Pneumatic Press - Tea Towel Problems - Help?

[UK Printed Mugs]

Well our big pneumatic press is fantastic but come across one substrate proving to be a little difficult to get a consistent and even heat and that is pre-hemmed tea towels. See photo:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6430[/ATTACH]
Basically I guess there is not enough pressure or due to the thick foam pad under the substrate then the raised hemmed sections are being pushed down into the foam resulting in the non-sublimated areas next to them.
I think I might head to B&Q to get a sheet of MDF to place under to see if that helps flatten the tea towel under pressure but anyone else have other ideas please?

[Mrteajunkie]

Are you using a teflon pillow?
I found these to be a game changer even with the foam pads.

[UK Printed Mugs]

Well I could certainly look into getting a large teflon pad. There is about 2 inches of foam and about 10mm of black rubber on top of this. I've been to B&Q this morning and have a 12mm sheet of MDF cut to platen size (100x85) so was going to use this instead of the black rubber initially as a trial. Will look online to see if I can get a large teflon pad as a back up. Thank you.

[pisquee]

Are these the same type of tea towel we bought from you - tried one as a test through the rotary press and it kinda melted! what temp are you doing them at?

[UK Printed Mugs]

Nope, these are hemmed tea towels from Subli. The MDF board idea didn't work. It was an improvement but not good enough and after one press the 12mm MDF board warped anyway. I've ordered three teflon pillows to see if this will help. We've a large swing away we normally use but that is one tea towel at a time whereas this pneumatic heat press can layout 3 at a time. With over 600 to do then need to speed things up, eek!

[Ricky@Xpres]

What time, temp and pressure are you using ?

I would pre press for 15 seconds and try at 4 or 5 bar pressure and press at 195 for 90 to 130 seconds

Ricky
Xpres

Nope, these are hemmed tea towels from Subli. The MDF board idea didn't work. It was an improvement but not good enough and after one press the 12mm MDF board warped anyway. I've ordered three teflon pillows to see if this will help. We've a large swing away we normally use but that is one tea towel at a time whereas this pneumatic heat press can layout 3 at a time. With over 600 to do then need to speed things up, eek!

[UK Printed Mugs]

Hi Ricky. Oooo pre pressing. Didn't think of that. The temp and times you suggested are exactly what we use but a pre press may help indeed. Can we pre press in advance (say do a batch of 100) and then attach paper or should a pre press have the textile still warm?

[Ricky@Xpres]

I would pre press then attach the print and press, but pre pressing in advance might also work.

[socialgiraffe]

I can't really help but noticed something where you were heading down the wrong avenue so thought I would offer up this for the future...

When pressing fabrics, particularly if they have a seem then the softer the bottom platen the better. There is no point in trying MDF. This is because you want the transfer sheet to be able to mold in to the fabric, if the bottom platen is solid there is no flexibility, this means the thicker part of the fabric (the seam) can not be pushed down to create a nice smooth flat surface to press.

Also, as a general rule, the thinner the transfer paper the better as it will mold better than a heavier weighted paper. Obviously there are trade offs and it might be that a heavy weight paper will work fine once you have sorted a nice soft base to press on to.

Hope the above helps for the future and I think that once you have the pillows you will get the results you require.


With regards to pre pressing, this is all about removing creases and moisture etc. You can pre press in advance, but then you would have to be very careful how you handle the fabric afterwards and be very mindful that the moisture in the air will start to soak up. Personally I would pre press, place transfer and then press in one hit.

[UK Printed Mugs]

I am about to trial a pre-press done earlier so is cold and will see if that makes a difference. Then will try a hot pre-press but this isn't going to work on the large press due to the pressure issue so having to run both our large swing away and larger pneumatic seems a little overkill. Waiting on teflon pillows to arrive possibly today if not tomorrow. Thanks all.