Heat press temperature and timing

[chet]

Evening all,

I'm about to start using my heat press for the first time; now that I'm used to the mug press.
I'm using using this paper Ink experts 100GSM sublimation paper, unlike the mug paper it does not give any settings guide for pressing.

What temp and timing would you suggest for my first go, I'm going to test on a pair of Puma short which I believe are 100% polyester.

Thank you.

[Justin]

Start off around 197c for 60 secs onto fabric, might be able to bring temp down a bit.

[chet]

Thanks, I will give it a try now and let you know how I get on.

[Justin]

Always worth getting some cheap products, material etc. for testing.

[chet]

Wow, Polyester to Heat-press is like Rich Tea biscuits to dunking, just hard to get right. Scorching.

[Baldy]

Yeah, poly is a lot more delicate than cotton when it comes to heat.
When it comes to polyester I found doing the following helps:

To avoid scorching from the edges of the platen, place a teflon pillow under the garment and adjust the pressure to light (so that when the press is closed the cushion compresses by less than half it's thickness) and then put a couple of oversize sheets of protective paper over the top of the transfer.

If the transfer sheet is smaller than the pressing area, I tear roughly around the design leaving a deckled edge which helps with scorch lines from the paper edges.

I then press at 190-200c for 50-60 secs.

As Justin wisely pointed out, it's a good idea to have a play with some test material first.
There are probably others but you can get various polyester material from the roll from:
Xpres - https://www.xpres.co.uk/sublimation-textiles
The Transfer Press - https://www.thetransferpress.co.uk/fabr ... 02x2663345

I hope that helps a bit.

[pw66]

Never had problems with scorching before on 100% poly. I press ar 205c for 40 seconds using s;race paper.
Are you sure that is isn't an artwork issue or a dirty platen? Sometimes the covering paper can cause some staining.
Can you post some pics?

The easiest way to experiment is to get some poly t-shirts from your wholesaler. You should be able to get a dozen or more prints per shirt. At least then you will be learning on the same fabric that you will be using.