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mlganey

Hoodie change color from heat press

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HELP!  I'm new to the whole heat press world.  Pressed my first garments yesterday and the hoodies slightly change color after being pressed.  So I have a line down the middle of them.  What am I doing wrong?  I'm now wondering if the transfer paper was that big and does it leave a film behind?  Maybe I need to cut around the design before applying it.  We're using Hot Split.

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if you are using something like siser it could be the moisture has left the area you pressed and will come back shortly - but with that said I hope you pre pressed to remove the moisture before adding your htv.   if it had been a light material and you used jpss then I would say it left something behind but with htv betting on the moisture left in the rest of the garment and it will even out in a little bit

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Hot split are screen printed transfers right? Have never used them but I wouldn't expect you to get a ghost image around the rest of the area. 

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Yes, I pre-pressed them to get the moisture out.  And yes, they're screen printed transfers.  After putting the hoodie on again, I realized it isn't from the tranfers.  It's the entire size of the heat press top plate.  So it's something with the heat press that's causing it.  They're 50/50 hoodies from American Apparel.  What are the brown papers for that can come with the heat press package(I know I should know this). ;)  Maybe laying that over it will help....

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You should always protect your upper platen with a cover sheet of some sort. I often use parchment paper or Kraft paper. Even doing this you will find over time that the press platen ends up dirty. The cleaner you can keep it the better. Try laundering that hoodie and the discoloration will probably go away. 

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Okay good to know about keeping it protected...thanks!


And I did wash & dry it....that photo is taken after I did so! :(

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if it stayed after the wash you're press may be too hot but I had a job a few weeks ago do that and it was a material issue. From now on that particular job is being screened instead of htv

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A while ago, my Ex had a friend print a bunch of cheap transfers on an inkjet.  She knew I had a heat press and it would go much faster than using an iron.  I agreed to press them.  

 

I must have put one in upside during the the chaos of the moment.  It has been stuck to the top of the press for ages and I just discovered it the other day.  It really hadn't been causing any noticeable problem as the paper was a barrier.  But as soon as I discovered it and peeled it off, all that burnt crude is a sticky mess.

 

I found Hot Melt on Amazon, Price: $4.00 + $4.99 shipping.  I just ordered some. Hopefully it will do the job.

 

Thanks for the tip.

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Hot Melt works awesome. A little exciting to use with the press hot like you'll need it to be so be careful but I had some gunk on my old press and it took it right off. I had some regular vinyl tht was curling pretty bad and I decided it would be a good idea to throw it in the press for a few minutes to see if it would lay flat with a little help. I did so without adding pressure and turned the press on figuring I would just let it warm up a little ways and come grab the vinyl. Well needless to say a half hour later when I smelled something wrong I remembered it was in there and was now at 305 deg. Oops. The other thing I used it on was an old hat press I bought on ebay that was really dirty from years of apparently not using any kind of cover sheet. I had to apply several times but it made it beautiful again.  

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I had searched for platen cleaner and found another thread that suggested Hot Melt.  I thought I was posting on that tread but somehow posted on this one.  Anyway, it is on it's way.

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