Maybe you’re already equipped with a t-shirt heat press machine, or you’re looking for the best one out there for your needs. Even if you’re just curious about how it all works, whatever it is you’re here for, Innotex Transfers has the information you need to get started! Prepare yourself, as this blog will be quite in-depth to cover five main topics based on your needs: build quality, temperature settings, pressure, accessories and maintenance of your heat press machine.
#1 Build Quality of Heat Press Machine
There’s a lot to think about when deciding to invest in a t-shirt heat press machine. First, it’s important to consider the build quality in your search so you’re working with a machine that’ll meet your needs. Let’s run through the main features you need to look out for.
a) Mechanical Operation of Manual Heat Press Machines
T-shirt heat press machines work in several different ways, depending on the type of machine you invest in. Standard heat press machines are either manual or pneumatic.
i) Manually Operated T-shirt Press
Manually operated heat presses are pretty self-explanatory – it requires more work from your side than a pneumatic heat press, but they can come in different styles. A swing-away heat press allows you to gain visibility of the entire workspace, as the heat plate and pressure control can be moved side to side. If you’re looking for something that requires less space, a clamshell machine is probably better for you. These machines move up and down, similar to a clam’s movement (again, self-explanatory).
ii) Drawbacks of Manually Operated Heat Press
One drawback of a clamshell heat press is the limited distance that the heat plate can be lifted above the platen , limiting the view of your workspace. If you’re using a swing-away heat press, you may find the opposite problem – it takes up a lot of space to swing the entire upper surface away from the lower platten. It’s really dependent on how much space you have available in order to decide which style works best for you, but it doesn’t end there!
b) Mechanical Operation of Pneumatic Heat Press Machines
Pneumatic heat press machines may be something you’re not familiar with, so let’s cover what that means first of all. Pneumatic heat presses use compressed air to operate a piston or cylinder inside the machine that either raises and lowers the heat plate (from the top-down) or the platen the garment sits on (from the bottom-up).
The great thing about the pneumatic t-shirt heat press machines is that you can also find swing-away machines that combine the best of both worlds! So whether it’s something that’s out of convenience or something that’ll give you extra assistance, a pneumatic heat press machine is a great option. But that’s not all; you can find even more options with pneumatic presses.
c) Dual Platen Heat Press Machine
If you’ve got bulk orders to produce but very little time, a dual platen machine might do it for you. These machines give you precious time to prep one platen ready to press a garment while the first platen is in the process of pressing. In addition, the mechanics of a dual platen machine allows for back and forth movement between each platen, which increases productivity and efficiency – if this is something you highly value, a dual platen heat press machine should work out for you.
d) Heating elements of a heat press machine
This section isn’t too long, simply because there’s not much to worry about with the heating elements. However, it’s still important to check, especially if you use the entire surface of your heat press machine. Most commonly, heat press machines will either have a coiled element or solid-state. There are things to know depending on which one you have or which one you’ll invest in.
i) Solid State Elements
Solid state elements are the best machines to work with, as they allow for heat to run through the entire surface, top to bottom and edge to edge. This is down to the metal radiating the temperature all throughout the metal, distributing the heat evenly.
ii) Coiled Elements
But what about coiled elements? These machines are great too, but you won’t get that even distribution of heat as the electricity current isn’t run through a solid state. Instead, it’s powered through a coiled wire, meaning the platen you’re working with will have inconsistent heat levels, as the wire doesn’t distribute outside of it’s range like the solid state machine.
This causes hot and cold spots, similar to how an oven’s temperature settings work. While they set the main temperature, both heating applications distribute heat unevenly.
If you’re looking for the best reliability and consistency in heat press printing, solid state machines are the way to go (and we’ve got something for you!)
iii) The InnoPrinter Semi-Automatic Transfer Press from Innotex Transfers
Innotex Transfers not only has the knowledge regarding heat press machines, but we also have state-of-the-art machinery that does the work for you! Our InnoPrinter semi-automatic transfer press has a unique continuous roll feature, allowing your transfers to automatically be dispensed as you’re pressing.
So for maximum efficiency with your transfer pressing, it’s worth checking out our InnoPrinter!
e) Changing Platens of Heat Press
Heat press machines consist of two plates or platens that come together in order to exert pressure on the design and the garment onto which it’s being applied.. Most often, the top plate is the heated one and the bottom platen includes a foam coated surface to absorb the impact of the application. Some applications may require the heat to be applied from the underside of the garment and there are specialised heat presses for this type of work. Although it isn’t possible to swap the position of the heat plate, some heat presses do make it possible to swap the garment platen for different shapes and sizes for added flexibility.
i) Using Small Sized Platens
If you’re working on a glove instead of a jacket, you wouldn’t need a large surface area to work with because your glove isn’t the size of a jacket. One thing to note is that you don’t need the entire garment to lay over the surface either – just because you’re working on a jacket doesn’t mean you’re heat pressing the whole garment. It’s likely that you’re just printing on the breast or arm, so if you have a heat press that doesn’t have adjustable platens, you can make do with it.
The other thing to remember is that a big surface area will conduct more heat – heat that is being wasted if it’s not needed. Adjustable platens aren’t always necessary, but if your size of transfers vary often, it’s definitely something to look into. Most standard heat press designs have options for adjustable platens so that you have a selection available to suit your needs.
