# stopping press marks on the t-shirts when doing dye sub?



## IDENTITEES (Aug 27, 2007)

Hey there, We were wondering if anyone out there new of a way of stopping press marks happaning on our T shirts when using the dye sub technique? We have tried reducing the pressure on our press but still get an outline of the paper around the image and also find with low pressure the colours arn't as vibrant. Any help regarding the press lines would be greatfully recieved.


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

*Re: dye sub*

I think someone mentioned a teflon pillow inside the shirt for that very reason.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

*Re: dye sub*

if you are lowering pressure a bit you should increase dwell time a bit. what kind of marks are you getting...imprint of the paper? or..? I use a teflon sheet over the paper..press and remove. I dont have a problem with imprint. Contact me off line if you wish


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

All of the above and some more J.

When reducing pressure increase dwell time.

Use the thinnest paper you can find - it will leave less impression, we are using 70-75gm paper with good results.

Teflon pillow inside the t-shirt and Teflon sheet on top are definitely very helpful.

Slightly beveling the edges of your rubber mat is another thing people do.

If you still get the lines after all this - repress the shirts for a few seconds after removing your transfer.

Good luck!


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

If you are pressing on the edges of your paper at the right temp and dwell time, you WILL get press lines from the edges. The only way to avoid press lines is to make sure your paper is larger than the area being pressed by the platen so that the edges of the paper hang outside of the pressed area. You need to use either a Teflon pillow or a piece of the foam from the vapor kit under your image being pressed, and make sure it is smaller than your paper, but larger than your image. That is the magic formula. But Ssshhhh, don't tell anybody. This the secret to DyeSub and if everybody finds out, they'll all be making great prints.  

Also, use a VERY LIGHT pressure. This is very difficult to achieve with a clamshell press, since it closes from back to front. I rigged mine so that I could tilt my bottom platen so that it would impose even, light, pressure, front to back. A swing away press is much easier to do DyeSub with.


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## IDENTITEES (Aug 27, 2007)

Thanks for all your help! We love this forum


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## vkbrown (Aug 5, 2007)

This is all great information! 

Now that I have my new giant 4800 printer, I can use larger paper. I may end up wasting a lot of paper, but in the grand scheme of things, paper is cheap. Is it harder to line things up with such a large piece of paper? Do you have any tricks or suggestions for placement?

Hey, Rusty, where are you in Texas?


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

vkbrown said:


> This is all great information!
> 
> Now that I have my new giant 4800 printer, I can use larger paper. I may end up wasting a lot of paper, but in the grand scheme of things, paper is cheap. Is it harder to line things up with such a large piece of paper? Do you have any tricks or suggestions for placement?


Yes, you will spend a little more on larger size paper, but it's well worth it to be able to crank out nice prints with no paper lines. It's just pennies more per print. And yes, it's a little bit harder to line things up, but you can still do it. I sometimes lay a yard stick across the shirt lined up with the armpit seams to make sure I get the image on straight. Just line up the paper with the yard stick. And also try to print your image dead center of your paper so you can just center the paper and know that your image will also be centered.



vkbrown said:


> Hey, Rusty, where are you in Texas?


I'm in Waxahachie.

Rusty


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## vkbrown (Aug 5, 2007)

Thanks Rusty! You've been a huge help. 

You're not too far away from us. We live in Keller which is in NE Tarrant County...just north of Ft Worth and west of the Southlake/Grapevine area.


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

rusty said:


> If you are pressing on the edges of your paper at the right temp and dwell time, you WILL get press lines from the edges. The only way to avoid press lines is to make sure your paper is larger than the area being pressed by the platen so that the edges of the paper hang outside of the pressed area. You need to use either a Teflon pillow or a piece of the foam from the vapor kit under your image being pressed, and make sure it is smaller than your paper, but larger than your image. That is the magic formula. But Ssshhhh, don't tell anybody. This the secret to DyeSub and if everybody finds out, they'll all be making great prints.
> 
> Also, use a VERY LIGHT pressure. This is very difficult to achieve with a clamshell press, since it closes from back to front. I rigged mine so that I could tilt my bottom platen so that it would impose even, light, pressure, front to back. A swing away press is much easier to do DyeSub with.


Is Light Pressure, ok with Dye Sub on Polyester ?
I thought Heavy Pressure was needed.
I am New with a Air Swinger GeoKnight 16x20
I press at 50psi 385 60 seconds, yellow jerseys, black and red print....Baad press marks


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

stevegamble said:


> Is Light Pressure, ok with Dye Sub on Polyester ?
> I thought Heavy Pressure was needed.
> I am New with a Air Swinger GeoKnight 16x20
> I press at 50psi 385 60 seconds, yellow jerseys, black and red print....Baad press marks


Light pressure is essential to get good results, espesially if your fabric textured (i.e ribbed, waffle weave, mesh, etc.)

The best way to go is to get some fabric (seconds, misprinted shirts, swatches) and experiment with your settings a little. When you find your best setting for each type of fabric - wright it down. 

Good luck!


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## AbstractD (Sep 23, 2009)

should the Teflon pillow be bigger then the press? or smaller?


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## JaeAmera (Dec 25, 2006)

Here is our recipe:

Vapor foam or a piece of the .5 thick felt pad.

Cut to size (@ a 45 degree angle) so the needed image fits the foam or pad.

Keep your transfer with an additional blank paper area so you have some excess paper hanging over the edge of the foam while the image is centered.

