Transfering problems

[Justforpickle]

Hello,

I am new to dye sublimation although i have done quite a bit of research i need some help with a problem i am facing.

i am aware that usually you cannot sublimate onto cotton products however you may of heard of "Forever" products which now offer a 100% cotton transfer paper.
The drawback of this media is that you have to use full tone colours and its not really suitable for photos, which is fine for what i need it for. "Forever's" website has a test colour chart which can be printed and transfered to check colours are correct and transfering.

As you can see from the picture below some of the colours are not transfering properly, i have tried different pressures, times and temperatures but i can't get a consistant result. The picture below is probably the best i have had.

From your experience what could i be doing wrong? Only thing i can think is that the press is not heating evenly.

Thanks.

IMG_1257.jpg

[webtrekker]

If I were you I'd forget about sublimating on cotton. The technology isn't there yet, regardless of their claims.

[socialgiraffe]

I am very familiar with Forever papers but in order to answer your question I need to know the following:

What printer
What Heat Press
What Time
What Temp
What Forever Paper

If you can let me know the above I might be able to help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Justforpickle]

I am using a Epson L3111 printer, which is brand new.

The heat press has no brand on, it was an eBay job which has been fine for the vinyl pressings that we currently produce but thinking maybe it may not be heating evenly for sublimation?

i have tried different times but the best results were pressed for 25 seconds at 160.

Also tried different pressures but can’t seem to get
anything consistent.

the paper is Subli-light (no cut)

[JMugs]

Interesting in a curious sort of way.

[socialgiraffe]

I think your problem will be the heat press.

New transfer papers are heavily reliant on very good heat presses (Aadkins, Geo, Stahls etc). The pressure has to be even and the temperature must be consistent across the platen. You do not get that reliability on the cheaper unbranded heat presses you find on the likes of Ebay.

I know a few people who are using this paper and are having fantastic results, but I know that all of them are using very good presses.

[hacedms]

Some say it may be a moist problem, try preheating of your shirts

[mark25810]

try pre-pressing the material and see if that works, while above some cheap heatpresses are not as good that is not true for all of them at all, sometimes its just pot luck if its ok or not. i have a heatpress off ebay a swing away one and it a handy one where the base slides out giving more room to put on and take off products and its not perfect build wise but ive had zero issues that are caused by the heatpress....my current issue i think is the product i am sublimation or the paper

[mark25810]

i will say if its a product that is cotton that comes pre treated so you can sublimate onto it..the item could have not been properly coated in what ever they use.

Tbh when i got into crafting its mainly a hobby for me i wanted to sublimate my own hoodies and sweatshirts for myself but i never realised how HORRID 100% polyester is, got it is putrid stuff lol feels horrid even if you get the stuff where its more soft inside, so i had to ditch sublimating clothes. 1005 poly t-shirts are too slidey and not nice, i actually received a 100% poly hoodie this morning as it was mainly T-shirts and other fabric items i tried before...i will not be wearing the hoodie at all the inside again is soft and a bit fluffy but its the outside that is horrid also it looks horrid compared to a cotton hoodie, the material just looks cheap and nasty.

I also tried print and cut with my cricut on heat transfer paper where you print using a normal printer and ink image and when heatpressed it sticks onto the fabric so has that stiff feel but it just does not look anywhere near as good as sublimation. so mostly clothing for me is out of the window.

i sublimate shopping bags and thats it now, the rest is coasters and mousemats

[Daninho]

I never had any success with the Forever subli light no cut method. It lasted exactly 1-2 washes, the powder method with polyamid powder was a bit better but also not that durable. Also the siser easy subli was not an option for me, it looked not sharp at all, i guess its optimized for the siser inks. Really pro looks on black shirts can only be achieved with DTG or screen print in my mind if you want pixel images like pictures, for Logos HTV is ok. Since i dont own a DTG printer or screen printing equipment i try to use sublimation more and more often because its just so much better compared to HTV. Thats why i use triblend shirts for my friends.

Edit: Im also not familar with the DTF hype and how long it will last but it looks expensive as well.