# Complete newbie -- can I heat press rhinestones on top of a screenprint?



## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

I am such a newbie that I haven't even started doing business yet..... but I'm researching and reading, reading, reading here. I'm so glad to have found this site. I have tried to find the answer to my question here before I asked, but I haven't found it. 

I think I'm getting ready to take the leap and buy equipment. But before I do, can someone help me with just a few questions, please...

I have some design ideas and a screenprinter that is going to screenprint t-shirts for me. Can I then use a heat press and add rhinestones to the top of a screenprint design? This won't mess up the screenprint will it -- to heat press it? 

And are there any heat press machine brands that you think work better for rhinestones? At this point, my part in my business plan only involves adding rhinestones to the t-shirts and selling them.

Thank you!


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## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

I would suggest covering the screen print with parchment paper or a teflon sheet when you apply the rhinetones. All heat presses will work just fine for applying the rhinestones.


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

Thank you, proworlded -- you have given me my first assistance here!


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

I have had good success when using water based screen printing ink then adding rhinestones, but when I used plastisol ink and heat pressed the rhinestones on top of the design the rhinestones did not stick. 

Rhinestones works well on inkjet transfers, vinyl, water based ink, and DTG, but like I said I have yet to get a rhinestones to stick directly to plastisol.

Katrina


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## BWD (Mar 8, 2009)

The rhinestones I have added have gone on top of my plastisol, no complaints yet. I ve sold about 50 shirts and 4 hoodys like it so far. The first one I did has been through the washer roughly 15 times and all stones are still on it.


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

I am printing an order right now with royal blue plastisol. I took one of the test shirts when I first started the run and placed rhinestones on it to see fit I could get it to stick. After pressing and allowing to cool, the stones can be easily picked right up off the shirt with very little effort. I am using plasitsol right out of the container, no thinning, no additives just straight plastisol. Maybe this has something to do with them not sticking, or it can be the ink itself. 

Who knows but if I have an order that the customer will be pressing transfers on later i always go with water based ink.

Katrina


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## rhinestonetransf (Feb 11, 2009)

We have customers heat press the transfers on top of screen printing all the time but Water based ink and a Teflon sheet is the best way. They have had about a 50/50 success rate with plastisol - We don't do the screen printing so this is just info back from our customers.


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## pwhite20 (May 20, 2009)

I asked this question to one of the larger rhinestone companies at a show I attended, and they said it's possible but they don't recommend it since the stones will fall off faster than they normally would. However, they did say that if you are going to do it, make sure the design has a soft hand to it. I took that to mean water based inks.

For optimum performance they recommended that your screen printing design leave the areas where the rhinestones are going to be applied inkless. In other words print your screened design with the holes in it for the rhinestones. While they said it could be done, I question how easy it would be to get all of the rhinestones to line up with the holes in your screened design. Seems to me like this might be difficult or time consuming.


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