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Q: How should I store and take care of my heat transfer paper?
A. There are a couple of things that can be done to take care of your inkjet transfer paper:
First, make sure you have the transfer paper stored in a protective box or plastic.
Secondly, make sure you have some vellum packs stored with them to keep out
excess moisture (transfer paper's worst enemy). Thirdly, make sure that the
transfer paper is in a temperature-controlled room with a fair amount of humidity.
This will depend on where you live, but make sure there is at least 50% ~ 60%
humidity.
Q: How do I troubleshoot while I'm printing and heat transferring transfer paper?
A. After your image is printed on the transfer paper, make sure to keep it away from any heat until
you are ready to transfer the image. If exposed to heat, a problem with the
glue and release properties of the transfer paper may occur. Make sure your
heat press temperature setting is not too high and meets the manufacturer's
recommended specification. Too high of a temperature setting could ruin the
image being transferred. Be sure to follow the technical application
instructions, which should be enclosed with your transfer paper package. Be
sure to use a coversheet so that the top platen of the heat transfer press
does not stick to the image being transferred. A sheet of Teflon or Kraft
Paper will work. Before printing, check if your image is supposed to be
printed in the positive or as a mirrored image. This can be determined
quickly by examining the paper you are using. If it is an opaque transfer
paper for dark fabrics, your image should be printed in the positive format.
Print in the mirrored format if you are transferring your image on a light color fabric.
Q: When should I clean my inkjet printer head?
A. This should be done before you are ready to print your
image. Since each inkjet printer is different, it is always best to refer to
the user's manual. If you don't have one handy, check to see if the inkjet
printer has a function in the driver to clean the print head. Use regular bond
paper when doing this. Another option is to use a small amount of rubbing
alcohol on a Q-Tip and rub the print head very soft and gently. This should
clear away any build up of ink.
Q: How should I test to make sure the paper is opaque, and it is doing what it is supposed to be doing?
A. This can be accomplished by performing a simple test. First, take your
positive-printed image and heat apply it to a red fabric. Make sure your
image has white in a semi large area. Once you have followed the transfer
paper's application instructions, wait about 5 minutes. If you see red coming
through the white area of the image, one of two things could've happened:
either you didn't use an opaque product or the paper you are using is no
longer good. Check the thickness of the paper. Usually, opaque transfer
papers are slightly thicker than transfer papers used for applications on
light color fabrics. The paper's film can be peeled up from the corner to
also verify this claim.
Q: How can I make the image's color mores vibrant?
A: This is not as hard as it seems. If the image needs more color, do not
change the original inkjet printer settings, just place the same piece
of transfer paper with image in the correct orientation and run
through again. By doing this the overlapping of colors will make the
image's colors more vibrant.
Q: Can I use a hand iron? Why use a heat transfer press machine?
A: A hand iron cannot be counted on to produce
perfect results every time. This is especially true of hand irons that
shut off automatically if held in-place without moving for more than a few seconds!
The key to good application results lies in your ability to heat apply transfers with
the correct temperature, time and pressure as provided by each transfer paper's
manufacturer.
A heat transfer press is more precise, since the time, temperature and
pressure can each be set. Heat presses allow the user to evenly apply
temperature and pressure over the entire printed object; therefore, the glues from
the transfer papers become activated and can flow smoothly into the material. Why run
the risk of causing the image to be under or over applied with a hand iron, when a heat
transfer press does everything without any of the fuss?
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