Are you a textile screen printer who's
looking for a new product to sell or a way to increase your profits in
some of the jobs you're printing now? Heat-applied plastisol transfers
may be exactly what you're searching for. They can increase sales and
profits and they're cheap and easy to make.
The basic process for producing
heat-applied plastisol transfers is uncomplicated. You print a design
with plastisol ink, but instead of printing it directly on the
garment, you print the design on special paper. The paper is then
passed through a dryer where the ink is heated until it has gelled
just enough to be dry to the touch. It's important not to cure the ink
too much.
The resulting print, called a
transfer, can be stored until needed. When you want to apply the
transfer to a T-shirt, place the garment in a heat transfer press, put
the transfer on top of the garment, ink side down, and close the press.
The heat and pressure applied by the press will force the ink into the
garment and finish curing it. When the press is opened and the paper
is peeled off the shirt, the ink remains behind. When done correctly,
a heat-applied plastisol transfer will be as permanent as a direct
print and under some circumstances nearly indistinguishable.
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Plastisol Heat
Transfer
The two most common types
of plastisol heat transfers are Hot-Split and Cold-Peel. The main
difference between the two is the way they are applied. When applying
hot-split transfers, the transfer paper is removed immediately after the
heat transfer press is opened. Because the plastisol ink layer is still
hot and relatively fluid, it splits. Most of the ink remains on the
T-shirt, but some adheres to the paper. Hot split transfers have a very
soft hand and when properly applied, are almost indistinguishable from a
direct print. Because hot split transfers leave a thinner layer of ink
on the T-shirt, you may have problems with opacity, especially on
dark-colored garments.
When applying cold-peel transfers, the
paper is not removed until the ink and garment have cooled. The entire
ink layer adheres to the T-shirt. Cold-peel transfers are quite stiff
and have a characteristic smooth or glossy look. They have excellent
opacity and are popular on athletic uniforms.
Other types of transfers include
hot-peel, where the paper is peeled while the transfer is still hot but
the ink layer does not split, puff transfers, where the applied transfer
has the three-dimensional look of a direct-print puff design, and
process color transfers, where a half-tone process color print is
applied to the garment.
