Vermonster 111 Posted September 17, 2014 I have been using a roll of Siser Easy Weed HTV (White) and I'm seeing it cracking on shirts after about 2 months. The black I got doesn't seem to be doing it, just the white. I've checked my heat press and temps vary 1-3 degrees but not sure that would cause it to crack after a couple washes (my own personal shirts I know were washed with the recommendations from siser easy weed). I'm on hold for US Cutter now, but wasn't sure if anyone else had experienced this? I've used Fibron (Fellers) for the past 8 yrs - in fact, I have the first shirt I ever did from them and it still looks fantastic - I'm a little bothered since I'm having customers come back to me Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 17, 2014 well, that was a dead end. They offered me $15 credit... which is more of an insult honestly Despite the fact that I have about 10-11 shirts I have to redo (more if the other colors I have done have started this too), and pay for (if I exclude my own that are doing this) Guess I'll go back to Fibron & Fellers... Pretty disappointed in the product and US Cutter at the moment... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joker 618 Posted September 17, 2014 I personally have not had a problem yet.. I have about 7 shirts that i made for me and my wife that have been through ringer and it is still holding up.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 17, 2014 how long ago were they done? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joker 618 Posted September 17, 2014 About 6 months ago Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OWJones 1,981 Posted September 17, 2014 I always turn my HTV shirts inside out when I wash and dry them, and I never use high heat in the dryer (for any clothing, HTV or not) and I've got shirts over a year old that still look as good as new. I've had two failures with Siser, one was done with glow-in-the-dark HTV - I did a dozen matching shirts and out of those one of them failed - every letter fell off both the front and back sides, still no clue why that happened - the other shirts are still fine to this day. A t-shirt I made for myself with the city logo (below) over a pocket and I didn't use a pillow to let me get a good solid press, and the the blue "river" curve started peeling up after several washes, but that was my fault for not properly pressing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 17, 2014 hmmm...interesting. Yah the material looks like it started cracking and splitting (much like screen printing after a year or so). I've never had any issues with Fibron and this was the first time I tried this specific material. Let down all the way around. Again, black pressed the same way - zero issues which has me leading to something with the material itself but I guess I won't know because US Cutter doesn't want to fix the issue...so I guess I'll just move on and will stop ordering it from them and I'll replace what I have with Fibron Thanks all... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Monkey 252 Posted September 17, 2014 Ive got 2 shirts I did well over a year ago. and no issues. 1 was even done on a well used shirt I wore while in Afghanistan just to test putting it on a used shirt. Both still look good and both get worn/washed weekly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OWJones 1,981 Posted September 17, 2014 ...because US Cutter doesn't want to fix the issue...so I guess I'll just move on and will stop ordering it from them ... I fail to see how this is US Cutter's fault? It's possible you got a defective/bad roll, but that's Siser's fault and it should be up to them to make good on it... If I buy a laptop and 12 months later I notice the hinges are coming apart, do I blame Best Buy or do I blame the manufacturer? (Note, in this case I would blame myself for shopping at Best Buy, but that's irrelevant to my analogy) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 18, 2014 I'm not really interested in getting into a whole big debate here (because at the end of the day that's all it is...a debate) but I guess I was expecting US Cutter to stand behind the products they sell or at the least, broker a resolution through Siser. Using your example...if the hinges went out 3 months after buying it, Best Buy would stand behind it and would exchange it then they'd deal with the manufacturer and RMA it. I only know because I returned a laptop that was defective at about 8 months after buying it. If I put Vinyl on someone's vehicle and it started cracking 2 months after I installed it - I'd make it right and deal with the manufacturer separately. Maybe I just have a screwy sense of business ethics... The other piece to this was that I guess I would have expected them to have more of an interest in a product they sell failing for a customer in this manner. It just seemed like they wanted to throw 15 bucks at it and move on. The scary part is I don't know if this is going to happen to the other colors I have, or if it's just white (I've done 2 shirts using blue and bubblegum which seem to be ok and a few in black but every white one has done this). I'm not willing to take the chance using it on a customer's stuff again - period. I'll just buy Fibron which I've used for years without troubles. No biggie, life moves on. Lesson learned Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted September 18, 2014 Last 2 items I've had a problem with at Tractor Supply they solved by giving me the # for the manufacturer so I guess I wasn't surprised at the response uscutter gave you. Hopefully it was only the white and not all the colors you used. