HTV Colors turned muddy

[Sue2 920]

So, I made myself a pumpkin t-shirt for Halloween with Orange  Thermoflex- Plus HTV.

Pressed it on a black Jerzee t-shirt....looked fine at first. then, after a few days, 

the orange HTV on the shirt is downright muddy.

Looks awful...even worse in than the attached picture shows.  Anyone else have this happen?  

Thermoflex HTV is a pretty heavy vinyl so this shouldn't happen.

I'll probably cut another pumpkin out of a bright fluorescent orange and apply it over the top of

the muddy Thermoflex...hopefully that will work.

Sue2

[Sue2 920]

Problem solved!  I reached out to Specialty Materials who makes ThermoFlex and they got right back to me:

That type of shirt can sometimes do that. It’s called dye migration or bleeding. It’s when the dye is unstable (usually in polys and poly/cotton blends), and when a lighter color of vinyl is pressed on, the dyes will seep into it and discolor it. To combat this, there are vinyls out there with blockers in them- like our Subliblock, which does come in a nice orange color. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell which shirts are going to do this and which are going to be fine, which is why we always advocate testing before a large run. 

I went and checked the shirt....sure enough, it was 100% Polyester!

I don't buy poly shirts so, it must have been in a bunch I bought at the discount store.

Lesson learned...CHECK the shirts!

Sue2

[deth502 39]

also, ive always heard to wash the shirts before applying, (both htv and screen printing). im guessing this would/could help the situation also if it has to do with "loose" dye. 

[djque 246]

I use there subliblock vinyl on jerseys and it works perfect. also you might wanna check your press for dye on the platen from printing poly.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

7 hours ago, Sue2 said:

Problem solved!  I reached out to Specialty Materials who makes ThermoFlex and they got right back to me:

That type of shirt can sometimes do that. It’s called dye migration or bleeding. It’s when the dye is unstable (usually in polys and poly/cotton blends), and when a lighter color of vinyl is pressed on, the dyes will seep into it and discolor it. To combat this, there are vinyls out there with blockers in them- like our Subliblock, which does come in a nice orange color. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell which shirts are going to do this and which are going to be fine, which is why we always advocate testing before a large run. 

I went and checked the shirt....sure enough, it was 100% Polyester!

I don't buy poly shirts so, it must have been in a bunch I bought at the discount store.

Lesson learned...CHECK the shirts!

Sue2

There are HTV brands or types that are better suited to this. ThermoFlex is known to have dye migration issues. Sister is much better for that application. Just another reason I use it most of the time. 

[Sue2 920]

6 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

There are HTV brands or types that are better suited to this. ThermoFlex is known to have dye migration issues. Sister is much better for that application. Just another reason I use it most of the time. 

I too mainly buy Sisser now......mostly because it is not as thick as ThermoFlex and weeds easier

.... but, this was left from an earlier purchase.......and I have not had a problem with it.

I still have several rolls of ThermoFlex on the shelf and will use them too.

MOSTLY,  I didn't realize the shirt was poly...I think THAT was the big problem.

The gran-kids black shirt I made at the same time was fine.

Sue2