# Hot peel and warm peel differences



## BikerBill (Feb 18, 2014)

I always get great results from hot peel transfer but always screw up with warm peels. Can someone tell me what the differences are between the two? If I know just what the warm peel transfers need maybe my results will be good.

Hot peels I understand; you heat the transfer high and long enough to melt the ink so it comes off the transfer paper, cures the ink and the pressure imbeds the melted ink into the shirt. As soon as you open the press the ink dries enough so that when you peel off the paper it sticks to the shirt.

So what is the difference with warm peels? Why are you suppose to wait 4-6 seconds? Does the ink take longer to harden so it does not pull off with the transfer paper? Frankly from trying to not burn my fingers and fumbling with the paper it normally takes me 4-6 seconds anyways just to grab the paper and peel it. 

My warm peels always have edges that lift off the shirt when I peel the paper back. I have tried rubbing the design hard with a cloth, makes no difference. I end up putting parchment paper over it and pressing it again. So how does a warm peel design differ from a hot peel?


----------



## Stefano (Aug 5, 2013)

BikerBill said:


> I always get great results from hot peel transfer but always screw up with warm peels. Can someone tell me what the differences are between the two? If I know just what the warm peel transfers need maybe my results will be good.
> 
> Hot peels I understand; you heat the transfer high and long enough to melt the ink so it comes off the transfer paper, cures the ink and the pressure imbeds the melted ink into the shirt. As soon as you open the press the ink dries enough so that when you peel off the paper it sticks to the shirt.
> 
> ...


Hello,
One thing I noticed about warm peel plastisol is they apply at 365 to 385 whereas hot peels run 390 to 400. I don't know what the theoretical advantages/disadvantages of each type are though.

All my results with hot peel have been great. They apply well using the guidelines provided and to me, feel lighter and have a softer texture than warm peel designs.

I hate warm peels because they are so inconsistent. I bought quite a few designs from a big west coast company that does all warm peels. Every design printed differently (time and temp) and I had to do many tests with each design. And I'm not using an eBay cheapie press either. 

I don't know why this is because I thought places that do plastisol designs for a living should be able to achieve some level of consistency. A few times, manufacturers suggested booting the temp up to 400 and another times they admitted the designs were "old" and they couldn't get them to print right. Why should it be a crap shoot every time you buy a design to press? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Insights and experiences of others would be appreciated!


----------



## BikerBill (Feb 18, 2014)

> I don't know why this is because I thought places that do plastisol designs for a living should be able to achieve some level of consistency. A few times, manufacturers suggested booting the temp up to 400 and another times they admitted the designs were "old" and they couldn't get them to print right. Why should it be a crap shoot every time you buy a design to press? Am I expecting too much or missing something? Insights and experiences of others from others would be appreciated!


Hey Steve. That is exactly the problems I'm getting. A lot of the big companies, like The Wild Side, Transworld and so on, seem to carry the same designs. I keep getting told the designs are old and no good, or I'm not doing it right.

I just got another batch of new warm peel designs, and two just don't come off completely. You can see it's the same areas, as if the ink is no good or dried in those areas. It's a damn shame because the designs look fantastic and I'd love to use them. But they are worthless if they don't work.

I'm starting to think many have simply sat around too long and the ink is no good. I have a local guy who has transfers from years ago for sale. I picked out a bunch and he insisted on trying them out on his own press right there to be sure they worked.

Even though these were hot peels, most did not come out good. It was all because they are too old and the ink has dried or whatever. So now I'm afraid to buy anymore from these big companies. My local guy will print out new designs for me, plus he's coming out with lots of new designs in my niche, which is biker stuff. So I'm really thinking of just sticking to buying from him. New, freshly made hot peel transfers are a joy to work with!


----------



## Stefano (Aug 5, 2013)

BikerBill said:


> Hey Steve. That is exactly the problems I'm getting. A lot of the big companies, like The Wild Side, Transworld and so on, seem to carry the same designs. I keep getting told the designs are old and no good, or I'm not doing it right.
> 
> I just got another batch of new warm peel designs, and two just don't come off completely. You can see it's the same areas, as if the ink is no good or dried in those areas. It's a damn shame because the designs look fantastic and I'd love to use them. But they are worthless if they don't work.
> 
> ...


Hey Bill,
Yeah, it's absolutely maddening. Some of mine that didn't release in the same place all the time had ink that was dry and crumbly. I didn't understand it when I started out, but now I do. These companies should date stamp their transfers, then stop selling them at a certain point. They obviously don't care. One place I ordered from was supposedly a pioneer in the plastisol industry and they sent me crumbly, non printable transfers. I called and described the problem and they confirmed they tested it and it was "too old." They offered to credit me on my next order but I told them there wouldn't be a next order.

These places get away with this because a lot of people who run into problems are newbies and they think it's operator error (which it often is), poor equipment (also true) but they rarely consider the transfer is defective.

You are lucky you can buy and test locally! I wish I could.
- Steve


----------



## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

most of these companys have hundreds to thousands of these plastisol transfers just laying around and want to sell asap. but sometimes they dont then the ink dries and its no good. plastisol ink last a long time dry with no heat applied to it, but once you put heat to it "IE" flash cure it then there is a time limit on when it need to be applied to a shirt. I would say at least 1 month but I could be wrong. If I buy plastisol transfers I make sure They are fresh or my own design.


----------

