Transfer Types

Transfer Types and Usage.

When discussing transfers we need to be more clear on the term transfer. Actually we should use the term HEAT APPLIED GRAPHIC APPLICATION. This is what this site is about, discussing the Heat Press Transfers and the many forms that encompasses.

As you will learn transfers cover many categories which we list below.

INK JET TRANSFERS.

Transfers For Light Garments.

Commonly called hot peel transfers. As soon as it is pressed it is removed hot, if not the paper could stick to the garment. This is a one piece application and is printed as a mirrored image and placed face down on to your garment. Because this images is somewhat translucent the application should only be used on a white or light colored garment. Otherwise the color of the shirt will show trough and the image will be changed by color. Think what happens when you mix two colors together like yellow and green, you get brown. This paper comes in many forms under many different names depending who the supplier is. There are a variety of types of hot peel transfers. If you are not sure which product will suit your need then it is recommended to buy a sample pack. These papers work well on a wide range of fabrics including 100% cotton, 50/50, lycra, spandex, jersey, nylon, rib knit. This product requires trimming for best look. Cut within 1/8 of the design.

Transfers For Dark Garments

Opaque transfer paper are basically a 2 step process and is used primarily on dark fabric. When printed with your ink Jet printer the image is printed as you would a photo. You do not mirror the image. When printing you must remember that the white background of the paper will be seen on the shirt. Unlike transfers for light garments. It is best if you print the color of the shirt in the areas that will be exposed as white. This is not an easy task. The types of paper you purchase will have different hands or feel. It is recommended you get samples from different companies before buying large quantities. It is also recommended you trim as close to the design before placing on the substrate.

JET SUBLIMATION TRANSFERS

Also referred to as dye sub…Sublimation is a chemical/physical process that allows an image to be transferred to a 100% polyester garment or other polymer coated substrate. This requires the use of specific printer and special inks and paper.

LASER PRINTED TRANSFERS

PLASTISOL TRANSFERS

Plastisol inks, which are also called gum printing inks, can be given all possible shades by pigmentation. It is also known to produce transfers by means of these plastisol inks, i.e. by printing a given pattern in mirror-inverted fashion on a suitable substrate, preferably silicone or wax treated paper. The pattern may then be transferred by the user from such a transfer to the textile by application of heat. The transfer is placed with the inked side against the textile and heated to 320 -400 degrees, under pressure with a pressure ranging from medium to high for 8 to 30 seconds, generally 15 to 20 seconds. The temperature, pressure and treatment time used depend, of course, upon the type and nature of the textile fabric and upon the plastisol type applied, but generally elevated temperatures will involve treatment for a shorter period of time, and vice versa.

Generally speaking, There are several types of plastisol transfers,

Hot splits are for light colored garments

Cold peels are for dark colored garments.

Double hot splits are also created for dark garments

Puff

Glitter

For really great information on plastisol transfers I have attached a link to the t-shirt Forums thread on plastisol transfers. I don't think I could do a better job then this in explaining plastisol transfers and what Rodney did here.

Click to go to forum thread

Instruction for using Plastisol transfers

VINYL APPLICATIONS Coming

Printing & Transferring Instructions for light transfer applications.

1. Printing and Preparing Image

- The unprinted (vs. side with back print) surface is the imaging side of the paper.

- Mirror Image before printing design on the heat transfer paper.

- Check printer settings; single-sheet feeding is recommended.

2. Cut Out Design

- As with any transfer it is recommended to trim the design before transferring.

- For best results use an image with rounded edges to avoid corner liftoff after washing.

3. Preparing for Transfer (Heat Press Application Recommended)

- Prepare heat press at 345-355 degrees F.

- Press fabric first if necessary to ensure flatness, then let cool.

- Place transfer paper with design facing down in desired position on fabric.

- Using above recommended temperature, apply firm pressure for 20 seconds.

- HOT peel. Peel the transfer immediately after pressing (Caution transfer will be hot)

Transferring Image using Hand Iron

- Iron on a hard surface, NOT an ironing board. Place a pillowcase or t-shirt between your hard surface and your garment to allow the heat to penetrate the transfer.

- Adjust iron at highest temperature setting Do not Steam.

- Step press, with firm pressure, slowly along each side of the image. Hold each press for 45 seconds, ensure all edges and corners are firmly pressed. Continue to step press over the entire image, again each step press should be held for 45 seconds until entire image has been presses and all areas have been pressed for 45 seconds each.

Total ironing time should be 5 to 6 minutes for 8.5 x 11 size image.

4. Peel & Wear

HOT peel. Peel the transfer immediately after pressing (Caution transfer will be hot)

Information and Tips for Best Results

- Use Cotton or poly/cotton fabrics

- Do NOT apply to dark fabrics

- Do NOT image this paper in any laser printer or color laser copier or HP desk jet 1200C or 1600C printer

- FOR USE IN INK JET ONLY

- Set Printer to:

T-Shirt Transfer reverse image

ii. Normal image quality. Do NOT over saturate with ink

- Trim the image

- Use in a well-ventilated area.

- Leave finished item for at least 24 hours before washing.

- Fabrics may then be machine washed separately (inside out, DO NOT USE BLEACH or bleach additive detergent) in cold water.

- Do NOT use fabric softener

- Dry at normal setting; do not dry clean.

- Keep product in closed package between uses; store in a cool, dry place.

