# How do you press a vinyl logo on a sleeve?



## TrueWitness (Mar 3, 2011)

Hello all!
I was wondering if anyone can walk me through pressing a vinyl logo onto a sleeve (short, in this case, but long is helpful for later)?

I tried to line a logo up to press it, but realized that there was a seam on the other side of the sleeve, directly behind the logo. Will this leave a crease in my vinyl when I press it?

Do I need a special tool that goes inside the sleeve before pressing?

Thank you!
Jamie


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## corakes (Nov 15, 2007)

Try using a mousepadb(inside the sleeve). If you have a cap-press - that works too...


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## BHD (Oct 31, 2007)

Stahls has Teflon pillows that are long, and fit in sleeves, and sweatpant legs. I use them when applying vinyl etc to the arm sleeve, they work great and separate the seam from your imprinting
area.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

i'm with susan. i folded up a mousepad, glued it. it fits perfect in a short sleeve.


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## pew36 (Jul 17, 2011)

Mouse pad doesn't melt?


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## paulbaguio (Mar 1, 2011)

hi, i bought the same high temp rubber material that is normally used for by the heat press then cut it to desired pieces. I got a piece that is fit for the sleeves and a small one for heat pressing my signature/sizing tag. 

additional: the excess from the rubber material, I will customize cut it to desired shapes or divisions if I combine pressing vinyl and dark transfer printing on the same shirt. reason is that if I heat press a dark transfer part, I dont want the vinyl part that I have already heat pressed to undergo another heating process at a higher temperature that will basically destroy the vinyl.


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## jean518 (Sep 23, 2009)

When doing multiple product designs, I start with the highest temp one first. That way the lower temp materials do not get cooked.


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

You don't need a mouse pad or a special sleeve pad. I do long sleeve shirts for both DTG printing and vinyl designs. 

All you need to do is get a cardboard box and cut a wedge shape template out of it. The seam on the back of the sleeve is used as a guide to center the sleeve on the template. The cardboard is hard enough to get good even pressure and it will conform to the seam on the back side. This is a simple and inexpensive way to create custom sleeve templates 

The one I am using right now is for adult shirts. It is 5 inches wide on the narrow end and 10 inches wide on the wide end and is 20 inches long. I have used cardboard for shirt pockets, hoods on jackets, zippered hoodies and many other things. The great thing about using cardboard is you can customize the template into any size and shape you need.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

cardboard or mouse pad. it's the same idea and both can be conformed to any size and shape by cutting. who doesn't have a stack of old mouse pads laying around?


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

miktoxic said:


> cardboard or mouse pad. it's the same idea and both can be conformed to any size and shape by cutting. who doesn't have a stack of old mouse pads laying around?


Not the same thing at all. Cardboard is stiff and easy to get into and out of the sleeve. 

A shirt sleeve is narrow at the end and wider at the shoulder. You need a stiff insert cut in a wedge shape. This allows you to stretch the sleeve keeping it flat. You can also use the seam on the back to quickly and easily center the sleeve on the template.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

but sick you can cut the mousepad into different shapes too. and yes the seam is still used as a centering point. hey, to each his own.


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

I have also used cardboard to create a two layered template that allows you to press over a zipper on a hoodie. take one layer of cardboard that will cover the entire print area then glue two additional pieces of cardboard side by side on top of the first layer leaving a gap between them wide enough for the zipper. cover the zipper with blue painters tape. Heat press the vinyl design, the zipper will be pushed into the gap and you will get even pressure over the entire design. 

A trick to keep the vinyl from sticking to the zipper is to cover the zipper with blue painters tape. After you press the design take a razor and a straight edge to cut the vinyl then simply remove the tape. You get a perfect vinyl press over a zipper.


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

miktoxic said:


> but sick you can cut the mousepad into different shapes too. and yes the seam is still used as a centering point. hey, to each his own.


The point is that the mousepads are not stiff enough and to do a 16 inch sleeve print would require several mouse pads.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

they are folded over and glued. so it takes more than one to do a long sleeve. the fact is that they will hold up many times over that a piece of cardboard which will get flattened out and 'limpy' after a couple of pressings. cardboard is just corrugated paper.

the best idea would be to make a template of the 16' sleeve and cut out a material such as used on the heat press platen (as suggested above) the material i've found closest to that without having to buy a whole new platen covering is a mouse pad. maybe i can attach them somehow (without making a seam within itself) as to make them easier to get in and out of the sleeve. don't do enough sleeve prints to justify all the fuss though.


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

miktoxic said:


> they are folded over and glued. so it takes more than one to do a long sleeve. the fact is that they will hold up many times over that a piece of cardboard which will get flattened out and 'limpy' after a couple of pressings. cardboard is just corrugated paper.


I have cardboard templates that are over a year old and still going strong but the best thing is when one does wear out I cut a new one for free.


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

miktoxic said:


> the best idea would be to make a template of the 16' sleeve and cut out a material such as used on the heat press platen (as suggested above)


That would be a great idea if every shirt sleeve on every different type and size of shirts we all the same width and length. 

Using cardboard you can customize the template for the shirt type and size. You can make 1000s of different templates and it is all free.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

ok you win.

(or how about this: if you made the template out of cardboard cut mouse pad material to size and attach it with glue. you wouldn't have to cut new ones)


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## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

The first sleeve template I made I attached a mouse pad type of material to it. I purchased the material at a fabric store. The template worked great until I discovered that cardboard works just fine by itself.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

i get it. i'm just saying this would be a cool product to produce and sell. maybe not with a cardboard base but some type of hear resistant plastic with the platen cover material on top of it, maybe with a handle outside of the press area to insert and remove it. one size for short sleeve, one for long sleeves.


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## funkytshirts (Jul 26, 2010)

I too use cardboard cut out shapes!!


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## jackiebell (May 6, 2009)

I thought for sure those dimensions must be wrong - who would have thought a sleeve was so wide? Thanks so much for the details.


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## jrock62 (Mar 31, 2010)

SickPuppy said:


> Not the same thing at all. Cardboard is stiff and easy to get into and out of the sleeve.
> 
> A shirt sleeve is narrow at the end and wider at the shoulder. You need a stiff insert cut in a wedge shape. This allows you to stretch the sleeve keeping it flat. You can also use the seam on the back to quickly and easily center the sleeve on the template.


Hi I was reading an old post about cutting card board for sweat pants legs I would like to do one for tights do you have a picture of one of yours you can email me @ [email protected] it would be greatly appreciated


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Get a teflon pillow that is 4" wide and 15 or 20 inches long and put it in the sleeve.


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## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

I agree with binki.


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## lulu997 (Dec 4, 2012)

i tried using a mouse pad for one of my shirts, it left a dark square mark on the shirt


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