
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Hi there, Im new to the boards and been into garment marking for about a month now!
Had problems with my Pcut too, but thanks to this board manged to get it working fine now!
I use Victory easicotton vinyl and I press at 165 degrees for 15 secs, remove carrier then press for a further 6 secs, I find this works just fine.
Cheers
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I use Grafiflex, 130 deg C 15 secs, peel warm, back under 2 secs.
Any longer than initial 15secs leaches out the glue so it won’t stick. -
Thanks for all the help will run some tests.
Ta
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