# Scorching. Hydrogen Peroxide. Yellowing Returning



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

Hi Guys,
Had this problem:
Pressing white T's and getting a bit of yellowing (scorching).

I used the old hydrogen peroxide trick on it. It worked like a charm.
This T was a new design, so I wanted to put it in our shop window for the punters to see.

Two hours after putting it in the window, I noticed the yellowing had returned, but even more prominently.  *_!?%_

I had it in my mind that it was the scorching returning, so that night I did some heat and time trials to reduce any scorching. I finally found some good settings, but then I thought that I had better do some tests with the peroxide-treated scorching, so I scorched 2 Ts (deliberately) and peroxided them and got rid of the scorching. One of the Ts I rinsed out in cold water and the other I left un-rinsed.

I put them both in the shop window the next day, and within 2 hours, the un-rinsed T was glowing like a daffodil.
The rinsed T was still as white as a fluffy bunny.

My conclusion is:
When using hydrogen peroxide to get rid of the scorching, rinse it out completely with cold water because direct sunlight reacts with the peroxide and turns it yellow.

I realize that this may be common knowledge to some of you, but, I'm new to this game and I didn't know. I hope this helps anyone else who may encounter the same problem or prevents the problem from happening at all.
All the best.
Pete.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks, Pete, good advice and heads up. Have you thought about using a teflon sheet to prevent scorching? That's one of the purposes of the teflon... Wishing you a nice day... Kelly


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

Cheers Kelly
I do use a Teflon sheet most of the time, I think my press might be running a little hot, so I'm gonna test it with a heat gun.
I'm also gonna do a few experiments using water as a heat sink, I'll keep ya posted.
Pete.


----------



## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

monkey.. are you duluting your Hydrogen Peroxide before squirting it on..
I always use half HP and half water.. and have never had this problem.. but then again.. Ive never tried puttiing them in the sun ..lol


----------



## queerrep (Jul 18, 2006)

mystysue said:


> monkey.. are you duluting your Hydrogen Peroxide before squirting it on..
> I always use half HP and half water.. and have never had this problem.. but then again.. Ive never tried puttiing them in the sun ..lol


Hold the phone! What is this hydrogen peroxide treatment y'all are talking about?!?  You spray it on the shirt before you press – or after?


----------



## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

Rhonda..
I use half water and half hydrogen peroxide in a squirt bottle.. 
if the shirt is yellowed from scorching.. after i press the design.
I squirt it with the mixture.. and press again (only for a few seconds.. as if i was pre heating the shirt.. ) the scorching goes away.. .. its a really cool trick..


----------



## queerrep (Jul 18, 2006)

mystysue said:


> Rhonda..
> I use half water and half hydrogen peroxide in a squirt bottle..
> if the shirt is yellowed from scorching.. after i press the design.
> I squirt it with the mixture.. and press again (only for a few seconds.. as if i was pre heating the shirt.. ) the scorching goes away.. .. its a really cool trick..


That's pretty nifty, but how in the heck did you even think of trying that?!?


----------



## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

lol.. I didnt think of it on my own.. I read it on a differant forum.. a couple years ago.. lol..
When if first started out dye subbing.. I had a horid time with scorcing.. expecially with hanes 50/50 shirts.


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

Try using a different shirt company, sometimes the whitener turns yellow and it will often wash out without using HP.
Not all shirts will turn yellow at a reasonable press temperature, a lot depends on the treatment they receive.


----------



## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

MaxieGarb said:


> Try using a different shirt company, sometimes the whitener turns yellow and it will often wash out without using HP.
> Not all shirts will turn yellow at a reasonable press temperature, a lot depends on the treatment they receive.


 Yes most of the time the yellowing is actually sizing that the manufacture puts on the shirts that is yellowing..
But that being said.. whatever it is the HP will take it out.. I dont wanna have to wash my shirts before i give them to the customer.. so the HP is an easy fix


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

mystysue said:


> monkey.. are you duluting your Hydrogen Peroxide before squirting it on..
> I always use half HP and half water.. and have never had this problem.. but then again.. Ive never tried puttiing them in the sun ..lol


Hi Mystysue
No, I must confess, I use it neat. I always over do everything.
I will run a test with a dilute, it could save me a lot of time.
Cheers
Pete


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

What % HP are you buying, I can get 5% or 10%.
Do you dilute this 50%??


----------



## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

maxie im not sure what % i bought.. I just got a cheap bottle at the drug store.. ..


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

Sue, do you still have it?
It should say, 5% 10% etc on the bottle.
Does anybody else know?
This must be what they are selling as scorch remover.


----------



## JiveKooly (Apr 17, 2007)

Hi,

My heat press is a jp12, what is a good temperature and time for white tees? I get scorching too, but ive been following the heat transfer instructions which say 15 seconds at 365-380º

thanks D


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

My experience is that the yellowing is caused by chemicals used to "whiten" the shirt.
Not all shirts will yellow in the press, try a few different brands. Maybe email the shirt manufacturers.


----------



## JiveKooly (Apr 17, 2007)

MaxieGarb said:


> My experience is that the yellowing is caused by chemicals used to "whiten" the shirt.
> Not all shirts will yellow in the press, try a few different brands. Maybe email the shirt manufacturers.


Thanks Maxie,

do you have any recommendations for tee shirt brands that wont yellow?


