# Numbers falling off of jerseys



## tft2010 (Jun 29, 2011)

I am a newbie to the heat press industry. I recently pressed some easy weed letters and numbers onto baseball jerseys-made of 92% polyester and 8% spandex. I washed one of the jerseys and the stuff fell off. What would cause this? Not enough heat? Not enough pressure? Fabric? HELPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!! And, is it possible to repress them to have them stay on?


----------



## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Where were the uniforms sourced?....Some retail products have finishes on them that make adhesion difficult....

Had they been washed?....Sometimes cleaning products make adhesion difficult...


----------



## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

I would contact the manufacturer of the letters and numbers for advice.


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

and you don't say what settings you are using for temp/time/pressure


----------



## Liberty (Jul 18, 2006)

So was it Easy Weed Stretch or just regular Easy Weed? On the spandex blend you can;t use regular Easy Weed.

But all of the above answers are correct.


----------



## KathleenS (Sep 29, 2009)

Sorry to hear that you are having a problem. If you have adequate heat to activate the adhesive & your time & pressure are good the following below may be your problem. What is the manufacture of the garment? 
_We have found that some polyester is giving us quite the challenge today. It is my understanding that sometimes a antimicrobial solution or SPF is being added to some of these fabrics. These chemicals are keeping the adhesives from bonding to the substrate. I even tested some other competitor’s products & had the same results so I’m confident it's something in the substrate._

_We are also recommended that the customer TEST these products prior to a production run. _

_Lycra is a synthetic fiber most commonly added to cotton or polyester._

_Screen printers are faced with these same challenges today._

_A few ways we found to get around this was to wash the garment prior to heat application or apply methyl chloride to the area that you will be applying the vinyl. This chemical is readily available through screen printing supply companies. I have heard it called TS-3. The screen printers use it in a spray gun to blow out their screens. You could also out it in a plastic spray _
_bottle if you don’t have a spray gun. _

_This chemical is also used to dissolve our adhesive on the CUTTABLE vinyls if someone makes a mistake. I suggest that you apply it with a plastic syringe. The chemical is expensive & this helps to only apply it to the area where it's needed. Is doesn't seem to have an affect on the rubber or plastic parts of the syringe. I would not recommend that they store the solution in the syringe._

_This would be applied to the inside of the garment so the solution is being introduced on the adhesive side of the vinyl. After applying the solution simply wait a few seconds for the adhesive to dissolve. Next, stretch the garment if the area where you wish to remove the vinyl. The vinyl will lift off the garment. You can then use a cotton cloth with a small saturation of the methyl chloride to remove an adhesive residue. This is not recommended for the print & cut materials as the inks will run rampant creating quite the mess. I have tried it all._

_Migration is the other challenge that we are faced with today with polyesters. High heat is the main culprit. To combat this, simply reduce the application temperature & increase the dwell (application) time._

_An example when applying EasyWeed -_

_Application Temp = normal temp is 305 degrees Fahrenheit - reduce this to 280 – 28 5degrees Fahrenheit_

_Application Time = normal 10 - 15 seconds - increase this to 15 - 20 seconds_

Please feel free to call me if you need more assistance. Kathleen 440-665-5576


----------



## tft2010 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thanks so much for the reply! The manufacturer of the garment is Augusta Sportswear. I'm still having the problem, so it looks like I have a few more things to look into. I will definitely be trying the spray. Thanks!


----------