Printing & Transferring Instructions for Opaque transfers

1. Printing and Preparing Image

- The unprinted (vs. side with lines) surface is the imaging side of the paper.

- Print design on the paper with correct orientation (not as mirror image).

- Check printer settings; single-sheet feeding is recommended.

2. Cut Out Design

- Do not leave a margin around edge of heat transfer.

- Use an image with rounded edges to avoid corner liftoff after washing.

3. Peel Off Grid Backing Paper

- This is done by slightly tearing backing paper of the heat transfer paper on edge of paper and gently peeling it away.

4. Preparing for Transfer (Heat Press Application Recommended)

- Prepare heat press at 350 degrees F.

- Place transfer paper with design facing upwards in desired position on fabric.

- Cover image with enclosed silicon paper (which can be used a couple times).

- Using above recommended temperature, apply firm pressure for 15-20 seconds.

Transferring Image using Hand Iron

- Iron on a hard surface, NOT an ironing board. Place a pillowcase or t-shirt between your hard surface and your garment to allow the heat to penetrate the transfer.

- Cover imaged transfer film with enclosed silicon paper. (This is to protect the imaged transfer film).

- Adjust iron at highest temperature setting Do not Steam.

- Step press, with firm pressure, slowly along each side of the image. Hold each press for 45 seconds, ensure all edges and corners are firmly pressed. Continue to step press over the entire image, again each step press should be held for 45 seconds until entire image has been pressed and all areas have been pressed for 45 seconds each.

Total ironing time should be 5 to 6 minutes for 8.5 x 11 size image.

5. Peel & Wear

- Allow fabric to cool completely, then smoothly and evenly peel away overlay paper.

Other Information

- Use in a well-ventilated area.

- Make sure to select proper media setting (t-shirt transfer, photo quality inkjet paper, or 360dpi) from print menu; check your printer manual for additional printing instructions.

- Not recommended for HP DeskJet 1200C or 1600C models because they apply heat.

- Leave finished item for at least 24 hours before washing.

- Fabrics may then be machine washed separately (inside out, with other darks) in cold water.

- Dry at normal setting; do not dry clean.

- Keep product in closed package between uses; store in a cool, dry place.

Instructions for plastisol transfer

Plastisol transfers are created by screen printing the design onto a transfer paper. it is called a release paper. When the transfer is sent back to you then you follow the general instruction that come with the varying degrees of transfers.

First of all, we'll assume that your platens are perfectly flat, and that your heat press is reaching and maintaining the proper temperature.

If you have a Teflon pad protector installed on your lower platen, make sure that it is also perfectly flat. Feel around the edges. If you feel a lump, make sure the elastic type material that stretches over the lower platen is not still sitting (bunched up) on the top surface in some places. Pull all that elastic so it's under lower platen. Uneven pressure can cause half the transfer to stick.

Make sure your press has reached the recommended temperature for every transfer. Each time you do a transfer, the lower platen steals some heat away from the upper platen.

Before you start transferring for the day, or after you take a long enough break, pre-heat the lower platen by pressing it without a t-shirt for a minute or two. A cold lower platen can give you poor results like those in some of your pictures.

Always pre-press a new garment for about 3 to 6 seconds to get the moisture out of it. Moisture will prevent a transfer from penetrating the fabric of the garment.

Do not use hot split transfers that have light colors in them on dark garments. This will lead to the dark fabric color showing through a design color. Use Double Hot Split or Cold Peel for darks.

Next, assuming you have the right temperature, and the right transfer type, you need to play around with the time and pressure a little bit. Not enough pressure will create a poor bond between the inks and the fabric. The result might have great opacity, but a poor bond. The pressure forces the melted ink into the fabric. Too much pressure will create a great bond, but poor opacity. Not enough time, will also cause a poor bond. The inks on the transfer need to melt so they will flow into the fabric. Too much time will create poor opacity. It's all a balancing act of time, heat and pressure.

Again, assuming the proper heat was reached and maintained, I'd say that you need more pressure and possibly a little more time. Since it's easy to see if you have the temp and time set correctly, start with the pressure. You need to force that ink into the fabric. If that doesn't do it, keep the greater pressure and add a couple of seconds to the time. Next, more pressure and so on.

If you bump up the heat, reduce the time a little. If the garment color is showing through a Double hot split or Cold peel, reduce the temp a little and maybe the time by 2 seconds. Change one variable at a time and test. Change temps 5 degrees at a time and test. Change dwell times 2 seconds at a time.

I usually start at the highest end of the recommendation given by the transfer manufacturer. This way, I'm pretty sure the inks will melt and sink into the fabric. If I'm at the highest recommendations, and I'm not getting a good bond, then I crank up the pressure until that sucker sticks good.

On the other hand, if the inks soak in too much, or are not opaque enough. Back off on the pressure a little and test, then try backing off the temp or time.

Cut your practice transfers into small pieces for these tests so you don't waist them. You can also cut t-shirts into small test pieces to get the most out of them.

If it seems like I'm kind of saying the same thing over and over again with little subtle changes in my wording, that's great, because that's exactly how you dial in your heat press; little subtle changes over and over until it works.

A word (many) about cold peels. They are actually a little trickier to get right. They might look great because they are so opaque, but if the inks have not soaked into the fabric enough, they will not have a long life on the garment. If they soak in too much, they leave blotchy areas in the print. If you open the press too fast, you might hot split the edges of the design which will ruin the opacity in those areas. Plus you have to peel them at just the right time.