----------



## foursixquebec (Jun 1, 2008)

Hi - I hope this isn't too late!!!

Have you found a method for *removing* the hp/sun interaction yellowing? I had the same thing happen to me, and I can't get the sun yellowing out of the shirt. 

I hope someone can help.


----------



## ashamutt (Feb 22, 2008)

monkeymoon said:


> Hi Guys
> Had this problem:
> Pressing white T's and getting a bit of yellowing (scorching).
> 
> ...


great tip that I had not heard of .....but....
What happens when color shirts "turn" ?
....not yellow of course...but I notice that when i press a dark shade , I can see the 15x15 square press outline on the shirt!
I do use a teflon sheet....so I do not know why this happens....?


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

foursixquebec said:


> Hi - I hope this isn't too late!!!
> 
> Have you found a method for *removing* the hp/sun interaction yellowing? I had the same thing happen to me, and I can't get the sun yellowing out of the shirt.
> 
> I hope someone can help.


Hi Jess and welcome to the forum.
I have tried several methods of removing Sun/HP yellowing, including neat bleach and nothing touches it.

I have ended up by destroying the T shirt before the Yellowing shows any sign of deteriation.

I think that any shirts affected in this way are destined for the workshop cloths bin.

It's all a frustrating learning curve, but worth it in the end.


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

ashamutt said:


> great tip that I had not heard of .....but....
> What happens when color shirts "turn" ?
> ....not yellow of course...but I notice that when i press a dark shade , I can see the 15x15 square press outline on the shirt!
> I do use a teflon sheet....so I do not know why this happens....?


The platon mark is a common occurance, and is generally resolved when the shirt is washed. 
It is caused by the fibres flatening.

I have found that a light spray with a mist of water just after pressing helps to minimise the effect, just make sure you keep the water away from the printed area.


----------



## Kimsie (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm having the same problem. I pressed my first heat transfer shirt (on white) tonite. And I got the 16 x 20 yellowing from my platen, I used a teflon sheet. As it cooled it faded, but I'll wait till tomorrow to put it in natural sunlight to see if I can still see some left or not. I was thinking-what about washing the shirts before pressing them (in plain water-no soap). This wouldn't be so bad. I always like to give my customer a nice pressed shirt (I do vinyl also) and they always say "it looks like you ironed it". I really don't want to use the hydogen peroxide since this current order of shirts I working on is for a group of people going on a canoe trip (and will be in the sun for many hours). Good Luck to everyone with this problem. 
Thanks


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

Check your press temperature, maybe it's too hot. Try working with a lower temp
If the temp is right find another shirt company, maybe someone reading this has experience with shirts that do not yellow. Washing sounds like a lot of work, youlll have to iron the shirts as well.
If you go this was might be better to try and wash the shirts after the press, the yellow usually washes out.


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

Kimsie said:


> I'm having the same problem. I pressed my first heat transfer shirt (on white) tonite. And I got the 16 x 20 yellowing from my platen, I used a teflon sheet. As it cooled it faded, but I'll wait till tomorrow to put it in natural sunlight to see if I can still see some left or not. I was thinking-what about washing the shirts before pressing them (in plain water-no soap). This wouldn't be so bad. I always like to give my customer a nice pressed shirt (I do vinyl also) and they always say "it looks like you ironed it". I really don't want to use the hydogen peroxide since this current order of shirts I working on is for a group of people going on a canoe trip (and will be in the sun for many hours). Good Luck to everyone with this problem.
> Thanks


Hi Kimsie
If this is yellowing rather than scorching, I have found that by spraying water only onto the affected area removes the yellowing.
This, then prevents the sun/HP yellowing and/or the need to rince the shirt .

Give it a go, I spray the shirt while it is still warm.


----------



## Kimsie (Oct 5, 2007)

monkeymoon said:


> Hi Kimsie
> If this is yellowing rather than scorching, I have found that by spraying water only onto the affected area removes the yellowing.
> This, then prevents the sun/HP yellowing and/or the need to rince the shirt .
> 
> Give it a go, I spray the shirt while it is still warm.


I'll try it, first you press the transfer on the shirt then spray the shirt with water do you press it again? When you spray the shirt do you get some water on the transfer?
Thanks with the info.


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

Kimsie said:


> I'll try it, first you press the transfer on the shirt then spray the shirt with water do you press it again? When you spray the shirt do you get some water on the transfer?
> Thanks with the info.


1. Press the transfer as normal.

2. If there is some yellowing, spray the affected area with a fine mist of water. I try to avoid spraying the transfer as much as I can, but a bit of overspray doesn't seem to cause a problem.

3. Do not repress the transfer. Sometimes I use the heat from the press to gently dry the shirt, but other times I just let it dry naturally.


----------



## MaxieGarb (Mar 18, 2008)

Can anyone tell what % Hydrogen peroxide to use for removing the yellow stains?
Thanks


----------



## monkeymoon (Dec 8, 2007)

MaxieGarb said:


> Can anyone tell what % Hydrogen peroxide to use for removing the yellow stains?
> Thanks


Hi Maxi
Before you use H.P make sure that it is scorching and not just yellowing.
If it is yellowing, then just use a fine water mist and I think you will find that this does the job. It saves having to wash the shirt after the application of H.P


----------

