# heat pressing vinyl to 100% cotton. wrinkles?



## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

trying to decide whether to do vinyl or plastisol transfers on 100% cotton shirts. people have said that shirt will wrinkle next to the vinyl when applied. would the same be true for plastisol? what if i washed and dried the shirts before pressing, would that help? only reason i don't have outsourced to a screen printer is one job is a run of 12 shirts another 25 shirts and another for 50 shirts (all different designs) all for the same customer. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance!


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## gerry (Oct 4, 2006)

the shirt shouldnt wrinkle unless it is stretched during application.
just lay it on the platten,prepress a few seconds ..apply transfer and voila'..as they say in france


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## deChez (Nov 10, 2007)

I've never had a problem with the shirt wrinkling around vinyl. And altough you didn't ask, I'll tell you that Siser Easy Weed is my vinyl of choice, ThermoFlex comes in a close second.

I use vinyl often...especially for small runs. Usually, when the quantity reaches about 25, I start looking at plastisol.

3 reasons I would not pre-wash shirts: it's time consuming, and time is money...your customer is rightly expecting a "new" shirt, and pre-washing will remove the new look...in some states, pre-washing a garment can render it a "used" garment, and then it cannot be sold as new.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Sometimes, 100% preshrunk cotton can still shrink, and I've had it happen with dark paper, but the same has happened for folks using vinyl. So, if you have a great shirt that is preshrunk 100% cotton, and really does not suffer additional shrinkage, then wrinkling for "that'' particular reason should be able to be avoided....

I personally like 50/50 for this specific reason, and have seen others note the same thing, from those using papers, and vinyl for sure. Best wishes, hope they come out great.

Would nottttt wash the shirts first, for the reasons Michele stated as well as there are too many allergies out there, and that includes to detergents. If you wash it in something a customer is allergic to... dread. (I'm personally allergic to Fab Rainforest scent. My nose runs wildly. Found out when trying to sleep at my mother in laws house one night. It was a long night of nightmares. Finally figured out it was the sheets.)


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## gerry (Oct 4, 2006)

Thanks, thats interesting, would a prepress shrink it to permanently size?
This reminds me of when we were kids..we would stick empty plastic potato chip bags on a cookie pan in the oven to shrink small.
Mine came out in a somewhat t-shirt shape ... it was like a small wrinkly allover print of a Doritos logo


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Hey Anon... from the little I've read, people have seen some shrinkage even during the pressing, from the water in the shirt evaporating, but that is small next to what the wash and dry can do to a shirt that isn't really preshrunk as fas as it can go. It goes back to testing blanks at that point. I usually or a dozen or so at a time, the 100% and 50/50 versions of each shirt. 

If you look up "vinyl wrinkle" "shirt shrink" "vinyl shirt wrinkle" "shirt shrink vinyl" ... things like that, you can probably bring back some of the same threads I've read on that. There are pics posted of the shirts in at least one thread, where this topic is well documented and discussed by many, including some of the vinyl suppliers in that particular thread (if I remember right from last summer or spring - I mean over a year ago! )


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

two more questions if you don't mind:

was it the material used that made it noticeable (wrinkling around the applied vinyl or paper)? wondering if a plastisol transfer would act the same.

would a longer pre-pressing take care of the problem?

thanks guy/gals for your help!!


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## deChez (Nov 10, 2007)

Girlzndollz said:


> Sometimes, 100% preshrunk cotton can still shrink, and I've had it happen with dark paper, but the same has happened for folks using vinyl. So, if you have a great shirt that is preshrunk 100% cotton, and really does not suffer additional shrinkage, then wrinkling for "that'' particular reason should be able to be avoided....
> 
> I personally like 50/50 for this specific reason, and have seen others note the same thing, from those using papers, and vinyl for sure. Best wishes, hope they come out great.
> 
> Would nottttt wash the shirts first, for the reasons Michele stated as well as there are too many allergies out there, and that includes to detergents. If you wash it in something a customer is allergic to... dread. (I'm personally allergic to Fab Rainforest scent. My nose runs wildly. Found out when trying to sleep at my mother in laws house one night. It was a long night of nightmares. Finally figured out it was the sheets.)


HA! I hadn't even thought of the allergy aspect of pre-washing. Funny, since I have big time fragrance allergies. I always use fragrance/dye free detergent. 

I'm the one in the drug store smelling all the shampoo, hand lotions, and soaps before buying. It's a sight to see.

I think you hit on something else as well. If you must pre-wash, avoid dryer sheets. All you're going to accomplish there is to possibly create a "film" on the fabric that might interfere with your design or vinyl adhering to the shirt.


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