# Vinyl Came off after washing.



## MBrhythm (Mar 1, 2007)

Did 13 custom hoodies with vinyl. Client washed and tumble dried one of them and about half the vinyl came off. Client told me since he paid so much (each hoodie had a different name on the back) that he wants me to fix the problem. I explained that the washing instructions clearly state "Do not tumble dry". So now he wants to return the items and cancel the order. Your opinions?


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## idonaldson (Sep 29, 2008)

Not sure which vinyl you used, but my vinyl could stand tumble dry. My instruction are turn inside out, no aggressive detergent, and normal dry temperature. 

I also bill with the ability to redo a job minus garment. So if a good customer or potential customer - I would have a tendency to repair or meet the customer part way. 

No one needs enemies or bad karma being put out by a disgruntle customers. Most never admits their mistakes and think our pockets are without end. 

If you thought about it - you could probably do it for not much and will only be eating labor.


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## jean518 (Sep 23, 2009)

I agree with idonaldson. It should not come off. I have done tons of hoodies, sweatshirts, tees, and other items that have been done with vinyl and none coming off. They all get washed and dried using normal laundry methods. What vinyl did you use? What temp/time/pressure? What was the fabric content of the hoodie?


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Sounds like one or more of the following happened:

Pre-press shirts to remove moisture. 
Proper heat
Proper dewl time
Proper cooling time 
Repress after peel (optional)
Not enough pressure

Do some for yourself and do some wash/dry tests.


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## poisonraheem (Sep 15, 2008)

binki - whats dewl time?


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## idonaldson (Sep 29, 2008)

Cooking time - time under temperature and pressure - pressing time


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

poisonraheem said:


> binki - whats dewl time?


Typo, he meant dwell time but those that use vinyl knew what he meant. (see Irv's post for definition)

I never new you could not dry vinyl in a dryer.......6 years now and every one I have done for customers and myself went in the dryer with no issues. So I am thinking it was the vinyl (bad batch), the wrong vinyl for the fabric, or error during installing the vinyl, (ie. what Binki said)


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## idonaldson (Sep 29, 2008)

Dry vinyl via dryer all the time. Cannot not speak to transfers but I can speak to vinyl with eco-solvent ink. The hand tends to soften, not fall off. There are several reasons or possibilities, but it would be hard for me not to say it is in production. To keep the peace, lets blame it on the manuafacturer, of course unless they are reading too, then it was the inventor.


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## superD70 (Dec 22, 2010)

I'd redo the one that peeled and re-press all the others, no sense loosing a customer over your pride.
obviously something was not done correctly, hoodies can be a PITA, crank up the pressure and press em again, you have nothing to lose except a customer.
bad word of mouth travels far & wide
I've got cut vinyl shirts that are 6 years old that havent peeled yet


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## iainlondon (May 11, 2010)

I have had a problem with one of my Hoodies in that the "Navy Blue" Vinyl started to slowly peel after a couple of weeks (the white & black were fine) fortunately I was at a friends office who happens to sell heat presses and gave it a quick 15 Seconds at 315 with a Teflon sheet over it and It seems to have gone back. What could of caused the "Navy" to lift but the other colours seemed just fine? Thanks in advance......


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## kblack (Feb 2, 2011)

I had this happen to me on mesh shorts. I had used a thin rubber pad to protect the polyester short from scorching, and this blocked the heat and caused the vinyl to not stick correctly. When the shorts were washed, the vinyl came off. 
I did some of them over, but couldn't get them all back to repress. I gave the coaches all free shirts and they said not to worries about the shorts. 
I would try to work out something with them. Maybe you could re press them before they all are washed. The vinyl should not come off in the dryer...


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Had this happen on a five or six team youth football league a year or so ago.

Kids would be running down the field and vinyl was falling off both front and back. I suspect we got a bad batch of vinyl.

This customer is located about an hours drive away. We made the drive every weekend after the games were played, picked up any bad jerseys, removed and replaced the vinyl and returned them before the next games were scheduled.

The vendor offered to replace the material since of the three colors used only one color had the issue pointing to a bad batch of vinyl in that color. Bad part was the that color was used as part of the two color layout on every jersey.....

It was a pain but we like to stand behind what we produce.

Did I mention we did their jerseys and cheer leader outfits again this year?


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