Pressing issues with clothing

[Jolene]

Hi everyone, first time posting but have been reading for a few years ha.

I have been sublimating for a few years now (not the primary focus of our business initially but moving onto it a bit more now).

I have been having issues when pressing t-shirts. As long as I have the seams outside the press I have no problems but when I go to press small items such as kids sizes, I believe the seams are that bit higher than the print area and so I get a patchy print.

Is there anything I can buy to put inside the shirt to lift it up bearing in mind I go from 1-2 years right up to XL adult so would maybe need a few different sizes?

Thanks in advance!

[cook_58]

Hey, yeah there things like silicone pads in various sizes you can buy that raise areas up so things like seams drape over the edges for that issue you're having, or depending on the press you have you can get interchangeable plattens of various shapes and sizes that also help with that as well as.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[Jolene]

Ah thank you very much!

Is there a supplier you recommend and thickness?

[webtrekker]

Teflon pillows are what you need https://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/stahlsteflonpillows.asp

Or, if you wish to take a punt, you'll find cheaper ones by searching ebay.

[Quinsfan]

Depending on the size of image text you are trying to press I just use an old mouse mat or a couple side by side even an old T-shirt folded. All you need to do is raise is by a couple of mm.
I use a mouse mat when I am pressing a vinyl logo/text on polos as the buttons get in the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jolene]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I have ordered a 4mm silicon pad so I can try it out. Bonus for these is I can get custom sizes compared to the pillows and unfortunately I don't have any old mouse mats to try out.

Thanks and fingers crossed!

[Jolene]

Hi, I have now managed to get all seams outside the press or at least lower than the area to be printed so success?! No, sadly not, I have now replaced my problems with more problems.

In the attached pictures, the black has turned brown in a particular area so I reduced the pressure a bit and the time by a bit but it appears worse. I thought the black might have been burning but not sure now.

I am pressing at 200° for around 60 seconds and the pressure is set manually but I reckon it is high pressure.

Any ideas what I can try next, I have some test material and a few of these shirts I have ruined to experiment with but wanted some advice before pulling my hair out.

Thanks for your help

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5933[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5934[/ATTACH]

[cook_58]

Could it maybe be the material of the garment, I'm no expert, might be worth a wee look into though?[emoji848]

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[Jolene]

I wouldn't say so as this is sold as a sublimation shirt from xpres and I have used them before without any problems.

I wonder if I need to adjust my press settings or maybe my colour profile?

[cook_58]

Which xpres garments is it, i use them as well, the subli plus t-shirts.

I do them at 200° 50 secs as it says on the instructions from the site, i have a manual press for adjusting pressure as well, so I just tighten it down until around about hand tight, but not to tight.

I find if I do any more than 50 secs and any tighter than hand tight, it starts to brown the garment/burn it a little.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk