# First time doing heat pressed vinyl, what ya think?



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Yeah, I'm a bit stupid to do this design as my first try at doing any type of vinyl. But its for my little sister 

For my first time it took me 1 hour to weed out the graphic. Final print I screwed up just a tiny bit, but now I know I can correct stuff with an iron extremely easy, and next time, I'll remember not put heat directly onto the see through plastic 
Some parts of the foil didnt stick, not sure if thats cause I used too much pressure,or not enough.

Anyway onto the pics:


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Nice job for the first time  It sounds like a little more heat or pressure will give you a better result. Usually its a combination of pressure, heat and time. Just cut some small pieces of vinyl and experiment what works best. Every press is a little different in temp, so it really just takes playing around and figuring out what settings work best for you


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Yeah, I'm doing a black print right now, should have it up in 30 mins  

I just wish weeding could be easier or alot less time consuming lol!


----------



## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

It looks great !! I think you might add a little more pressure, 
but as BobbieLee said, there is a combination of several factors as temp time and pressure.
I hope in the near future to have a cutter/weeder(?) machine..


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

They make weeder machines?????!!! How much do those run???

Shirt #2


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

There is some sort of weeding machine for sale, but from what I've read quite expensive and not very efficient for the small parts that need to be weeded.

Nice picture,are they a one off or are you planning more of the same?


----------



## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

I was fantasizing witha futuristic machine that you just feed 
the vinyl thru and it cuts and weed at once, so you just 
apply it to the t-shirt or any other substrate..


----------



## thejam (Oct 10, 2007)

your shirts are great...good job.


----------



## neenaw (Apr 9, 2009)

Those are really great! What cutter do you have?


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

GX-24

Yeah I plan on making a small run, but I'm ordering ECO-Film, since those were done with Spectra Cut, I heard eco is much more soft.

Each image took an hour to weed,lol.


----------



## RUSSGAIL (Jun 10, 2008)

Yes sir, very nice work.
Good job.


----------



## Kisskrazed (Jan 12, 2007)

Good looking shirts. Weeding is a pain, depending on design. But factor it all in when charging customers $$$$$$ for the shirt.


----------



## Teeser (May 14, 2008)

Very ambitious first attempt. Great job.


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

You might try to factor your weeding time in your costs. The problem is will the customer be willing to pay.


----------



## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

What was the gold colored foil looking vinyl? It is vinyl right? Not a glue and foil combination?


----------



## helix-2000 (Nov 6, 2007)

Great looking shirts.


----------



## denck (Apr 7, 2009)

Just curious.
How long did it take to weed that shirt?


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

1 hour per design.

Well for the mario shirt id sell for 20 shipped, Virgin Mary 25 Shipped.


----------



## denck (Apr 7, 2009)

So your spending an hour weeding
and selling for $20.00?
Your hourly rate $15.00
Vinyl & electricity $1.00
Shirt $3.00
Shipping $3.50


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Well actually shipping is 4.99 . I have no idea on how other people get shipping for less. I go through USPS and the lowest I can do is 4.99  

Actually the Vinyl is more than 1.00 since I'm going to be using Eco-Film, not regular vinyl.


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

I would think it would be wiser to just cut one stencil, get a pair of jiffy hinges and screen print a run of say twenty shirts.


----------



## denck (Apr 7, 2009)

Thats what I was kinda thinking your spending too much time on something that looks great but your not making any money off of it


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

ino said:


> I would think it would be wiser to just cut one stencil, get a pair of jiffy hinges and screen print a run of say twenty shirts.


Ya know, I was going to try that out, was to print a sticker, and attach it to a screen. But would you apply it to the top or bottom of the screen? And I wonder if there would be any bleeds. Hm......Gonna have to try that..


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

denck said:


> Thats what I was kinda thinking your spending too much time on something that looks great but your not making any money off of it



Lol trust me when I tell you this, but im BROKE , theres no such thing anymore as not making any money  Even if I make 5 dollars a shirt, thats better than not having any money right now. And yeas, it sucks,lol.


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

thnks for posting your designs. im about to do shirts for a fan club. they want foil so i figured id come and see how vinyl foil compared to the thin foil used with glue or plastisol. 

ive also thought about using vinyl for silk screening. i read that the best method is to buy a Thompson retensionable frame and use thin cloth (like the kind used for curtains). all you do is heat press the vinyl design on the underside of the material (the side that touches the shirt) and then stretch the material on to the frame. placing the design on the uderside will prevent the squegee from moving any small parts of the vinyl. 

ill try anything if it means eliminating the whole emulsion process. hehe. plus i also read that the design can be saved once off the frame for future use. ive yet to try it but as soon as i do i will post my results. or if anyone here has tried it maybe you could tell us your experience.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Awesome Chonky, I'll try that in another 2 weeks once I get some money saved up as well. 

Yeah, the emulsion process is what KILLS me. I've tried it, but its costly to keep practicing on screens, and I could never get it 100%. 

OR

What I was going to try was to make a viny sticker, lay it on the screen, then apply the emulsion over the vinyl/screen. But I'm not sure if the emulsion would go under the sticker on the other side. Or I was goign to apply hodge podge lol. But I'm not sure if that would also leak under the vinyl. 

So keep us in touch chonky with your progress once you get it. Or else I should do it in a few weeks.


----------



## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

you can ask someone else to burn your screens.
yes, exposure cand be a big issue.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

cmyk said:


> you can ask someone else to burn your screens.
> yes, exposure cand be a big issue.


I tried looking for that but with no luck.


----------



## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

joeydgraffix said:


> I tried looking for that but with no luck.


try silkscreeningsupplies.com 

did you ask at your local screen printing shops? and still no luck..?

i don't want to hijack the thread, but one more thing: work with your emulsion supplier and eventualy you will get it right.
it took me more than 15 trial screens to get acceptable result.
you must have patience.
low production costs and low prices are an absolute must in these troubled days


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

Am I missing something Obvious? where does the emulsion come in if you're using the vinyl as a stencil?


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

hey joey..ive never worked with stickers so im intersted in seeing what kind of results you get. im going to see if i can order the thompson retensionable frame sometime this week. once i have that ill give it a go. 

@cmyk- i dont think its a matter of not getting good results with emulsion. i just think its a time consuming and messy step in the whole set up process. plus i hate the cleaning to prep for the next job. the vinyl would eliminate that step. only drawback of using the vinyl is that you cannot run very large orders like you can with the emulsion. i read that the vinyl would eventually start to come off. sometimes after 20 or so shirts. good for small orders though right?

now instead of cutting out 20 vinyl designs for an order..i just cut out one vinyl stencil and silk screen the 20 shirts with it. plus using this method i can mix any color i want using the plastisol inks instead of having to buy a roll of vinyl for each color i need.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Yeah but Chonky, what about my other method, is where you do lay the Vinly on the screen, then spray emulsion, or whatever else that can stop ink from getting through. Then once its all dried up, you remove the vinyl, and you now have your image done on the screen. Know what I mean?


----------



## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

Joey. Have you actually done this? You almost make it sound like you know what your doing. If you have done this, you should state what works not "my other method, is where you do lay the Vinly on the screen, then spray emulsion, or whatever else that can stop ink from getting through" type statements. Maybe ASK a question about weather there is such a product/process is available instead of a statement that makes it seem like YOUR METHOD is a true and tried thing. There are a lot of extreemly guliable new commers to this process and many might think they can go to the store and say "I want some screen spray!!" after reading your post.


----------



## wwpro (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm sorry if what I'm about to say is way off, but I'm a newbie myself.

But for a short run of 20 isn't better to order plastisol transfer and while you wait for them to come just keep doing something else?


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

DTFuqua said:


> Joey. Have you actually done this? You almost make it sound like you know what your doing. If you have done this, you should state what works not "my other method, is where you do lay the Vinly on the screen, then spray emulsion, or whatever else that can stop ink from getting through" type statements. Maybe ASK a question about weather there is such a product/process is available instead of a statement that makes it seem like YOUR METHOD is a true and tried thing. There are a lot of extreemly guliable new commers to this process and many might think they can go to the store and say "I want some screen spray!!" after reading your post.



Well I have tried screen printing. 

And yes its common sense on the part I was saying. If you lay the vinyl down on the screen, whatever you spray of course wont be on the screen. So whatever other spray, glue, liquid that you put down on the screen will make it so the ink won't go through. 

I'm sorry I don't think everything out 100% through, but you seem like your on a really negative tip. 

AND

You can spray emulsion paints,etc. So next time, why don't ya stop trying to be so negative about everything?

And I'm sorry if I didn't run spell check, or my grammar wasn't correct.


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

wwpro said:


> I'm sorry if what I'm about to say is way off, but I'm a newbie myself.
> 
> But for a short run of 20 isn't better to order plastisol transfer and while you wait for them to come just keep doing something else?


Hi Carlos,
ordering plastisol transfers would take you time and cost you money for the transfers.
Doing it this way would be much faster and a lot cheaper.


----------



## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

Not being negative or not trying to be anyway. So there is a spray emulsion? What is it called? I will someday do screen printing if only for my sign work but most likely will do T-shirts also. I spent a lot of money on projects before that weren't the most profitable investments I could have made and as much as there is to find out about screen printing, I am doing my learning way before investing in anything. Thats why I ask for credible information. Thanks for any tips. 
Terry


----------



## GSSATerry (Feb 29, 2008)

Nice design! For a 1st shirt you are ahead of the curve....

On the weeding issue if you can design more openings into your design it will weed easier.

Also, if you put weed lines into your design it speeds up the weeding.

Bottom line you did a one of a kind special shirt that if not a gift to your sister would sell for $ 20.00 to $ 30.00 (cover your labor somewhat)


----------



## Kwelp68 (Oct 25, 2007)

Great Transfers, those seriously look awesome! I was looking at the GX 24, but I'm new to this and don't know what weeding means? What does that mean, and does it take a long time on most designs?


----------



## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Weeding is removed the excess vinyl from the design  Depending on the details, it could be very fast, or take some time. I find I get faster, the more vinyl I cut, and using a good weeding tool.


----------



## stuffnthingz (Oct 1, 2007)

I wanted to address the shipping of 4.99. I ship one shirt for $2 to $3. Here is a thread that talks about the most economical way to ship a shirt. I enclose the T in a 9 x 12 ziplock baggie, which goes into a tyvek mailer bag.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t1903.html


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

Kwelp68 said:


> Great Transfers, those seriously look awesome! I was looking at the GX 24, but I'm new to this and don't know what weeding means? What does that mean, and does it take a long time on most designs?


 If you look at the picture the black parts are the weeded parts. The more intricate the design is,the harder and longer time is needed to make the each design.


----------



## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

There is a thread somewhere around here that discusses using vinyl as a mask for screenprinting. I have done it for simple designs, as you can't simply app-tape it and then apply it to the mesh, it wont come off the app-tape. This means you have to pretty much hand apply each island, and lay the vinyl down from one side to the other. 
It works better than you would think, I have done 20+ and I believe I could have done many more.

Did you say that vinyl was Spectra? That looks awesome. Great job.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Damn, well I tried to apply the vinyl to the mesh with no luck  Guess the only way it works is with the heat press vinyl. Medium tacked masking vinyl didnt work with the mesh. 

Midwaste, yeah that was Spectra Cut,thanks!


----------



## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

joeydgraffix said:


> Damn, well I tried to apply the vinyl to the mesh with no luck  Guess the only way it works is with the heat press vinyl. Medium tacked masking vinyl didnt work with the mesh.
> 
> Midwaste, yeah that was Spectra Cut,thanks!


You won't be able to use apptape, it will not stick to the mesh better than it sticks to the tape. You will have to "kamikaze" it on the mesh, but it will work. This is why I normally only do it with basic designs.
I don't really understand heatpressing vinyl to the mesh, unless you have never used emulsion and don't plan to. It seems like a pretty big waste of mesh, unless you plan to print the same design over and over again.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Midwaste, what do you mean by kamikaze it?


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

the method i spoke about eliminates having to use a regular mesh screen at all. although i've yet to try it im sure it will work just fine. i just need to order the retionsionable frame..which by the way is Newman..and not Thompson like i mistakenly stated before. 

by using a thin textile instead of a mesh screen you can apply heat pressed vinyl stencil on it...which will uphold better than sticker vinyl on mesh screen..from what i have read. another plus for using this method is that you can toss the stenciled material after completing a job...or clean it and store it for future use. this takes up less space than storing a whole frame. 

also depending on how many colors you usually print..one or two retensionable frames can take the place of many regular pre-stretched frames because all you have to do is switch the stenciled material on and off the Newman frames from one job to the next.


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

Does'nt Ulano make Ulanocut Green, that is especially made for this type of work?


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

i dont think the ulanocut can be cut with a vinyl cutter. i believe you need to use a sharp blade and cut the stencil out by hand. probably a tedious thing to do if your design has alot of detail.


----------



## cmyk (Dec 3, 2007)

chonkymonky said:


> i dont think the ulanocut can be cut with a vinyl cutter. i believe you need to use a sharp blade and cut the stencil out by hand. probably a tedious thing to do if your design has alot of detail.


yes it can be cut with a vinyl cutter, i did this myself...i am talking about a green film with two layers...cut the green layer, weed it, the apply the stencil to the screen with water, let it dry, then peel away the carrier transparent film.


----------



## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

cmyk said:


> yes it can be cut with a vinyl cutter, i did this myself...i am talking about a green film with two layers...cut the green layer, weed it, the apply the stencil to the screen with water, let it dry, then peel away the carrier transparent film.


CMYK is correct with the Ulano green knife cut films. Run through the cutter, weed the green emulsion layer and attach to the screen then peel the backing. The film I use attaches with the Ulano sta-sharp adheasion fluid but there are films that attach with water.

The problem using fabric instead of screen mesh is not having variable mesh counts for different inks and applications.


----------



## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Wow, great job for your first try. I pronounce you Newbie of the Forum (not that my opinion means much). For some reason, I chose a two color design for my first try. I guess we are just so excited, that no task seems too big. It worked out well, and yes it took forever to weed. But you get better at it, or you pay your little sister, like I pay my sons, to help with the weeding . Keep up the work!!


----------



## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

joeydgraffix said:


> Yeah, I'm a bit stupid to do this design as my first try at doing any type of vinyl. But its for my little sister
> 
> For my first time it took me 1 hour to weed out the graphic. Final print I screwed up just a tiny bit, but now I know I can correct stuff with an iron extremely easy, and next time, I'll remember not put heat directly onto the see through plastic
> Some parts of the foil didnt stick, not sure if thats cause I used too much pressure,or not enough.
> ...


The gold looks wonderful. Curious how the tank feels when worn. Is that large area of vinyl feel binding to you?


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

MotoskinGraphix said:


> CMYK is correct with the Ulano green knife cut films. Run through the cutter, weed the green emulsion layer and attach to the screen then peel the backing. The film I use attaches with the Ulano sta-sharp adheasion fluid but there are films that attach with water.
> 
> The problem using fabric instead of screen mesh is not having variable mesh counts for different inks and applications.


thanks for the info on the ulanocut. i will certainly try it out before testing the whole vinyl-on-fabric method that i read about.


----------



## GoodSport (Apr 6, 2009)

ino said:


> You might try to factor your weeding time in your costs. The problem is will the customer be willing to pay.


What is weeding?


----------



## Kwelp68 (Oct 25, 2007)

I just learned this, so I can tell you.  It's pulling the excess vinyl from the design after it is cut. All the negative space from the artwork needs to be pulled away.


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

here is a video on youtube you can check out that demonstrates the weeding process. he starts weeding at about :27 seconds into the video. 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dLaE_2KGKA[/media]


----------



## adicted2art (May 4, 2009)

wow that is nice yeah is that regular vinyl? or is it not just aplied hard enough looks great by the way


----------



## adicted2art (May 4, 2009)

im about a year into doing vinyl designs what you think?


----------



## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

looks quite impressive. What's the lighter shade, is it airbrushed?


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

thats a very cool design adicted. is that printed vinyl? is it already pressed on the garment in the picture? or did you superimpose your design over the image?


----------



## adicted2art (May 4, 2009)

no i dont use airbrush at all,i am a hand paint artist...


----------



## adicted2art (May 4, 2009)

i add vinyl then my designs


----------



## chonkymonky (Apr 1, 2007)

so you cut the vinyl and press it on the garment and then paint on the vinyl by hand?


----------



## adicted2art (May 4, 2009)

yup...thats how id do it sometimes.


----------



## joeydgraffix (Sep 11, 2007)

Hey MotoSkin, the vinyl doesnt have a feel when you put the shirt on, but when you touch it with your hand theres definately a feel. Not sure how its going to withstand alot of washes, but I'll check it out.


----------



## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

joeydgraffix said:


> Hey MotoSkin, the vinyl doesnt have a feel when you put the shirt on, but when you touch it with your hand theres definately a feel. Not sure how its going to withstand alot of washes, but I'll check it out.


Thats unusual because I would assume its binding for women...most vinyl is. Please check it out with a particular sense to whats happening with the design and feel. What type tank is that?


----------

