# Can you Heat Transfer onto Polyester? Badalou?



## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

ummmm I think the title covers it... I'm considering doing some little hoddies.. for teddy bears.


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

Have you thought about dye sub?


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

I have yes... Can't afford it right now tho... Do you know if it will work Jasona?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Yes you can, but if you're using polyester anyway you might as well use dye sublimation.


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

Ya... I'd love to .. I just don't have the equipment... I just have heat transfer equipment for now... Anyone ever try to heat transfer on a hockey puck????


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

PT Studios said:


> Anyone ever try to heat transfer on a hockey puck????


Only a Canadian would think of that.


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

LOL! Fer sure eh? Well... It sounds like all this puck sites I've hit say they "screen" them? Would you silk screen a puck? I was think even of just like sticker paper or something?


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

PT Studios said:


> LOL! Fer sure eh? Well... It sounds like all this puck sites I've hit say they "screen" them? Would you silk screen a puck? I was think even of just like sticker paper or something?


I have no idea if you can screenprint them..  Maybe someone else will know.

It's possible that they are pad printed. A vinyl sticker might also work.


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

you could use transfer paper on a hockey puck, but I havent tested to see how long it lasts. If its going to be for show, some sort of sealer ontop will help seal it in, so it cant be picked off.

You can heat press onto polyester(some anyway) Ive done some on blends, but I dont know about 100% poly.


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

I'm thinking of doing photos.. so I want full color... Would the heat press melt it??? LOL!


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

Ya.. just for show! NOT to actually use... Dark transfer paper, then spray fixitive? maybe?


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

lol Im not sure....make sure you use a teflon sheet just incase. I did a lovely job of melting a zipper last week! (forgot the teflon)


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

PT Studios said:


> Ya.. just for show! NOT to actually use... Dark transfer paper, then spray fixitive? maybe?


You might want to think of finding a printing method that is strong enough so it isn't just "for show".

It would be a great gag gift - have a friend's face printed on the puck, and then play a game with it! Or maybe print some with the face of an unpopular politician.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

When I look at the description on the inkjet transfers packs, it says it can be transferred onto 100% polyester.


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## cookster (May 10, 2006)

Are you wanting to do full color transfers on polyester or just one color as in cutting vinyl with a cutter and heat pressing it to a polyester shirt. If you are looking at doing only one color vinyl you can use Gorilla Grip. You would cut your design and weed it then apply it to the shirt of your choice.


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

I read online somewhere that even the screen printed pucks only last like an hour in real game play, so I'm not going to go crazy trying to make one for real games. But pucks are only like $1! Through a photo on it and charge like $7.99 or something. There was a place online selling them for $15.00!!!!!!!


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

Never even thought to look on the transfer paper package.. d'uh.. LOL!!!! Thanks Rodney!

Full color... Dark inkjet transfer Cookster. On little teddy bear t-shirts and hoodies! Though it would be cool for Valentine's day


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## Capo De Capo (Oct 17, 2006)

I would have to say that you shouldn't us dark transfer on black or dark polyester..... the synthetic hairs seem to bleed through... not a good look...

light poly is cool... but dark is a debacle waiting to happen...


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

I imagine you could dye sublimate pucks as well, but I don't know (I actually thought they would have done that rather than screenprint them though, so maybe I'm wrong).


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## Moo Spot Prints (Jul 16, 2006)

Jasonda said:


> You might want to think of finding a printing method that is strong enough so it isn't just "for show".


Uh, have you *seen* a puck that gets played with? I seriously doubt you're going to find any transfers that will hold up to that kind of abuse. Short of etching or casting it from a custom mold it's just going to get rubbed, smacked, cut, sliced and banged right off. The stuff the NHL uses on their pucks gets worn off pretty quickly too. 

The life of a hockey puck us a tough one. Trust me. I've been hit by enough of them to know just how angry they are at us for abusing them so much.


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## Moo Spot Prints (Jul 16, 2006)

Solmu said:


> I imagine you could dye sublimate pucks as well, but I don't know (I actually thought they would have done that rather than screenprint them though, so maybe I'm wrong).


You're imagining too much. Pucks are black and are made of vulcanized rubber, not plastic.

yes, I know there are red and blue ones too but they don't count.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Moo Spot Prints said:


> You're imagining too much. Pucks are black and are made of vulcanized rubber, not plastic.
> 
> yes, I know there are red and blue ones too but they don't count.


