Big problem printing football shirt

[joeyr69]

Hi all, I was hoping for some advice on how to get me out of a sticky situation.

My brother asked me to print my nephews name on a new football T, I was very wary about doing this however practiced on an old shirt and all was fine so went ahead.

I used MDP's hotflex 160 for 15 seconds, I guessed I could do a little more time if needed.


As soon as I lifted the press my heart skipped a beat, as the shirt looked as though it changed colour under the hotflex clear part, lifted it off and yes it had. I thought maybe it just needed to cool as all would be ok but no, there is a whole lighter part where I put the vinyl. The lettering also showed the colour through so had to do another layer and that is fine however the light panel on the actual shirt is still there.

I am sure if the press was too hot it would have affected the whole shirt not just the panel where the vinyl was placed?

i am hoping there is a simple solution to this mess or I am £35 down

Thanks in advance

[socialgiraffe]

Well that's a first and something I have never heard of before.

Firstly, is hotflex suitable for football shirts. I know from experience that you need to use the appropriate vinyl otherwise it will lift off at the first wash. I am not sure if the correct vinyl presses at a lower temperature and does not affect the colour.

When you pressed it, did the dye colour of the shirt transfer to your teflon sheet?

Have you tried pressing a small corner of the shirt to see if it will change the colour of that part as well. In which case it might be an option simply to press the whole shirt and lighten the whole garment.

You could also try washing the garment on a hot wash

Apart from that, although £35.00 down (if nothing works) at least its for a family member who is more likely to understand the problem rather than a "proper" customer.

[joeyr69]

Thank you for your fast response, I double checked and the vinyl was suitable for polyester.

i have been googling for hours and hours but not found a problem like this.

The colour did not transfer to my Teflon sheets although the clear backing of the vinyl did have the shirt colour on it, as the shirt is a different colour on the other side the light bit is only noticeable on a small square patch so I may take your advice and press that whole square so it lightens, my only fear is the the bit that is already lighter will go even lighter.

My brother would probably understand however I am more worried about the sister in law (the one who actually paid for the shirt)

I have pressed the whole shirt since in the hope it would lighten up but no such luck, it seems its only lightened where the clear backing of the vinyl was.


Once again thank you so much for your fast and helpful response

[Jason]

I've seen this before some of the dye comes away with the heat of the press, you can see it on the flex transfer sheet after pressing. I think this is exaggerated with the higher temp flex's, also you need a sub block flex to prevent the colour bleeding through.

I think this is why alot of companies say to reduce the temp to 140 for football tops, personally I steer away from football tops, they are just to expensive if you make a mistake.

[socialgiraffe]

You could try covering the whole shirt with the clear backing then.

Although it seems that you are going to have to bite the bullet and purchase a new shirt.

[purpledragon]

Hi all, I was hoping for some advice on how to get me out of a sticky situation.

My brother asked me to print my nephews name on a new football T, I was very wary about doing this however practiced on an old shirt and all was fine so went ahead.

I used MDP's hotflex 160 for 15 seconds, I guessed I could do a little more time if needed.


As soon as I lifted the press my heart skipped a beat, as the shirt looked as though it changed colour under the hotflex clear part, lifted it off and yes it had. I thought maybe it just needed to cool as all would be ok but no, there is a whole lighter part where I put the vinyl. The lettering also showed the colour through so had to do another layer and that is fine however the light panel on the actual shirt is still there.

I am sure if the press was too hot it would have affected the whole shirt not just the panel where the vinyl was placed?

i am hoping there is a simple solution to this mess or I am £35 down

Thanks in advance

Alot of footy shirts nowa days are coloured using dye sublimation so when you press them to put numbers or names at the same time you sublimate away some of the colour in the shirt its like pressing a dye sub transfer twice the second time always fades the image slightly not much you can do to fix this unfortunatly

[logobear]

YES !
there are colour block vinyls out there, we always carry white, but sometimes you do need more.....
we always press at just under the min temp for the product for a little over the max time, - so usually at 150 to 155c for maybe 20 sec at fairly low pressure, and always cold peel , often with a second press.
SOME tops will sub bleed into your vinyl print, Barcelona are the worst, deep red tops with yellow print are often the worst ....
you can layer, cut & press the same again on top to cover up the bleed through, - not ideal but a temp working solution.
We do heaps of footy tops, carry 2 sets of licenced FA media, but cut and press loads of our own too, best option is to strike up a relationship with a local indy sports shop who don't print, - give them discount vouchers for their customers, but understanding that if/when you do F up, - they will supply you a replacement at cost !
BINGO !!

[tlworkwear]

Yeah, I have found that with football shirts I now use a colour block vinyl and press at a lower temp for a longer time as have had a couple of issues with dye being lifted with the carrier sheet.

[socialgiraffe]

Have any of you more experienced guys tried the application roll from Grafitype?

Reason I say this is because it is a hot peel, very low tack tape and may not lift any colour when applying.

Just a thought.

[joeyr69]

Ok, Turned out to be an expensive mistake and had to order a new shirt this morning :frown:
I tried to rectify the problem by putting just the carrier sheet on the darker parts and still looks all mismatched and I wouldn't be happy my child wearing it so took the plunge and bought another!

I will be sending them straight to someone who knows more about football shirts this time!

Thank you all for taking your time to reply

Jo