When it comes to polyester, one can never be too careful. Unlike cotton, you can not take a polyester shirt, and chuck it into your heat-press machine just like that. The heat-sensitive nature of the fabric requires some careful consideration.
There are some dos and don’ts when it comes to heat pressing polyester. These dos and don’ts combined with a couple of small details will help you achieve that perfect result that everyone craves.
Worry not, the entire procedure of heat pressing polyester has been shared below. This simple process will help you transfer your designs beautifully to any polyester surface.
How To Heat Press On Polyester
In the below-stated 5 steps, you will be able to safely transfer your designs to polyester material.
Turn The Heat Press On
Press the power button of your heat press to turn it on. Once the machine has roared to life, you can set the temperature and time settings. These two settings are usually present in the control panel at the front of the heat press. You must set the temperature below 300°F, as higher temperatures can be deadly for your polyester. Instead of leaving a beautiful print, it will leave a scorch mark. Furthermore, the time should not exceed 7 to 8 seconds. If you are pressing multiple layers, then the time should be 4 to 5 seconds per layer.
Lift The Top Platen
Once you have set the temperature to 270°F, then lift the top platen of the heat press, exposing the bottom one. Take your polyester fabric, and place it on the bottom platen. Cover it with a sheet of parchment paper and then shut the top platen. Press for approximately 4 seconds, and then lift the top platen again. This was your pre-press that got rid of all the creases from your fabric and prepared it for the actual and final press. In addition to that, the pre-press also gives you a gist about the pressure of the heat press, and whether it is appropriate according to the material or not.
Place The Transfer Design
Take your transfer design, and place it on the polyester shirt. For polyester, you can use heat transfer vinyl stickers also known as HTV, or screen printed transfers. Both types of transfers will give you beautiful results on polyester. Make sure to place the design in its correct spot, as once it has been transferred, there will be no room to fix errors. Once the design is in its place, place the parchment paper on top of it.
Shut The Top Platen
Lower the top platen and shut it. Once the top platen is shut, you need to wait for the machine to make a beeping sound. This sound indicates that the time is up. Lift the top platen immediately after you hear the beep. Remove the parchment paper from the polyester, and put it aside. Remove the polyester shirt from the heat press, and put it on your work table. Polyester is a cold peel, so you need to leave the fabric to rest for a couple of minutes.
Peel The Transfer Sheet
Once the shirt has cooled down completely, you need to lift the transfer sheet from one corner and start peeling. Make sure to peel inch by inch, so that you do not rip off the transfer design from underneath the sheet. After peeling the sheet off completely, lo and behold, your design has transferred beautifully to the polyester shirt.
Conclusion
Heat pressing polyester is a task that should be done very carefully. One wrong move can ruin the entire fabric. Lucky for you, the entire procedure of heat pressing polyester has been shared step by step in the article above.
I’m Henry Collins and living my happy life. I’m a professional businessman and I own and run 6 Heat Pressing Services stores where I provide my clients with custom Designs on hats, mugs, T-Shirts and a lot more using Heat Press Machine. Been using a heat press for the last 4 years and people love my work. As I’ve got enough information on Heat Press I decided to make a blog on it and share my knowledge with the world. I hope, the world will appreciate it.