The print that peeled off like a bad sunburn

I was working on a batch of custom hoodies for a local car club in Austin last month. About 20 shirts in, I pulled one off the heat press and saw the design lift right off the fabric in one big sheet. Turns out I had the temperature set too low, around 280 instead of 320, because I was rushing through a 50 piece order. I had to stop everything, scrape the leftover adhesive off the platen, and re-press every single shirt from scratch. My buddy who runs a shop down the street told me he tests a scrap piece of fabric every 10 prints to check adhesion, which I now do religiously. It cost me an extra 3 hours and a whole roll of transfer paper to fix it. Has anyone else had a batch go bad because you skipped a simple check?

2 comments

2 Comments

juliam4023d ago

Test that scrap piece every 10 prints like your buddy said, but take it a step further. I do a quick peel test right after pressing while the transfer is still a little warm, if it lifts at all I know right then to crank the heat and check my pressure. Also run a lint roller over the fabric before you press, especially on dark hoodies, that little bit of dust or loose fibers can ruin adhesion faster than a bad temp setting. Saves me from having to strip adhesive off the platen later, which is the worst part of the whole mess.

felix38523d ago

Yeah I started doing something similar after ruining a batch of twelve hoodies last winter. That lint roller tip is key, I use one of those sticky ones from the pet section, cheaper than the craft store ones and gets the same stuff off. Also found that letting the hoodie sit flat for a minute after the peel gives the adhesive time to really bond into the fibers, makes a huge difference with those thick cotton blends.