placemats

[hakuna]

hi everyone im in the process of doing 6 placemats and 6 coasters for someones retirement
when i did the first one it was good but when i did the next 3 they all came out with white streaks throught the pictures, the pictures themselves are ok but its the white streaks and some fadeness in them as well, i bought my placemats and coasters from bms so they are good quality im pressing the placemats at 185c and for 60sec and using baking sheets in between the heat plate and the base plate at medium pressure, ive not started the coasters yet just incase the same thing happens again to them, if anybody has some suggestions what my problem could be, the people are picking them up on friday morning.
thanks
malcolm

[purpledragon]

im betting you have the placemat in the middle of the press, i used to get this on my old press, try pressing it with the placemat off centre
brett

[hakuna]

thanks for your reply yes i am pressing in the middle of my press i thought it might be the cheap baking sheet i was using also when they are done pressing they are warped i was told to put something heavy on top of them when they come out of the press so i did but still a bit warped, how far off center should i put them also i have the same problem with the coasters i also press them in the center of the press with the same results, thanks for your help.
malcolm

[mgibbs]

Surely there shouldn't be a problem putting them in the centre unless there's a fault with the press?

Mark

[hakuna]

hi there i agree with you about that its a brand new 8 in 1 combo i bought from corelgraph about a month ago as i said earlier im using cheap baking paper between my work when the press has finished and i lift the press lid up the paper and the placemat are sticking to the heat plate so im just wondering if the paper has moisture in it causing the white streaks in the placemat.

thanks for your help
malcolm

[bms]

It might be worthwhile pre pressing the items fir 30 seconds or more to see if you get steam coming out or a moisture mark. Pre pressing will remove the moisture which can interfere with the sublimation ink transfer.

[AdamB]

It might be worthwhile pre pressing the items fir 30 seconds or more to see if you get steam coming out or a moisture mark. Pre pressing will remove the moisture which can interfere with the sublimation ink transfer.

Good points from Martin - moisture can affect anything that it can get into.

The only problem I had 'pre pressing' was once you press press the placemat becomes warped due to the heat so it makes it even harder to get the artwork lined up. I gave up the ghost of pre-pressing since then and do them a little longer, harder and hotter and it 'seems' to suit me better.

[Andrew]

A photo would help. Are you using the same sheet of baking paper? If so is it crinkled at all after first use? Have you tried it without the baking sheet?

Have the coasters/placemats still got any plastic covering on?

As far as a weight is concerned, about 1kg + does a decent job.

[hakuna]

hi martin thanks for your reply do i repress the placemats as normal with the baking sheets i use or without, when i did press the mats and when i lifted the lid up the placemat and the baking sheet were stuck to the hot plate of the press and i just remembered that when i did the first 2 coasters about a month ago they came out great but when i went to do the next 2 coasters using the same baking sheet they were streaked and a bit faded this was the same result when i did the first mats last night ive ended up with 2 good mats out of five, i have 6 placemats left and need 4 out of them for friday morning cant afford anymore bad presses.

malcolm

[hakuna]

yes i am using the same sheet of baking paper and it is crinkled after the first use the first mat and coasters are fine its the second mat that has the streaks after using the same baking sheet, i have taken the plastic covering off them also when finished pressing the mats are a bit warped as well i tried putting a haevy weight on top of them but still a bit warped, what is a good temp and time for pressing the mats and coasters.
thanks
malcolm