Use Very, Very light pressure (we use a 20x25 and we simply let the weight of the press do the work.) We press about 50 sec.

If you are using very thin performance fabrics, the fabric itself will pick up a subtle outline of the foam or the pad. We simply cover the pad inside the shirt with paper. This makes the edges even more rounded.

Ohhh, Always pre-press your shirts to give them a uniformed look....nothing is worse than the 'Badge' look on a performance shirt. (shiny square, dull shirt)

Hope this helps,

Jae


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

What Jae said. 
We use all the same steps pretty much.
I have a veriety of foam and felt incerts cut to different sizes and shapes.

Don't forget to lint-roll the shirts befor you press them. Doen't help with press marks, but helps prevent contamination with dust, loose threads and other undersireble particles.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

JaeAmera said:


> Here is our recipe:
> 
> Ohhh, Always pre-press your shirts to give them a uniformed look....nothing is worse than the 'Badge' look on a performance shirt. (shiny square, dull shirt)
> 
> ...


I know this is old but running into this badge issue with some grey Augusta shirts.
When you say pre press the shirt to make them look uniformed what do you exaclty mean? Uniform look wise ? Do you pre press with paper over the shirt or just the platen ? And what does this do ?

I do not want to have to redo these shirts cuz of this " badge block"

THanks
Mark


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

freebird1963 said:


> I know this is old but running into this badge issue with some grey Augusta shirts.
> When you say pre press the shirt to make them look uniformed what do you exaclty mean? Uniform look wise ? Do you pre press with paper over the shirt or just the platen ? And what does this do ?
> 
> I do not want to have to redo these shirts cuz of this " badge block"
> ...


Forget the prepress, as im my opinion it only makes it worse.
380F / 40 seconds / med pressure, or you'll have ghosting (not full ink transfer).. But you MUST cut some rubber or foam to the aprox shape of the logo you press, so you don't have a big square on the shirt.
Some CHEAP Poly shirts release the dye right off the garment... I avoid these real cheap shirts, or warn the customer ahead of time. Low cost= low quality.. let them decide.
White Poly shirts won't leave a square, so I push white and tell the customer.

It is a pain regardless, to prefect this..


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

stevegamble said:


> Forget the prepress, as im my opinion it only makes it worse.
> 380F / 40 seconds / med pressure, or you'll have ghosting (not full ink transfer).. .



When using lighter pressure encrease dwell time/press time - it will help to get more ink out of the transfer. 

To eliminate ghosting/bleeding/shifting of the transfer light positioning spray will help (sold in craft shops)


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

D.Evo. said:


> When using lighter pressure encrease dwell time/press time - it will help to get more ink out of the transfer.
> 
> To eliminate ghosting/bleeding/shifting of the transfer light positioning spray will help (sold in craft shops)


I have sublimated thousands of items from mugs, plaques, acrylic, T shirts, etc..
I get better transfer, sharper more detailed image 100% of the time with higher pressure on everything we do.
Longer dwell time removes dye from garments as well as higher temp.
Lowest temp for shortest time.. find a way to achieve that..= Higher pressure.

If anyone can argue that, please use an example of product used and I will test the theory tomorrow.
We run our pneumatic press at 50psi.
Believe me when I say we've all spent many hours trying to refine the temp, dwell, pressure, issue with many products.
transfer films/vinyls, chrmoblast inks, dye sub,..
I think everyone needs to experiment a little to find what works in there view.
Trying 100 red polyester baseball jersey's..dye sub some Black logo/numbers on them.
Cover sheets turn red pretty quick at 380F and leave a nice square on the shirt.
silicone pads, teflon sheets, all that and still very tough to minimize the apparent red dye removal.


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

stevegamble said:


> I have sublimated thousands of items from mugs, plaques, acrylic, T shirts, etc..
> I get better transfer, sharper more detailed image 100% of the time with higher pressure on everything we do.
> Longer dwell time removes dye from garments as well as higher temp.
> Lowest temp for shortest time.. find a way to achieve that..= Higher pressure.


I'm pretty sure you are right - the pressure should be high for pressing hard surfaces. I can't argue about printing on hard substrates, as I work almost exclusively with t-shirts and textiles of all sorts. 
I have sublimated many thousands of garments too. 

You are right: a lot of experimenting needed to figure out which settings work for you.

I stand by my words: from my personal experience many polyesters, especially textured fabrics like waffle weave, honeycomb, mesh, ribbed sports garments shoud NOT be pressed on high/medium pressure because it will flatten the fabric's texture, pressed area will look shiny and very different from the rest of the shirt. 

I do sports garments every day, colour match logos and club colours - pressing for 60 sec at light pressure works great for me most of the time. Of course, every new type of fabric is tested and best combination of time, pressure and temperature is determined and documented. I don't have any colour issues, ghosting, badly transferred images.

Temperature is an important part of the equasion too: some fabrics I'll feel safe pressing at 200C, while others (like lycra, nylon, some coloured microfibres) I'd press at 185C.


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

I rarely do waffle textured shirts, but Anything with a puff texture should be VERY light presure of course, or avoided.?We laser engrave and dye sub trophies, so admitedly we do more hard substrates than garments.
Usually vinyl or transfers express(logo's) or embroider garments (we embroider as well).
Dye sub has proven to have the highest learning curve to perfect the application process.
However we are the only storefront in the area to have this , so it brings in a lot of traffic and has brought many sports associations to our business (for anyone wondering about dye sub bringing business).


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