# First time trying sublimation



## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

Just purchased some sublimations transfers and im going to attemp to sublimate on 100% white poly shirts. I have never done sublimation, just regular heat transfers for cotton shirts. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, here is what i have been told so far.

Light to med. preassure
400 degrees
1 min time

I have a clam shell press phoenix phire

Some questions i have after reading some posts. 
do i have to spray glue inside the shirt to prevent ghosting? do i need to put padding inside the shirt, i will not be going over any seems, just the front & the sleeve.

Any other advice is appreciated


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## MX1CAN (Jul 24, 2009)

Definitely put a teflon sheet or something similar in between the shirt so as to prevent ghosting. As for the settings that seems like the general ballpark of pretty much any sublimation items. Does your supplier have any recommended settings?

We use 400 for 45 secs on medium pressure. We use a Digital Knight press.


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## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

so i put the teflon sheet inside the shirt if i understand correctly. is it safe to assume i also put a teflon sheet on top of the shirt and transfer while pressing


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## MX1CAN (Jul 24, 2009)

amp267 said:


> so i put the teflon sheet inside the shirt if i understand correctly. is it safe to assume i also put a teflon sheet on top of the shirt and transfer while pressing


Yes put a teflon sheet inside the shirt to prevent the sublimation ink from bleeding through.

Some people do put a teflon sheet on top (we don't most of the time) but it's not really necessary. If you're pressing for the recommended time with the right pressure and enough heat the print will turn out good without the need of an extra sheet.


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## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

did the first one but i get lines from the transfer paper creased in the shirt. any recomendations other than less preassure. it seems like i hove almost no preassure on it
another thing was i enede up with ghosting but with the ghosting away from were the design was.


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

To prevent the lines most suggests a teflon pillow to raise the area to be printed. I have had some success with lighter pressure, the lines were still there but didn't stand out and I hear they will come out after a few washes. _(Don't no that for sure though.)

_Also that ghosting could come from the the transfer paper moving when you lifted the press. I get that sometime when I am doing mugs.


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## amp267 (Oct 11, 2006)

i will try the pillow. i think i got some good results after a couple of differant settings


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Heres what I have found in my experience so far.
A teflon sheet on top of the shirt and transfer can leave a shine on some of the shirts. Red is bad for it. So I went to using butcher paper. Not as bad but if overheated or left to long it still seems like the platen is cast on the shirt as a shine. 

If you trim the transfer pretty close the lines are not as noticeable. A pain if you got alot to do. But does work.

I have had a few blow thrus and that was with a yellow shirt and black transfer. But other than that it hasn't happend often.
Thank the good lord. I stopped putting a blow thru paper into the shirt cuz it got to be a hassle and time consumer to insert into each shirt. For me at least.

If I use light pressure, like just enough to hold the transfer in place I have to go 400+ and 67 seconds. Tho I have had gone ones at 45-50 but occassional messups so I go with the 67 seconds.

I have a 15x15 press and since I do mostly softball shirts I am thinking of getting a 12x15 and using 13x19 paper so it hangs over the edges of the press. In ordering plastisol transfers the standard size seems to be 12x12 so I still can get a good size graphic and not get the lines. Slightly more cost for paper but if I can get rid of the hassle of lines it will be worth it. Still working it out in my head. 

You can print on red,royal blue, maroon, but black is really the only color that shows up. It is muted tho. Doesn't pop off the shirt. Had some softball teams that wanted it that way. Looked decent but does not show off dye subs good attributes.

Pique shirts work pretty good too. I did some St. Gerorge white ones and the yellow duck on them (for a lawn service) popped off the shirt. Didn't think it would but looked really good even with the pique weave.

I use tape. Someone on here once said the pros don't do it that way but I don't like the spray. I use two small pieces to just hold it in place. Never really had tape lines show up either.

Good Luck
Mark


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

Mark summed it up nicely.

Here is what I do:

Clean sheet of paper or Teflon sheet inside the shirt - especially if the shirts are thin.

Always lint roll the t-shirt to prevent contamination.

When pressing logos and smallish designs - raise the surface with a Teflon pillow and have the transfer paper overhang the pillow, it will eliminate the press-lines completely. 
Trimming the transfer is another option, but not when you do a lot of shirts or the design it too intricate. 
If the design is big - I let the paper overhang the heat press platen (if I'm using 40 x 60 cm heat press) or cover the whole shirt if I'm doing all-over prints on the big press.

Usually I weigh down the transfer with a Teflon sheet to stop it from moving or use light positioning spray to avoid ghosting. I'm not a fan of sticky tape for t-shirts and textiles in general as it pulls and stretches the fabric when removed and takes longer to apply and remove then using spray.

When dropping pressure or temperature down - pressing time has to be extended. 
Tricky fabric to work with is something that has waffle or honeycomb type of weave - the texture of the fabric is easy to permanently flatten if the pressure is medium to light, but when you drop the pressure even lower - there is a chance of ink bleeding into troves of the fabric texture where you don't want it. 

When I have to work with fabric or ready-made garments I'm not familiar with - I always ask for extra shirt or fabric swatch to test print and figure out my settings for this particular project: garments with Lycra could shrink, some topical treatments will cause yellowing of the fabric, some fabrics will develop more shine then others (often happens with red shirts as Mark pointed out) etc.

Good luck and have fun with it!


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