OWJones

Random shirt failures with Siser?

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I did a set of 10 family vacation shirts with less than 24 hours notice, of course, and did a contour cut printed design on the front with Jet Opaque II paper and then added the individual names to the front, and then a quote and "2014" on the back, all with glow-in-the-dark Siser EasyWeed*.

 

Nine of the 10 shirts were just fine, but on one of the adult male shirts, the Siser just fell off while they were wearing it.  Every single letter - front and back.   Since I pressed each side separately (did all the fronts and then went back and did all the backs) it seems unlikely that I somehow mis-pressed both sides of the same shirt, but I can't explain how else it happened.  They were all new royal blue FOTL shirts the customer had purchased at Wal-Mart - they still had the plastic tags and stickers on them.  The one oddball shirt was a stretchy maternity top, but it wasn't the one that failed...  As far as I know, the Jet Opaque II stayed on the shirt...

 

Any ideas?  I told the customer to bring me the shirt and I'd re-do the lettering at no cost, but I don't want to waste another linear foot of the expensive glowing Siser if it's just going to fall off again...

 

*The customer's family was going to Disney World and so I knew the glowing Siser would build up a good charge out in the Florida sun and the first time they walked into one of the dark rides the kids immediately noticed that their shirts glowed - and when the light-up parade went by at night, there must have been some black lights around because the Disney characters on the floats were able to read the shirts and they called out the kid's names as they went by and the kids were completely awed...  I didn't tell the customer I was using the glowing Siser, they are friends of my sister, so I didn't mind putting a little more expense into the production...

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sometimes shirts displayed in stores are coated (for lack of a better word) with a starch like substance to make them present better on the shelves - part of the reason I don't do customer supplied shirts

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#1, don't print on somebody else's shirt. Secondly you wanted top go the extra mile for your customer and it backfired, so suck it up and reprint with "expensive" glow in the dark material and go on. Third, refer to #1.

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#1, don't print on somebody else's shirt. Secondly you wanted top go the extra mile for your customer and it backfired, so suck it up and reprint with "expensive" glow in the dark material and go on. Third, refer to #1.

 

Wow, thanks, that's really helpful.

 

1) The customer was supposed to provide me with a list of shirt sizes so I could order them.  The customer kept procrastinating delaying and went out and bought the shirts at Wal-Mart herself when I told her it was too late for me to order them.

 

2) Going the extra mile for a customer is a good thing, not something to criticize someone for.

 

3) It wasn't my choice.

 

4) Nothing you said helps explain why the letters fell off and what I can do to keep them from falling off a second time, nor do your comments serve any useful purpose other than trying to make yourself appear superior.

 

5) Refer to #4.

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Know how you feel, OW... seems it never fails...

go the extra mile on a project and it turns around and bites you.

 

My wife tells me, "You gotta know when to Lay Up".

and

"No Good Deed goes un-Punished"!

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#1, don't print on somebody else's shirt. Secondly you wanted top go the extra mile for your customer and it backfired, so suck it up and reprint with "expensive" glow in the dark material and go on. Third, refer to #1.

 

#1 Nice comment, prick!

 

 

He already said he was going to redo the shirt for free. Ill quote it right here so you dont have to go back up and read his post again. 

 

Any ideas?  I told the customer to bring me the shirt and I'd re-do the lettering at  no cost, but I don't want to waste another linear foot of the expensive glowing Siser if it's just going to fall off again...

 

From what I read he is looking to see if anyone had this happen and knew how to prevent it from happening next time. 

 

Refer to number 1!

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#1, don't print on somebody else's shirt. Secondly you wanted top go the extra mile for your customer and it backfired, so suck it up and reprint with "expensive" glow in the dark material and go on. Third, refer to #1.

Lighten up Francis. That was a bit harsh.

 

OW I print on wally world shirts all the time that people bring in. I couldn't care less if they want to get their own. I prefer that they don't wash them but I have even done used shirts once. I just let them know that if they will give me a little heads up I can usually save them a buck by bringing them in for them.  I have never used the glow product and I haven't brought any in just because as you say its a bit on the expensive side. I wonder how much they move that stuff and maybe it's an old roll. I have noticed my older rolls getting harder to weed but never had any ill effects with adhesion (that I know of).  

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I have done a few last minute shirts on the Walmart hands or fruit shirts. I have not had any issue with lettering not adhearing. Knock on wood. I have yet to use the glow in the dark yet so can not help there. I will be using some of the Stahl's cad-cut glow in the next week tho.

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Sometimes a shirt is just problematic and you may never find the reason why. I do customers shirts and our stock shirts with no difference but every once in a while a shirt just doesn't cooperate and my best guess is somewhere between the manufacturer and us something contaminated the surface of the shirt.

