Embedded Files
Vinyl Printing. Custom
Vinyl Printing. Custom
T-Shirts With Heat Press Vinyl
T-Shirts With Heat Press Vinyl
Vinyl is a plastic material which contains a heat-sensitive adhesive on one side; when heat is applied by a heat press to the material, the material adheres to the substrate to which it is being applied.
Materials
Vinyl
A garment (best in a plain colour)
A vinyl cutter
A heat press
Step 1 Choose your design
Choose your design. Your design must be in vector format and should not be extensively detailed. Some detail is fine, but keep in mind that the vinyl cutter only cuts for you, meaning that all the negative space in your image will have to be removed by you after cutting.
Step 2 Prepare the design
Scan your design and convert it to vector format. Use a programme like Adobe Illustrator or Gimp
Flip or reverse your image! Your image has to be flipped so that when it is heat transferred onto your material it comes out the right way. So, it must be reversed so that it’s a mirror image of the original design.
Step 3 Load the vinyl
Load the Vinyl into the cutter machine.
Import the file into the cutter machine.
Step 4 Weeding
Once your design has been cut on the vinyl cutter, you'll have to weed your design. This is the process of removing the excess vinyl that is not part of your final decal, and isolating your cut.
Provide yourself with a fine, sharp tipped tool. Carefully use your tool to extract all the vinyl which you do not want transferred. The backing will be clear and sticky - try to keep it as clean as possible. Weed until you can see only your image.
Step 5: Placement
Before placing your design, pre-press your garment for 2-3 seconds. This will ensure that the area you will be using is nice and smooth, and that any unwanted moisture in the fabric is removed.
Now, take your design that is completely weeded out - it will reveal a sticky backing.
Place your vinyl sticky side down onto your fabric in the position that you want. You should now see the design in its proper orientation. If you need to move it a little, don't to worry! Just peel it off and place it again, it will still be sticky enough.
Step 6 Heat press
Place your fabric or garment onto the heat press. Make sure it is completely flat, and not pulling. Your heat press should be set at the specific degrees (around 150ºC). Set the timer to around 12 seconds. You don't want to exceed 30 seconds (give or take depending on what brand of vinyl you are using) or your vinyl might be "over-cooked", meaning it can crack and not be very durable over time.
Place a large teflon sheet on top of your material, completely covering your vinyl and surrounding area. When you are ready, pull down the handle and allow the heat to transfer the vinyl onto the fabric.
Step 7 Peel back the plastic
Allow it to cool before you try to remove the plastic covering.
Carefully slowly and gently peel back the clear plastic on top of your design. This should peel away easily. If it does not, you need to hit your vinyl with a little more time. If it peels off easily, but you notice that some of the vinyl is coming up with it, it also needs more time. When you are able to peel it off cleanly with all vinyl adhering to your fabric, you're all done!
The end result is a custom t-shirt. You can create lots of really cool original designs of your own!
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