# Possible to press foil ontop of plastisol transfer?



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

I want to make some plastisol transfers and want to put foil on them after I press them onto a garment. My question is wouldn't pressing the transfer onto a tee finish curing the ink so that the foil wouldn't stick to it? I don't want to screen print directly onto the shirts, though this would be the easiest way. I want to be able to press them offsite and want the customer to be able to choose a design to be printed without wasting shirts.


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

mix powder adhesive to the ink itself so that it will have extra strength to hold the foil..


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

chard said:


> mix powder adhesive to the ink itself so that it will have extra strength to hold the foil..


I have the adhesive ink or paste or whatever you call it, it looks like white ink but it's just adhesive and it's clear. Will that work?


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

im not sure but im only using that adhesive on direct printing..dont know if it will work for transfers..why not just make a foil transfer instead of making plastisol transfer then pressing foil on it?just print that adhesive on the back of the foil sheet then cure it..then press it on the shirt whenever you'll be needing to..


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

chard said:


> im not sure but im only using that adhesive on direct printing..dont know if it will work for transfers..why not just make a foil transfer instead of making plastisol transfer then pressing foil on it?just print that adhesive on the back of the foil sheet then cure it..then press it on the shirt whenever you'll be needing to..


Duh... I didn't know I could do that.  Wow. That would make it so much easier.  The foil won't melt during the cure process would it? I'll have to try that and see if that will work better. I was going to be doing it the hard way. See, that's what I like about this forum, there's always someone here who knows an easier way, a better way, and a right way of doing things. Thanks a million. I'm going to try your suggestion first thing in the morning.

How do I hold the foil onto the palet? I suppose I could use tape. I would think that sticky spray would ruin the foil. Something to sleep on...


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## Peachykeen (Sep 18, 2009)

How about printing plastisol on top of plastisol? I have a group wanting individual names added to a plastisol design.
Thanks!
Peachy


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Peachykeen said:


> How about printing plastisol on top of plastisol? I have a group wanting individual names added to a plastisol design.
> Thanks!
> Peachy


I'm obviously not an expert on screen printing - more of a novice - but I would think all you would need would be additional screens (major pain) or plastisol letter transfers, or maybe even vinyl for the names?


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

you can print plastisol on top of plastisol as long as the plastisol at the bottom is not cured..if it is cured you might have problems regarding durability since the plastisol on top may not stick on the plastisol at the bottom..


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## Peachykeen (Sep 18, 2009)

chard said:


> you can print plastisol on top of plastisol as long as the plastisol at the bottom is not cured..if it is cured you might have problems regarding durability since the plastisol on top may not stick on the plastisol at the bottom..


Obviously I'm a noob - what do you mean by "cured"? I'll be ordering the plastisol transfers possibly ganged with individual names to place later.

Thanks so much!
Peachy


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## Peachykeen (Sep 18, 2009)

lben said:


> I'm obviously not an expert on screen printing - more of a novice - but I would think all you would need would be additional screens (major pain) or plastisol letter transfers, or maybe even vinyl for the names?


Thanks - I'm new, too, but I hadn't thought about vinyl. Would that stick???


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

The vinyl should stick, at least to the fabric. You could make the design in such a way so that the names are in areas of fabric that don't have ink on them. Or are they insisting that the names overlay the design?

As far as the names sticking to the plastisol, it was stated that the ink had to not be cured. Curing is the process of drying the ink. You would do a gel cure (tacky but not wet) of the bottom layer and then put the names on and do the final cure of the ink - drying the ink. I would think that if you were going to have them gang printed and the applied with a heat press you would have to have partially cured ink otherwise the bottom layer of ink could smear? I don't know.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

chard said:


> im not sure but im only using that adhesive on direct printing..dont know if it will work for transfers..why not just make a foil transfer instead of making plastisol transfer then pressing foil on it?just print that adhesive on the back of the foil sheet then cure it..then press it on the shirt whenever you'll be needing to..


Well tonight I went downstairs and tried printing the foil adhesive onto the foil like you suggested. The only screen I had was to be used to print the adhesive directly onto the fabric so it was backwards, but I figured I'd give it a try anyhow. Wow, there is absolutely no comparison between the two. It came out perfect (though backwards) and was a lot easier than I anticipated. Thank you so much.


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

same here when i was just experimenting on transfers. i dont create another screens for testing it..just used what i already had. thou the prints is backward it was just a test print. glad to hear that it work out well on your part.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

There is such a difference. I did 2 of them in a row so I could compare them. One I printed directly on the shirt and the other directly on the foil. Now granted there may be an off contact issue with one that was directly printed on because it was a sweat shirt so the material was thicker and closer to the screen than the foil was, but it had a really rough finish to it and the foil came out spotty. 

The one on the foil had a smooth surface and the foil came out smooth and polished. But then I put that on a scrap t-shirt and not the sweatshirt. So I will have to experiment some more because when they will be made next year they will be put on black hooded sweatshirts.

Anyhow, thanks again. I would never have thought to put the adhesive directly onto the foil. Another plus is that you can see the adhesive on the foil. You can't see it on fabric because it's clear.


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

in my experience, its always easier to produce a smooth finish with transfers than direct printing because you are actually print on a flat surface..plus the pressing process also smooth-ens the print..
maybe you can post some video or pics on the step by step process you are doing so that others can learn easily..

here's a video of mine experimenting on transfer..unfortunately, my heat press got broken so i just tested it using household iron..enjoy!
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7tu4YaMaRo[/media]


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Was that just plain old ordinary copy paper used in that video?


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

yup..just plain paper you used for printing reports on..^_^


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

chard said:


> yup..just plain paper you used for printing reports on..^_^


Are you talking about brochure paper? Or regular inkjet printer or copier paper? Brochure paper has a shiny surface where the copier paper does not. And I'm assuming by the video you did a cold peel rather than a hot peel.

When I got my transfer paper I had ordered the hot peel but they sent me the cold peel and it looked and felt just like normal printer/copier paper except it was 15" x 15". I paid around $80 for 500 sheets of it. It would be so much nicer to know I could just buy a box of copy paper from Office Max and that I'd get the same results. Yours looked like the split peel where part of the ink stays on the paper.

I'll have to try that with some experiments too.


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## chard (Oct 14, 2008)

normal paper like copier paper..its not a cold peel..its more of a warm peel..

read this thread: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/plastisol-transfers/t107388.html


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Interesting I'll have to try it. That would certainly be cheaper than buying the plastisol transfer paper.


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