# Printing Transfers- Stretch test fails



## rlarson10 (Jan 13, 2009)

Hello folks. I have recently started printing transfers for a few designs and thought I was doing a good job until I tried to do white. Well I printed and gel cured some transfers and when I finally pressed on a t-shirt I thought I was a super hero. Well I washed tested the design and the ink seemed to crack some and I started down the path of dissapointment. So I pressed another design and without washing the shirt I tried to pull the shirt and the same was happening the design would crack and split almost immediately. I had better success with color ink.

My original transfer was pressed at 350 for 5 sec. I also tried 350 at 10 sec. no change 

I am using wilflex ink straight with no additives, Ryonet paper and transfer powder. 

Any suggestions please let me know, I have had some transfers from other companies in the past and they seem to pass the stress test fine.

Thanks for any help.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that your ink was over cured. White is hard to gel cure because it's so thick and takes longer to cure anyhow.


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## rlarson10 (Jan 13, 2009)

that is what I was thinking but the ink barely reached 250 in my drier. I Just read somewhere that the powder adhesive is not always a good thing and it reduces the amount of stretch. Do you know if that is an accurate statement


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

You should probably try bumping the heat to 375 for 10 seconds and test on a shirt you've already ruined. Transfers are a lot of trial and error but once you dial in, worth it.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

The adhesive powder is supposed to help the transfer stick better to the fabric. I have it, but have never used it because I have only done foil transfers and forgot all about the powder when I made them.


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

The powder also lets you press at a lower temperature.


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## rlarson10 (Jan 13, 2009)

thank you... I will definitely try the temp thing. I did try the transfer without the powder and it failed miserably.... I'm guessing now my time and temp was off. the transfer partially peeled up with the paper.


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## bern (Feb 14, 2007)

I had a similar problem with my white ink transfers . My problem was that I was not pressing long enough I think if your transfers are over cured you would have adhesion problems . Try pressing on a piece of scrap 20 seconds then do the stretch test , see what happens


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## rlarson10 (Jan 13, 2009)

yea.... That is awesome!!! I just printed one and tried it on a scrap shirt. I did not use transfer powder. I pressed at 400 for 10 sec and it worked great. You all are a great big help thanks!


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## gerber78 (Feb 25, 2012)

this post was amazingly helpful for me!!thanks!!


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