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Know how you feel, OW... seems it never fails...

go the extra mile on a project and it turns around and bites you.

 

My wife tells me, "You gotta know when to Lay Up".

and

"No Good Deed goes un-Punished"!

 

 

You gotta know when to Lay Up..... LOVE IT!  LOL gotta put it on a shirt I think!

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I did a set of 10 family vacation shirts with less than 24 hours notice, of course, and did a contour cut printed design on the front with Jet Opaque II paper and then added the individual names to the front, and then a quote and "2014" on the back, all with glow-in-the-dark Siser EasyWeed*.

 

Nine of the 10 shirts were just fine, but on one of the adult male shirts, the Siser just fell off while they were wearing it.  Every single letter - front and back.   Since I pressed each side separately (did all the fronts and then went back and did all the backs) it seems unlikely that I somehow mis-pressed both sides of the same shirt, but I can't explain how else it happened.  They were all new royal blue FOTL shirts the customer had purchased at Wal-Mart - they still had the plastic tags and stickers on them.  The one oddball shirt was a stretchy maternity top, but it wasn't the one that failed...  As far as I know, the Jet Opaque II stayed on the shirt...

 

Any ideas?  I told the customer to bring me the shirt and I'd re-do the lettering at no cost, but I don't want to waste another linear foot of the expensive glowing Siser if it's just going to fall off again...

 

*The customer's family was going to Disney World and so I knew the glowing Siser would build up a good charge out in the Florida sun and the first time they walked into one of the dark rides the kids immediately noticed that their shirts glowed - and when the light-up parade went by at night, there must have been some black lights around because the Disney characters on the floats were able to read the shirts and they called out the kid's names as they went by and the kids were completely awed...  I didn't tell the customer I was using the glowing Siser, they are friends of my sister, so I didn't mind putting a little more expense into the production...

Sorry to hear that one of your shirts failed after heat application. I believe that the adhesive did not melt on the shirt where the lettering fell off. Polyester or polyester meshes are the biggest challenge with coatings that cause adhesion challenges. A 50/50 or 100% cotton are normally the easiest substrates to apply a  heat transfer vinyl to. Liquid fabric softener can dissolve the adhesive on some of the vinyls causing the material to lift or fall off when laundering. You are more than welcome to call me direct for more assistance if you would like. Kathleen Servais, Siser North America 440-665-5576.

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Sorry to hear that one of your shirts failed after heat application. I believe that the adhesive did not melt on the shirt where the lettering fell off. Polyester or polyester meshes are the biggest challenge with coatings that cause adhesion challenges. A 50/50 or 100% cotton are normally the easiest substrates to apply a  heat transfer vinyl to. Liquid fabric softener can dissolve the adhesive on some of the vinyls causing the material to lift or fall off when laundering. You are more than welcome to call me direct for more assistance if you would like. Kathleen Servais, Siser North America 440-665-5576.

Cool to see a rep on the forum! If you aren't already aware, most of us are HUGE fans of the SIser product line. 

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Cool to see a rep on the forum! If you aren't already aware, most of us are HUGE fans of the SIser product line. 

They are a large part of my business so it's always nice to see a rep pop in and offer advice and help.

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Hello everyone,

I just purchased the Siser glow in the dark vinyl for the first time. I noticed that the has a very faint glow. I haven't heat pressed any tshirts because I may need to get a refund because it may be a bad roll. My question is; does the vinyl have to be heat pressed, then put in the light to charge in order to have a better glow?

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Hello everyone,

I just purchased the Siser glow in the dark vinyl for the first time. I noticed that the has a very faint glow. I haven't heat pressed any tshirts because I may need to get a refund because it may be a bad roll. My question is; does the vinyl have to be heat pressed, then put in the light to charge in order to have a better glow?

it only glows for a short time after being exposed to light like all glow in the dark items - it has to be exposed to the light as the ir heat from a heat press will not "recharge" it.

 

When you shine light on a glow in the dark object, the incoming photons (packets of light) excite the phosphor molecules. These molecules release the energy they’ve stored slowly by giving out photons, creating a dim glow.

Different phosphors release energy at different rates – the slower they release energy, the longer they will glow.

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I have a UV flashlight that I use to charge it up indoors.  Most glow in the dark stuff needs UV light to charge - so sunlight works better than indoor incandescent lighting.  You can pick up a black light bulb just about anywhere at this time of year, so that may be a cheaper, quicker option for you.

 

If you take it outside for a few minutes and then take it into a dark room, that will give you a better idea of how it will look.

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