# How durable are rhinestones on tshirts?



## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

I've never used rhinestones before.

How well do they last on t-shirts? Do they have to be hand-washed?

Will they remain for years on the t-shirt if cared for?

Do you give guarantees to customers that they won't fall off? If so, how long do you guarantee them?

Are some brands more durable than others? If so which ones (rhinestones) are the best for t-shirt use?

Oh, and lastly, are they really durable enough to use as decals on car windows? Watching TRW videos on YT they say you can use their decal material to put rhinestone designs on car windows. Can they really withstand rain and automatic car washes?

It's just hard to believe that the tiny amount of glue on the back of the hot-fix rhinestones is that good, when most glue on the market is hardly ever as strong as the manufacturer claims.


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## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

Wow. I was expecting every user that visits this forum to weigh in on this question to discuss how well their rhinestone t-shirts hold up with use and washing.


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## image builder (Mar 14, 2011)

We have very few problems with stones coming off shirts or vehicle decals. We use Korean sones from Shine art. If you follow the manufactors specs you should have very few if any problems. We also wash our shirts in the washing machine.


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## mfatty500 (Jan 18, 2010)

Like image builder, I to use shineart stones and have for about 7-8 years and never has one fallen off, we still see some of our shirts that are hat old at events we do , and they have held up great.


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## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

Wow, thank you both for replying. I didn't think they would be that durable.

I watched one video regarding nail heads and they said they were good for only about 7-8 washings, then they would starting falling off. I thought they had the same type of glue and was worried that rhinestones were that short lived as well.

I bought a small amount of Shineart after reading other suggestions here, plus a small amount from a couple of other vendors, to compare the quality. But if rhinestones is something I do seriously it seems Shineart is the place to go with for the most part.

As a side note, do either of you know of a good true purple rhinestone?


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## mfatty500 (Jan 18, 2010)

Rhinestones are tough, if they are not on the shirt, it is because 1) There was no glue on them (it happens) from the factory. 2) you missed one while brushing them into your template, (or you forgot to put one in the design) Very rarely will they fall off if they are good quality, like shinearts, get at least the Korean stones from them. I have never used anything but Korean or better stones, Pellosa being the other one


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## sinGN (Oct 12, 2016)

Hi,
I have listed some steps to print rhinestones on tshirts.now also we are seeing this rhinestones on tshirts.

1.The first step is always to pre-press your garment.
2. heat transfer using the specifications for the Goof Proof, screen printed, ink formula. Goof Proof transfers should be heat applied for 4 seconds at 365 degrees. The paper should be peeled off while the transfer is still hot.
3. add custom rhinestone design. Peel off the backing sheet and place the rhinestone transfer where we would like it on the garment. The rhinestones must be applied to fabric, not on top of ink from the screen printed transfer.
4.Cover the full design with a cover sheet to ensure that the already applied screen printed transfer remains properly adhered to the t-shirt and does not stick to the heating platen of your heat press.heat press settings; 325 degrees for 10 seconds.remove the cover when it is in hot stage.
5.Once the rhinestone transfers is cool to the touch, peel off the transfer backing to reveal your finished design.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

sinGN said:


> Hi,
> I have listed some steps to print rhinestones on tshirts.now also we are seeing this rhinestones on tshirts.
> 
> 1.The first step is always to pre-press your garment.
> ...


The question was "How durable are rhinestones on tshirts?"


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## houjianisharon (Apr 20, 2015)

rastoma said:


> I've never used rhinestones before.
> 
> How well do they last on t-shirts? Do they have to be hand-washed?
> 
> ...


Basically, the rhinestones can remain for many years.
The Czech Rhinestuds and Swarovski are the best but expensive, you can try Korean Rhinestones.
You can wash the clothes with rhinestones both with hands and machine. Advice: when you wash it, inside out maybe better.

The higher the price, the better the quality of the rhinestone transfers.


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## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

Thank you all for the info.


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## ginnocenti (Apr 24, 2014)

I use the rhinestone world korean low lead and they hold up pretty good. I wash the tshirt in the washing machine (after 24 hours) and use the "big no-no" gas dryer on high to dry it and the stones are still stuck on the tshirt.

There is an advice, for extreme duration, I heat press the stone then turn the tshirt inside out and heat press it from the inside. Use teflon! or you will leave your heat press full of glue. I tried this using a rhinestone heat pen to stick only one rhinestone and that rhinestone is still glued on the tshirt.


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## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

ginnocenti said:


> There is an advice, for extreme duration, I heat press the stone then turn the tshirt inside out and heat press it from the inside. Use teflon! or you will leave your heat press full of glue. I tried this using a rhinestone heat pen to stick only one rhinestone and that rhinestone is still glued on the tshirt.


Interesting. Do you think that's really needed or it just gives you more piece of mind doing it?


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## ginnocenti (Apr 24, 2014)

rastoma said:


> Interesting. Do you think that's really needed or it just gives you more piece of mind doing it?


I think it helps, the glue is at the bottom of the rhinestone and the first press heats the rhinestone and you have to kind of wait for it to heat the glue, but when you do the second press you really press the cloth against the glue.


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## houjianisharon (Apr 20, 2015)

The durability of rhinestone adhesive on the tshirt depends on quality of stone and gum on the back of stone. If the rhinestone is enough durable, that's not big issue after 20 water washing.


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## bingcherry2013 (Aug 20, 2017)

Checkout all the videos on youtube from Matt Vallaso and his team at The Rhinestone World... A wealth of information there


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