Newbie question - what paper?

[fredster]

Before i dive in head first with all this ... can you point me in the right direction with what papers to buy for mugs etc and tshirts?
just read martins latest offers but thought i'd ask whats what first. i want the best results i can get as most of the prints will be of my own photography.
cheers

[Kaz]

I use trupix for ceramics and anything hard, and Jetcol for tees

[Justin]

Trupix is excellent but for the price I find Xpres own paper hard to beat. Deeper colours with the Trupix but at a premium.

I see BMS now stock the Xpres paper.

[fredster]

yes bms has posted it on offer in here today as well ...
thanks for the heads up ..always best to ask someone thats tried it.
cheers

[fredster]

Can i just ask as well ... How do you store the paper ? and does it make a difference?

when i bought this set up i was given about 20 sheets of paper but they were just thrown into the box with the printer n inks n stuff...dont know what it is or where from so ive been using it up to practice on...
so i decided i would try my first and only mug blank that i had... lol

set the press for 3minutes as he had suggested but he told me to go from cold and not preheat so i did...IS THIS WRONG?

so 3minutes later teh mug comes out ...i dip in warm water ...great stuff ...looks good ..or so i thought ...
is it normal to feel the print after youve printed onto the mug?
i could feel the powdery print on top of th emug at first ...so is this not right i ask myself..well it didnt feel right i can certainly say so i got out a sponge and wiped off the powery coating and vualla ..there was the print still ... not as clear or as glossy as the ones the guy had left me in the box of goodies but still a nice attempt for my first try i thought.

so basically i wanna know if i pre heat the mug press or not?
how do i store the mug paper?
should i feel the print and have to scrub it off before i can dry the mugs?


i love this forum by the way.

[bms]

Re the operation of your mug press. I would suggest you have a mug which you put in the mug press whilst it is heating up to 180 degrees (use this mug time and time again for this purpose only). Once at temp, remove this mug and put in your mug for printing. Set time to 3.5 minutes (as temp will drop when mug gets puts in) and remove once time passed, remove paper and dunk s.l.o.w.l.y into water. You shouldn't have any residue on the mug and it should be glossy. If you're not pressing any more then put original mug in press, close clamp and let cool down.

Not all mug presses operate the same - some go from cold to hot (180 degrees), some from cold to preheat temp (around 110 degrees and then up to temp when mug inserted) so the precise operation of your press may differ to that above. If in doubt, refer to the operation guide supplied (if you have one!).

Re paper - keep it flat and in a dry place (there is often a printable side - usually whiter).

[John G]

You shouldn't be able to feel the print - when it comes out the press it should be spot on, no powder - you are taking the paper off before dunking and you are using sub inks?

Cheers John

[Kaz]

Apart from what's in the printer, I keep the paper in it's original packaging.

I don't get any powdery residue on mine, even when I take the paper off before dunking, and as MArtin says, keep a mug for pre-heating your press, I use one that's gone wrong

[fredster]

youre all stars ...thank you ...

[fredster]

ok so martins mugs arrived today ...
i thought i'd try another mug print ...
i had printed on the old paper so thought i'd give it another try .

the mug press was set at 300 seconds i guess ...now is that too much or should it be round about 180 to 200 ?

so preheated the press with the first mug i ballsed up last week ...lol and popped in my new mug and design and set off ..

time up so i take out the mug and take off the paper ..looks great ..dunked slowly into warmish water ..not cold ... hissed a bit and then was fine..
took out of the water and i am still feeling the print ..now u all said this was not normal and its not all the print i can feel its just in places.
i'm thinking this could be because i overcooked it or undercooked it am i right?

i'm going to throw away that old paper and print again at home tomorrow so if anyone can tell me where ive gone wrong again ...i'd be grateful