# Can leather be heat pressed?



## donnyboy84 (Dec 29, 2011)

hi everyone, i am wondering, can i do heat pressing on leather/PU instead of t-shirt with my equipment:

-Flat Press Machine
-EPSON T13 Inkjet with Durabrite Ink (very yellowish for some reason)
-3G Jet Opaque/3G Jet Pro SS

i am thinking of doing leather/PU belt, wallet or maybe jacket. I am not so sure about the heating instruction like '375F / 20-25sec' still stands, can leather/PU withstand the heat for that long?

is there anybody done transfer onto leather before? please shed some lights... much appreciated!!! =)


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## SpecMat (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi there-

Great question! 

To heat press onto leather, you would definitely need to get a special transfer paper made for leather. I know of Solvent material that you can print on and regular plotter cut material put on leather, but I do not honestly know of any material that will work with ink-jet. It seems like all the ink-jet materials use a much higher press time and dwell time than even regular heat applied graphics.

You are absolutely right, to adhere something to leather with such a high temperature and dwell time would not work. It will scorch the leather and leave tell-tale marks from the heat press platen. 

I think you would have a much better time of just changing the design around so that you could use plotter cut material made for nylon/leather and other heat sensitive materials just to play it safe. Plotter cut materials made for leather usually have much lower press temperatures and very short dwell times. 

One thing to keep in mind when pressing leather, where ever you have the transfer mask or carrier edge, it can leave a really terrible line. Be sure to have your carrier or transfer mask extend past the piece of leather that you are pressing. 

I hope that helps. Happy pressing!


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## KelticWC (Jan 15, 2015)

You can actually use Avery dark fabric ink jet transfer on leather. I use it for wristbands and guitar straps quite successfully. Different heat seal machines and irons work different so test on a couple scraps first to see what the best setting is for yours.

~Keltic - Before Sunrise Leatherworks


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