Problems with heat pressing PU leather mouse mats.

[Anne_83]

Hi all. New to the forum and this is my first post so I hope I do it right!

I've been pressing the standard foam mouse mats for quite some time without any problems, but I recently decided that I wanted to improve the quality a little and decided to start printing stitched PU leather mouse mats. They are really nice quality and they come out really great except for one problem. Even though I give them about a 5 second pre-press to remove any moisture and then pressing (185C for 70s medium pressure) they tend to come out a little warped and I have to put a weight on them for a few hours to straighten them out. Other than that I'm really pleased with them.

Does anyone have any advice on preventing the warping or at least a quicker fix to straighten them out? I tried putting the mat into a cold press and pressing one firm for about 15-20 minutes, but this takes out most of the sponginess from the mat. I think it's the thick cardboard backing that's the problem.

Anne.

[bubbleimages]

Hi Anne,

Where are your sourcing your PU mouse mats from? We do a similar one and they do tend to warp slightly on the same settings that you have above. We place a box full of the UniSub placemats on top of them after pressing, separating with A4 plain printing paper and leave for about 30 minutes to an hour before packing to send. We've never had a complaint as yet but it is a bother.

[Anne_83]

Thanks for the reply. I'm using these ones from SubliBlanks: https://subliblanks.com/products/pu-leather-mouse-pad

[UK Printed Mugs]

You will ALWAYS have to place them under heavy weights for a good amount of time. Exactly the same with placemats. We tend to leave them for at least 12 hours although can sometimes remove after 6.