DSF

hi all, i am new to this, i have had some great results with mouse mats, mugs trays, however whenever i seem to use teflon sheet to cover the paper to protect the press i seem to get ghost/shadow/light patch as though not enough pressure?? I may have answered my own question i.e. dont use teflon sheet but it would be good to get a experts opinion. I have found that pre pressing most fabric style items for 10sec seems to iron out creases, possibly remove moisture? etc.

ashley

Silly question but do you use heat tape???

Always a good idea to pre press garments, sometimes a little steam sue to the moisture

Couple more silly questions.....how thick is your teflon sheet? Is the ghosting within the printed image? Just wondering if you're getting ghosting form a previous image that has transferred onto the teflon sheet?

If the ghosting is from the teflon sheet you should always do waht I was told to do & that is have a kitchen roll nearby & wipe the teflon sheet after every pressing. Yet another top tip. :biggrin:

A lot of items that I sublimate are covered with standard baking paper (unless it's something that needs the extra protection from an extra-thick silicon sheet).

I should stress that it's baking paper AND NOT grease proof paper (2 different products totally). Baking Paper is just the same as silicon paper that are seen on sublimating suppliers sites.

99% of the time I use a fresh sheet each time I press, and the times I have used the same sheet twice I have seen a grease/shadow on the substrate caused from the first press.

FAO Ashley - are you using silicon SHEETS or silicon PAPER? (Sheets being the thicker of the two)

I use silicone sheet(3mm?) for mugs, but the shadows are formed when using Teflon sheet, this is like a heavy weight paper (brown with lighter streaks) if that makes any sense. I was wondering it could be just the make up of the sheet? Reading this back to myself LOL I lined the press base with greece proof paper from kitchen and have found if I use a sheet of normal paper on top of subli Paper when pressing the images seem to work well. I will try Methods describEd above later, as I say I am still learning :rolleyes: and really appreciate the little hints and tips.

Ashley- the only reason I say not to use Grease Proof Paper is that I had a few things stick with it, in particular transfer papers stick to grease proof paper but not baking paper?

They both look the same but the genetic makeup of them must be different - sorry, I watched CSI Miami last night and said to myself I want to use the words "genetic make up" in a sentence today - job done (little things please little minds!).

I always use a sheet of cheap a4 paper from asda, 500 sheets for £2 on top of everything (and sometimes under them). This should soak up any ink that comes through. Just one pack of paper is cheaper than must blanks that you have to re-press.