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted September 18, 2014 I am betting it was a bad roll. I have used the heck out of siser with basically no issues. Once I had some come off but found that my press temperature readout was off and was too low. They have Stretch white too which costs a little more but is super stretchy. I have had the regular product eventually show some cracking look aver a long time from the garment stretch/shrink but it takes a long time. Stretch is rubbery enough that it resists this. My biggest reason for using easyweed of either variant is that it is a lot thinner than most of the other products available and therefore the feel is better IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skarekrow 1,842 Posted September 18, 2014 V-QUOTE>"I've used Fibron (Fellers) for the past 8 yrs - in fact, I have the first shirt I ever did from them and it still looks fantastic" Why did you switch off of a product that was fantastic for you? I haven't had the first problem with Siser Easy Weed, either... but, if I did experience a single issue, it wouldn't run me off. Get another roll and/or do some further testing with the 'problem' roll, it's likely a rare fluke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 19, 2014 Didn't necessarily switch - they gave me a credit for material, as part of a promotion and I thought I'd give it a try. So the material didn't "cost me anything" (if you look at it that way) but replacing the bad shirts that cracked does. It's not a single issue. It is happening on a whole bunch of shirts I've done (10-11 customer shirts and about 8 of my own). Yah, I'm not testing anything at this point. That's the manufacturer's job. I'll just switch back to Fibron and chalk it up to a lesson learned. Goose - it may have been a bad roll. This vinyl isn't coming off really, it's just cracking really badly and I guess since it's cracking, now it's catching in the wash and pulling it off. Temps look good. It's a lesson I learned the hard way (like I do most of my lessons) - Maybe Siser is a great product - I'm once bitten twice shy... The amount of shirts I have to replace for others, along with material and labor don't really give me the warm and fuzzy about using it again. Then there are my own shirts.... ugh... Case closed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted September 19, 2014 Sounds more like you got Easyweed Extra for nylon by accident. (possibly a miss-labeled roll) I tried that stuff out on cotton just as a trial and it did exactly as you describe almost after the very first wash cycle. Cracked up and edges peeling up. After a few wearings I ripped most of it off with a pair of tweezers and re-used the shirt. You can kind of tell the difference by feeling the stiffness of the vinyl compared to regular easyweed. It's stiffer on the carrier than the regular stuff and then the Easyweed Stretch is slick and almost oily feeling due to the rubbery nature. So there are three feels that are fairly distinct on the roll. By contrast, when I put it on a nylon jacket there was no way it was going anywhere. I know this because i missed the inside of a small A and couldn't get it up out of there. usually if you do that and re-press you can pick them out if your quick about it but the Easyweed Extra on a nylon product ain't coming off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 19, 2014 I don't even the extra for nylon on their site. When I filter for just nylon it gives me a Hexis Cutflex only. The roll has a label on the inside with the following on it: 700009794z 02/18/2014US Cutter I just got out of bed when I saw this and checked and I looked on their site and those numbers don't bring anything up on their page. You could be right, I'd just have no way to really know. I don't think I ordered the wrong stuff - I'm guessing they would have told me when they pulled up my order, reviewed it, and asked me what kind of material I used (Cotton). The world may never know. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LPWash 75 Posted September 19, 2014 Was it a real thin font? Did it do it all over the shirt or just a certain area or the edges only? I'd try to figure out the problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djque 246 Posted September 20, 2014 these two shirts were just done with siser easy weed I never used it and man it weeds super easy and cuts like butter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vermonster 111 Posted September 22, 2014 yah, mine looked like that when they were first done too LMFAO Share this post Link to post Share on other sites