Heat Press Transfer Mistakes To Avoid
Heat Press Transfer has become one of the most popular ways to create custom t-shirts and clothing. This is true for both hobbyists and medium-sized businesses. Its growth in popularity has been driven by the fact that it’s a fast and efficient way to print high-quality t-shirts. As heat press printing machines are relatively inexpensive, it can also be an affordable way to begin creating and selling personalized t-shirts.
However, there are a variety of mistakes that should be avoided when you’re using the technique. This is especially true when you’re first starting to create the t-shirts, as they can be quite costly, both in terms of time and money. Some of the mistakes are quite common; as such, there can be a few simple ways of avoiding them. Let's dig down.....
Common Heat Press Transfer Mistakes
Misplaced Heat Transfers
This is perhaps the most frustrating mistake that can happen because it’s one of the simplest mistakes to avoid. The main problem here is that the design will end up coming out crooked, off-center, backward, or upside down. There are two notable ways to avoid this. The first is by ensuring you mirror your design before printing it; this will ensure that, once it’s adhered to the t-shirt, it comes out facing the right way.
You’ll also need to ensure that you line up your substrate perfectly, which means lining up the tag with the back of the shirt. Many of us might find some difficulty with this. That doesn’t need to be the case, however. The simplest way to avoid this mistake is to purchase an overlay with a grid or laser grid system that allows you to place the substrate where you want it. You should also ensure that you close your heat press transfer machine slowly and carefully to ensure that you don’t move the substrate.
Prints That Peel Away
This can be one of the largest problems that custom t-shirt designers have to overcome. This is primarily because it can reflect poorly on a company’s designing or printing skills. As this is relatively common, there are a few common tips and tricks to help avoid it. The first of these is to ensure that your substrate is suitable to use with the t-shirt fabric. This is something that many people may not realize, which has led to the commonality of the mistake.
However, different substrates do better with different fabrics, which makes this something you should look at. You should also consider pre-pressing the t-shirt before applying the design. This will remove any moisture from the t-shirt, which could negatively affect how well it’s applied. The quality of your adhesive is also an obvious area to look at. Despite being obvious, it’s something that many designers may not look at.
Scorched Substrates
No matter how well you place your design, it can be ruined if you don’t use a high-quality substrate. What many designers may not know is that many of these substrates can become scorched or melt at different temperatures. This will have an obvious effect on the t-shirt and can render it unwearable or unsellable.
Because of this, you’ll need to put a significant amount of research into how hot you’ll be able to set the heat press printer at when printing. By doing so, you’ll be able to avoid burning or otherwise negatively affecting the design. You’ll also need to consider how long you’re applying heat to the substrate. In the majority of cases, one of these two mistakes will be causing the issue.
Knowledge Is Key
One thing should become clear after reading each of the above; knowledge is key to ensuring that you create a high-quality t-shirt. Because of that, you’ll need to spend a considerable amount of time researching which substrates and fabrics to use. There will also be the likes of knowing how long you can apply heat and pressure to the substrate, as well as a variety of other issues.
Like many other successful endeavour, you won’t be able to succeed in heat press printing without preparation. Researching and developing your skills is one of the key aspects to this. Each of the most common mistakes in heat press printing can be avoided by knowing what you should and shouldn’t be doing. By being armed with this knowledge, you should minimize the risks of any mistakes from occurring and ensure that you’re creating t-shirts you can be proud of.
Benefits Of Heat Press Transfer
Heat press printing has quickly become the most popular method of creating custom t-shirts on the planet. This is because of a few notable benefits. The first of these is that it’s often the most cost-effective ways of manufacturing and printing t-shirts. This is further benefited by the fact that heat press printing machines are quite affordable to purchase; many of the materials that you’ll be using shouldn’t be too expensive.
Furthermore, it doesn’t take much time to master how to use the machine and create high-quality clothing. Because of that, there are very few barriers to entry if you’re planning on starting a business with it. It also doesn’t require much time to create each t-shirt; all a manufacturer needs to do is print and cut the design on transfer paper before applying heat and pressure on the design to adhere it to the t-shirt. A dye may also be applied to enhance further and adhere to the design.
With the benefits that using a heat press transfer method offers, it’s easy to see why many hobbyists and businesses choose it. However, this is only the case if you avoid the mistakes we detailed above. By doing so, you’ll be able to ensure that it remains a cost-effective way to manufacture custom t-shirts. Regardless of whether you’re creating them for yourself or selling them online, ensuring that these t-shirts are of high-quality is vital. This quality is something that can be greatly affected by each of the above mistakes and can often make the t-shirts unusable.
