# sublimation patches - fabric to use and how to laser cut precisely



## eagleact (Aug 3, 2010)

I need to "perfect" sublimation patches. This is for fabric that is NOT flock. I have a proven process for flock.

I am looking to sublimate "twill" or something close and then laser cut. Or vice versa. Print and then laser cut. 

ISSUE #1 - The fabric...We have tried several attempts to sublimate twill with adhesive. Our twill begins to curl just from the heat from the bottom platen. I have read advice on this forum to lighten pressure and then use Teflon. We can not get it to work. The twill just curls into a ball...so we are looking for something else.
I ordered twill without any adhesive. It is AMAZING how flimsy the fabric is without the adhesive. I also have 2-3 samples from Fischer textiles. One they call opak satin. It is bullet proof. Probably too thick and paper like feel to it. Other fabrics are too soft / shifty. 
Any suggestions on fabric that will feel / act like twill but hold still for issue #2 below?

ISSUE #2: Our real problem is to line up the sublimation on pre-cut fabric or sublimate first and then laser cut.. How do people keep the fabric from shifting? Most woven product shifts and moves around. We can not seem to get either method to work (print first or laser first). We print sign vinyl mount it to magnet and then laser cut all the time. That is a material that has no shift or movement. Works like a champ. Fabric is another animal all together. It is next to impossible for us to either line up the transfer on pre cut fabric or to laser cut pre-printed fabric. I need to be able to do unusual shapes. I am thinking it will be easier to laser cut first and then line up the transfer by hand but we are still having issues lining them up PERFECTLY.

Perhaps I am attempting to be too precise. I am building in a bleed to help but if the bleed is off a little the logo will look odd when heat pressed or sewn to the garment.

Any help out there would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
Brent


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## jemmyell (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi,

The white plain twill from TwillUSA sublimates very well. We add the PS965 adhesive after sublimating then laser cut the whole shape. To align for the cut we tape a piece of paper to our magnetic honeycomb then cut the contour out oif the paper. Then we line up the sublimated twill in the window in the paper and hold it down with rare earth magnets around the periphery then cut it. Works very well.

-James


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## eagleact (Aug 3, 2010)

Wow. That has huge potential. I have a lot of rolls of paper from printing sign vinyl on my Roland!
It seems like it would be difficult to see through with twill and adhesive but I can't wait to try it in the morning! Thanks so much!


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## jemmyell (Jan 26, 2010)

eagleact said:


> Wow. That has huge potential. I have a lot of rolls of paper from printing sign vinyl on my Roland!
> It seems like it would be difficult to see through with twill and adhesive but I can't wait to try it in the morning! Thanks so much!


Hi,

You put the twill with adhesive underneath the cutout in the paper. Just tape one edge of the paper so you can use that as a hinge. After cutting the registration contour just lift up the paper and slide the twill underneath.

-James


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## Red Earth (Jan 10, 2008)

You could also use a square piece of acrylic sheet with your hole cut in it. Arrange it so that it fits on your honeycomb with upper left corner at zero zero. If you use your laser to cut the acrylic you will have exact dimensions for it already. 

Now you just have to put the material under the sheet to align. This method would eliminate tape and magnets and you wouldn't have to check registration every time. No paper shifting either if you want to be "perfect". You can also make multiple holes and do as many patches at once as you like, and still have a re-usable jig for future use.

If you need to make multiples a lot, I would lay out my sublimation design to maximize material usage, print them all at once in a "sheet" that will fit on your laser table, use that same layout to vector cut the acrylic, and then simply lay the fabric underneath. As long as the twill doesn't distort too much during sublimation you should have a repeatable process with very little thinking. If it distorts too much, you could always cut the fabric and align them separately. 


Mind you I haven't done this myself with twill, but we use acrylic jigs all the time for vector cutting and they work great.

Also just happened to think that if you used clear acrylic you might be able to align even faster.


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## jemmyell (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi Phil,

Good advice for higher production.

Twill does shrink a LOT. We have been unsuccessful in using a batch printed design (2" - 3" round patches") withour cutting out each patch first. We do align them all and put a magnet in the center so we can cut. Opening and closing the laser is fairly time consuming. I wish we could truly gang process but the twill is too unpredictable.

I am going to use acrylic more, but my wife REALLY HATES the smell of cut acrylic so I keep it on the down-low.

-James


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## eagleact (Aug 3, 2010)

A few notes from the VERY helpful posts above on my topic...

1. Our twill does not shrink at all (or such a small amount as to not be noticed). We printed 4 inch squares and they are still 4 inches on both sides after pressing. Depends on the fabric I suppose. If your twill is shrinking I would pre hit it for about 20 seconds. That should take out the shrink before production. We are testing other fabrics. The pre-heating solved the shrinking problème on these.

2. Acrylic is an interesting idea for a jig. We tried the paper method...we were able to get close but not perfect. I will remember acrylic for regular shapes. The problem is these patches will come in around 15-50 per logo and all total custom shapes. An arcrylic template would get real expensive for every order. For stock shapes I think it would work well. Actually magnetic sheeting would be cheaper and could be laid on top on the twill as in the paper method above. The magnetic action would hold the twill in place. It would also be expensive for sort runs though.

3. After sublimation we are adding a layer of adheisve...a bemis product..the style number escapes me now. This adhesive holds the fabric in place very well. So if we mount the adhesive on the printed fabic straight we are able to laser cut fairly well. This adhesive makes the twill a "no sew" product.

Our "solution" is that I printed several 1 inch squares in the scrap areas of the twill. The laser cuts those areas first. We know we are lined up "perfect" when the squares cut correctly. We were able to cut a very complex shield shape with holes in the middle. For more basic shapes I am confident we will have success. It is not as quick of process as I would like. It makes me to wonder how the people that do this for a living do it quickly and effeciently. I will keep working on it as time passes and will post results here if I come across something helpful.
Thanks.
Brent


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## afardissone (May 4, 2016)

Hello, we are starting with a small business of patches on polyester twill and I would like to know if someone could advice me on what laser to buy. Is there a well known company that sell lasers? does anyone know how much could a laser cost?

Thank you!


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