how long should i press

[tiamaria]

hi guys i wonder could i get a little help please ,i have been vinyl pressing since i got my silhouette cameo and it has been a doodle ,been doing 100% cotton t shirts 15 seconds at 160 deg but i have tried doing a FOTL 65/35 polo shirt and at that temperature it is leaving all sorts of burn lines in the fabric ,is this to high for 65polyester 35 cotton , if it is to high and manufacterer says this temp for their vinyl how do i get around this please ,
also one last thing is how do i stop getting button marks on the back of my garment ,many thanks in advance

[KathG]

Tiamaria, I have not pressed anything with polyester/cotton mix yet, but to avoid getting button marks you need to use a Teflon cushion or a piece of foam like a mouse mat to lift the area you are pressing. Put it in between the front and back of T shirt before pressing with the Heat press. Hope this is of some help.

Sorry should have added you only place the foam in the area where your motif is going to be.
Kath G

[tiamaria]

hi kath thank you very much for the reply ,i will certaily do what you said tomorrow ,appreciate your advice

[Earl Smith]

Hi TiaMaria.
Try feeding the polo over the platten so only the back is on the platten and the front with the buttons hang under it.
As for the burning, Ive no idea, never had this problem with any polo. Maybe the actual temp is higher than the readout temp?

[logobear]

you don't need a heap of pressure for vinyl, so you can reduce that too, but maybe do an extra press after you have peeled (you shouldn't need to cover it with anything)

[malfunction]

I only use light pressure but I do cover with a piece of silicone baking paper and as mentioned above a mousepad or similar placed under where your pressing to avoid buttons.

[tiamaria]

many thanks guys for the above ,earl i cant believe i didn't try that but tried it and it worked a treat ,but im still getting some scorch marks , a friend put his infared temp guage on my heat press and at 160 degrees it was reading 157 degrees ,3 times he tried it and 3 times in different places on the pad it was the same ,so i dont think it is that ,what would you say is the lowest i could press vinyl on poly/cotton thanks all

[Earl Smith]

Hi.
I press all my vinyl and flock at 160C and never had a problem with scorching. No baking paper, no silicon pad. Nix. Do not press at a temp lower than the manufactuers recomended temp. It will come off in the wash.
Maybe you have a dodgy batch of FOL polos? Maybe try another brand and see if it happens to them.
Happy Easter.

[tiamaria]

thanks guys for all above comments