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Vinyl not sticking

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Really new here and trying to make some shirts for work. I have the uscutter 15x15 and from the reviews one said not to use the heat transfer paper that comes with it, cause it wasn't working for them either.

 

any truth to this? I calibrated the machine, added more pressure, more heat and they still wont completely stick.

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated 

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1 hour ago, Dakotagrafx said:

what HTV are you using is a good place for us to start

Whatever they packed with my kit. No brand on it, that I seen(link below). Tested on a 100% cotton shit and worked like it should.

wife ran out and bought some Cricut sport flex vinyl and while it stuck a little better, it seems like it will fall off after a wash or two.

 

USCutter Bundle: 28" SC2 Vinyl Cutter + 15x15 Heat Press Htv Sign Vinyl https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077MW1CRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_aTXADb836E5V3

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I had to ask as we have had numerous newbies try sign vinyl on shirts :)

check your heat with an IR thermometer - many times the temps are off and not even across the platen on lower end heat presses  - 3 factors for successful heat pressing is time, temp and pressure.  I always use siser ez weed or thermoflex.  one thought is some shirts bought in stores are sprayed with a substance to make them lay pretty on shelves - so I buy from places like sanmar and jiffyshirts.    

another thought is, did you pre press for 5 seconds to remove any residual moisture in the shirt before pressing?   

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I do a lot of shirt work. The sc2 is a good choice as a starter cutter and should be capable of most things you will tackle as a newbie. 

If you read the reviews someone already responded that the HTV they included is crappy. There are lots of crappy options out there. Do yourself a favor and buy the good stuff and you will save yourself a lot of frustration. Siser is my personal brand of choice. I do tens of thousands of dollars worth of shirts and sporting apparel and it has been the best for almost every application. Easyweed and Easyweed Stretch (I use stretch whenever possible but some colors are only available in regular).

As mentioned by Dakota be SURE to check the temp because presses are notorious about being off. My first press was so far off I had to make a little sticky with conversion temps. Like he mentioned make sure you set it so the coolest place on the platen is up to temp. Good quality HTV like Siser can handle being too hot but if it's not hot enough it will fail. I did some testing to see how hot Siser could go just so I'd know. Recommended at 305deg. I was clear up to 380 or higher and it still seemed ok. I quit worrying at that point. I think if you over heat it can shorten the lifespan a little by scorching the vinyl making it more brittle but it's pretty resilient. 

Another note. The press in your kit does not appear to have a center press point. When you press different thicknesses the two platens need to stay aligned so that even pressure is across the whole garment. The low budget presses are sometimes solid built and will pinch more on the back if pressing thicker stuff. Not much you can do other than be aware of it. Some let the lower platen wobble a little to help and the better built ones have a center point or a set of springs to allow the upper platen to level out. If you find yourself doing a lot of shirts and decide to upgrade it would be wise to research the options out there. 

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8 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

I had to ask as we have had numerous newbies try sign vinyl on shirts :)

check your heat with an IR thermometer - many times the temps are off and not even across the platen on lower end heat presses  - 3 factors for successful heat pressing is time, temp and pressure.  I always use siser ez weed or thermoflex.  one thought is some shirts bought in stores are sprayed with a substance to make them lay pretty on shelves - so I buy from places like sanmar and jiffyshirts.    

another thought is, did you pre press for 5 seconds to remove any residual moisture in the shirt before pressing?   

Yes the shirts are from jiffyshirts and i did prepress the shirts. I think i have a ir thermometer in my nitro car box. Ill check it later today, thanks!.

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I know this is an old thread, but i did the same thing. Bought the starter pack with all the cheaper stuff. I used to have an ancient Hix press, but gave it away after not using it for several years, back when I was doing airbrushing. Anyway, noticed my Siser Easy-weed Stretch wasn't sticking to my Bell + Canvas shirts after the first press, started to come up around the edges....ARGH!

Got out the laser dog toy (well, that's what my kids use it for) and found out the temp setting at 305, was really only 287! What! So I had to go all the way up to 328 before the platen reached 305. Repressed and now the shirt is in the wash doing it's first test.

 

I'm so glad I did some test shirts before sending to a customer. Nice to know Stretch can go a bit higher and still be OK.

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18 hours ago, The Flaming Eyeball said:

I know this is an old thread, but i did the same thing. Bought the starter pack with all the cheaper stuff. I used to have an ancient Hix press, but gave it away after not using it for several years, back when I was doing airbrushing. Anyway, noticed my Siser Easy-weed Stretch wasn't sticking to my Bell + Canvas shirts after the first press, started to come up around the edges....ARGH!

Got out the laser dog toy (well, that's what my kids use it for) and found out the temp setting at 305, was really only 287! What! So I had to go all the way up to 328 before the platen reached 305. Repressed and now the shirt is in the wash doing it's first test.

 

I'm so glad I did some test shirts before sending to a customer. Nice to know Stretch can go a bit higher and still be OK.

The spec on Stretch has be modified to up to 320 for 20 seconds now.  They were having too many occasional failures and changed that last fall. I asked them of that was a change of adhesive and should I continue with my older stuff at 305 and they said no just crank the heat and dwell time up on all of it. 

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