Mouse Mats

[danzab]

Hello again

Think me and the wife have pretty much cracked mug printing,Have done around 15 and even with the economy paper from bms we are getting excellent results using the ricoh gxe3300.

We had a try last night at mouse mats but not so good results.When we purchased the used business there was some stock left over,including mouse mats. Only thing is im not so sure if they are the right mats for the job or not. They have a grey coating on top rather than white. Also what paper should we be using. I presume its fabric transfer paper? We had some paper packaged up as T shirt dark fabric transfer paper. We tried this last night,set the press to a medium pressure for 190 at 50 seconds. The image came out very dark and poor,also the paper stuck to the mat and we had a hard time unpeeling it. Tried another at less time but it just didnt transfer properly. Tried one more with the economy paper just out of curiosity but that also came out dark,and unpeeled some of th transfer.

Do you think this is because we are using the wrong paper,ie dark transfer paper rather than just normal

Thanks
Dan

[John G]

Is the "t shirt dark" paper not for inkjets or even laser printers - don't think it'll be any good for a Ricoh set up for sublimation.

[R.Prints]

Use subli paper as you did for mugs. Print in reverse as norm then 200 oc for 30 secs using med pressure and it should work. Remember to oversize image by about 2mm so you get full coverage.
Good Luck
Ray

[Kaz]

John is right, the transfer paper is for inkjet printers, not sublimation, and it's also better for 100% cotton items (that's what I use them for).

Just use your sublimation paper, and it won't stick like the transfer paper has.

Though the mats I have are white and not grey, maybe they are old stock and have discoloured? :?

[danzab]

Thanks for all your replies,so i just use the same paper as I would for mug printing? I read somewhere that I needed to use the same paper as you would for soft items like t shirt sublimation etc

Also the mats are a proper grey and not faded

Thanks

Dan

[Glen]

Thanks for all your replies,so i just use the same paper as I would for mug printing? I read somewhere that I needed to use the same paper as you would for soft items like t shirt sublimation etc

Also the mats are a proper grey and not faded

Thanks

Dan
Yes just use the same paper as for the mugs Dan..as for the gray top. :shock: Never seen them grey before..maybe Martin or Grame of the suppliers can answer mate..

[accdave]

I get mine from Grahame and they have always been grey. Used to get from Subli and they were grey too

[danzab]

Ok thanks very much,will have another trial tonight

[bms]

Should be more white than grey - is it the black from the rubber underneath showing through the white fabric on top?

[accdave]

I'll rephrase my answer to off-white :D

[TransferGraeme]

Our mousemats certainly are a soft, very pale grey rather than "bright white". Our experience is that the print actually looks better on these, and certainly our customers - and we sell a lot of mousemats - prefer them.

[danzab]

Should be more white than grey - is it the black from the rubber underneath showing through the white fabric on top?

No,definitely grey,and they are not really fabric on top,more of a plastic feel

[Andrew]

Lots of mats are grey-ish/off-white when they have the black rubber backing but should print fine. They shouldn't be to dark though. I do all my mats at 200c for 1min. Also use the same paper as mugs. You might need to tweak the colour slightly if you ever use the same image due to the gloss/matt substrate effect.

[AJLA]

I always add a bit of contrast on the fabric mats and tees to add that bit of ummff (is that a word?)

Xpres supply the premium plastic coated mats which are quite white, I have however found and old sample box of bits n bobs and amongst it a very off looking mat although it was more yellow.

Perhaps you should pick up a few fresh ones to avoid all the frustration and hair pulling ( we've all been there) and you'll be very pleased with the results.

BTW I use the same paper for everything too with great results.

[danzab]

Thanks for all of your replies,finally managed to get one printed ok.The other mouse mats were definitely the wrong type,they are like a hard plastic on top and not fabric.

Having a few good results on other items now,done some coasters, sun visors and a few other items,all with pretty good results.Going to try t shirts tonight.

One quick question,In my stock I have some what look likee xtra long mouse mats but dont actually know what they are,I also have smaller sized mouse mats,could they be fabric placemats if there is such a thing?

Thanks

Dan

[bms]

xtra long mouse mats but dont actually know what they are
Long mousemats could be bar runners - do they have a black edging to them?


smaller sized mouse mats,could they be fabric placemats if there is such a thing
Could be - if they are about 100mm square then they're probably a fabric style coaster. If they are much smaller than a mousemat then they'll be quite small for a fabric placemat, but they can be anything you want them to be (and sell as such ;) )

[danzab]

xtra long mouse mats but dont actually know what they are
Long mousemats could be bar runners - do they have a black edging to them?

They dont have black edging,they are the same style as mouse mats but about 2 mouse mats long,suppose I could print anything onto them really

[bms]

Could be the bar runners. I've just seen them with the black edging normally.