For some reason I thought they came in all kinds of colours... you may now all proceed to laugh at me


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## Moo Spot Prints (Jul 16, 2006)

Solmu said:


> For some reason I thought they came in all kinds of colours... you may now all proceed to laugh at me


No laughing. There are *some* colors used mostly for training. I imagine some enterprising individual attempted to turn the hockey world on its head by introducing the all-white puck at some point but.... Ok. I'm laughing. 

Oh, and if you DO go out and buy some pucks, don't get that cheap crap from china. The rubber is too hard and it HURTS! They may be a tad overweight. No sir, the good stuff is made in czekoslovakia and canada.

More than you ever wanted to know.


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## PT Studios (Dec 15, 2006)

Ok.. this has become a totally different thread... lol. But anyway, pucks _do_ come in different colors just about every color.

I DO NOT plan on selling pucks for people to play with... I mean they can if they want to but, who's going to buy a puck for $10 and go outside and play with it, but if you want to ... it's your puck put it in the toilet for all I care.

What I want to do is photos and logos... on mainly a black puck. Now, instead of heat transfer, I'm thinking photo paper glued on to the puck. Then, some type of polyurethane or something to seal it all nice nice. Sell it with an optional stand or puck display something like that... What do you think? REMEMBER I am in Canada, so, I think this might sell?!


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

have you tried heat pressing some vinyl (for heat pressing) onto it? Yes I think a puck on a stand with a logo on it will sell! Even without a stand, for the hockey fan its a great paper weight.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

If you are not going to use the hockey puck for play I can press full color images on them. These are more gift items. 

What do you need it for?


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## hammered (Apr 14, 2006)

The transfers for items like pucks can be done with a inkjet printer and the correct inks like Magicmix. Its a waterslide sticker much like the ones used for candles and the sticker kits you get in model cars and planes. For the one used in games, you have to laminate the image.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Here are some thoughts on printing on a standard puck. 

Try the durracotton98 paper. You need 400F and heavy pressure. If you want to dye-sub, try using the durracotton as a pretreatment. You will also need a print area that is not black otherwise you may not see your image unless you use a paper that is designed for printing on dark. 

I would suppose it would work if the puck could take 60 seconds of 400F

The pic that I posted above uses a hockey puck and 200F at 80lbs of pressure for 25 seconds. Since we purchased a package for this everything comes ready to go so we only need to print the image and press. No experimenting needed. 

Good luck.


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## Moo Spot Prints (Jul 16, 2006)

PT Studios said:


> What I want to do is photos and logos... on mainly a black puck. Now, instead of heat transfer, I'm thinking photo paper glued on to the puck. Then, some type of polyurethane or something to seal it all nice nice. Sell it with an optional stand or puck display something like that... What do you think? REMEMBER I am in Canada, so, I think this might sell?!


Oh, you want serious mode...ok.

Can it be done? Of course. There's even a commercial setup to do it for you:

BallStars - Sports Based Business Opportunity
*
Can you do it on the cheap?* Probably.
*Will it look good? * Maybe. I think you'll need to experiment. Your best bet is some sort of opaque transfer. Heat may be an issue. I've never pressed a puck.
*Will people buy it? * There's a niche market for EVERYTHING. You just have to find it and work it. Canadia is probably the best place for it, eh?

Give it a shot. Pucks are cheap. See what results you get and post pictures!


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

One more thing you can do is printed vinyl. You can probably find someone that will do the prints for you if you dont have a vinyl printer/cutter.


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## Stamp (Mar 26, 2010)

PT Studios said:


> LOL! Fer sure eh? Well... It sounds like all this puck sites I've hit say they "screen" them? Would you silk screen a puck? I was think even of just like sticker paper or something?


Yep you could screen print them, you can get different inks for screen printing for different materials. They probably pad print them but I think even a sticker would work if you get a long lasting vinyl.

I'm getting some 100% polyester t-shirts for a customer and I've tried heat press printing onto sports gear before and I'm worried about issues I might have. Did a sports top and the dye from the top seemed to stain the vinyl, was a one off though and I explained this to the customer, they were still happy with it .


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