Disaster Thread.

[NikGrey]

It happens to us all and it may help to publish our mistakes in order to hopefully prevent others from making the same mistakes.

I shall begin..

My first attempt at re-purposing a Promo bag obtained from the 2014 P&P show:

165c for 20 secs (as per the Metamark 'metatex' guide for Polyester/Acrylic mix). I am unsure of the composition of this bag material

I did use my Teflon sheets above and below this - and Two 5mm Mouse mats (side by side) to get over the depth of the bag seams. The Bag Material did not stick to my Teflon sheets and there was no mess apart from the obvious:



.. I have been able to work out through trial and Error that 145c for 15 secs works with this material.

[socialgiraffe]

Nik

I think material is polyurethane and is really crappy

However I have just done some exhibition bags that are made of this material and the trick is to make sure you get vinyl that will transfer at 125 degrees. Material that does work is Soldark from The Magic Touch and 123 flex also from TMT.

Very light pressure and also padding both inside the bag and surrounding it are also key.

[FutureProject]

I did a polyester messenger bag, came out really good, only later I noticed the zip compartment under the print had become stuck together so the next one had a teflon sheet in the compartment and it worked ok.

[Jason]

Been there, in fact one of my very first jobs and certainly my first decent order when starting out was for a couple of hundred document bags wanted by a customer for a Tradeshow. I sourced the exact bag they wanted, ordered all the vinyl (nylon vinyl) , spent hours weeding the design out and then pressed the first bag.... Absolute disaster the material of the bag completely melted under the press, no matter what I did I couldn't get these to work.

End result I had to go back to the customer and tell them I couldn't fulfill the order, and I seriously thought about giving up the whole print/sublimation line of work there and then purely off the back of this.

Fortunately they were very good about it and have become one of my best customers since then.

[Renniwano]

Remembering when you need to.. and don't need to mirror an image..

Thus not wasting 30 sheets of transfer paper because you didn't get the right one !! lol

[JMugs]

Decided to print on my Helly Hansen Thermal top........ohhh sticky melted stuff!

Janners