#2 Heat Press Temperature
But build quality is REALLY important if you’re looking to invest in a machine and make do with what you have. But don’t worry, the rest kind of ties into what we just mentioned. The temperature of your heat press machine needs to balance with the time you set. Our rapid ink transfers work very specifically with these methods – that’s why we achieve such high quality. Let’s use one of our processes as an example.
a) Setting the Temperature for Rapid Ink Transfers
Our hot peel transfers require 165ºC for 4-6 seconds. With this method, you’ll achieve high-quality results. But what if, for some reason, you’re not using 165ºC? Maybe the task you’re doing is too taxing to wait for a constant temperature change. Don’t worry, you can still use the transfer, but you need to regulate the time to balance out the temperature. If you’re heat pressing at 175ºC, it’s better to press for less time and opt for 4 seconds as opposed to 6 seconds. However, if your temperature is lower, say 155ºC, then 8 seconds will work better in this instance.
It’s good to note that the time and temperature of the heat press machine shouldn’t be changed regularly, especially when working with high-end prints like our rapid inks – there is some leeway for both time and temperature, but only to a certain extent. You should check your temperature regularly to make sure the output is accurate. If you’re not confident in balancing out the two, give it a trial run. Our team at Innotex Transfers ALWAYS recommends a test print before the actual job.
b) Use Teflon Sheets
There are other ways to regulate the method – using a teflon sheet. It helps to reduce scorching, which generally occurs more so when using higher temperature, rather than longer time. Nonetheless, using a teflon sheet reduces the amount of heat that the garment will receive, so it’s best to increase the temperature if you’re using a teflon sheet, otherwise, your transfer might not stay put on the garment at all. Just beware of dwell marks – if you’re bound to get any, you’ll notice them when you’re test printing.
#3 Heat Press Pressure
Pressure is a big one. It’s probably one of the most difficult things to get right because of various factors.
Not to worry though, if you already own a heat press machine, there’s ways to test if your pressure is correct. If you’re working with the machine manually, you’ll feel the pressure yourself. If you’re having to put all your energy into bringing the upper platen down, the pressure is way too high.
a) Heat Press Scorch Marks
You’ll also cause dwell marks on the garment, so when you’re test printing, you’ll be able to tell if you added too much pressure during the process. You should feel some resistance, but not so much that it’s a struggle to bring the platen down. The other issue is that intense pressure can lead to damage to the machine, so be careful. If you don’t feel any resistance and the platen is easily dropping down, you’re not using enough pressure, but that’s not risky, since it won’t damage the machine. The worst that can happen with light pressure is that your transfers won’t stick, which is why testing the print beforehand is so important.
b) Automatic Heat Press Machine
If you’re using an automatic heat press machine, it’ll do all the work for you. You’ll still need to monitor it’s not using too much pressure, but this can also be solved once you’ve done a test print. Adjusting the pressure is usually quite simple, but double check your instruction manual to make sure you’re fiddling with the correct settings.
#4 Heat Press Accessories
We’ve gone through many accessories throughout this blog to help you achieve the best results from your t-shirt heat press machine, but we thought it’ll be helpful to compile them all in one section. Let’s briefly cover them (and a few others we haven’t gone through yet).
a) Teflon Sheets
People often ask why is teflon useful? Teflon sheets will help avoid dwell marks – you just need to make sure you increase the temperature. If you’re working with our rapid ink transfers, we usually work with precise numbers, but teflon sheets will work as well – it’s best to test out different temperatures when working with a teflon sheet so you can work out how much more the temperature needs to be increased.
b) Heat Press Pillows
Pillows for heat presses help to evenly distribute the temperature when working with challenging garments. The non-stick fabric allows the top platen to press firmly on the lower platen, while ensuring the garment doesn’t mess with the temperature due to its thickness or unusual shape. They’re also really useful when pressing garments with zips and buttons like polo shirts as the cushion will prevent these accessories and trims from leaving an indentation in the garment – or from damaging your heat plate!
c) Interchangeable Platens
Again, we went through this, but to clarify, platens can be adjusted in some heat press machines. This is vital if you require larger surfaces, but isn’t always needed if the transfer paper itself doesn’t require the space. If you’re working with a large garment and only need to press a small transfer paper, the garment can hang over the machine. However, if your transfer paper is pretty large, an adjustable platen is pretty handy to meet your needs.
d) Heat Resistant Tape
If you have a problem working with heat transfers, meaning you have a hard time positioning them or keeping them in place, there is a solution. Heat resistant tape allows for the user to temporarily fix the transfer carrier sheet onto garments so that while the heat press process takes place, the transfer won’t move. This is also useful for when you know where you want the transfer, but you’re not quite ready to press just yet.
Bear in mind that 1) heat resistant tape is expensive, so use very little (roughly around the corners) and 2) don’t fully press the tape onto the garment, it just needs a brief stick because remember, you’re going to be adding 160ºC or more to the garment and you’ll need to remove the heat tape after.
e) Infrared Thermometer
An infrared thermometer is a really useful gadget to have available when working with heat transfers. It’s important to regularly check that your heat press machine is reaching the target temperature set using the controls, or if it isn’t, you’ll want to know by how many degrees it varies.
i) How to Check Heat Press Temperature Using Infrared Gun
The best way to check this, is to close the heat press for 30 seconds without a garment in place, then as soon as you open it up, check the temperature of the bottom plate using your infrared thermometer immediately. It is worthwhile checking the centre, all four corners and all four edges of the platen to see how the heat varies; just make sure you repeat the 30 second press in between each reading so the platen doesn’t cool down.
f) Temperature Strips for Heat Press
The other option is to place a series of heat sensing paper temperature strips across your platen and – again without a garment in place – press them for 4-6 seconds to see what temperature they reach. These clever little strips will change colour as the temperature increases and leave a permanent reading of the maximum reached.
#5 Heat Press Maintenance
Maintenance is very important to the heat press process. If you want to get the best out of your t-shirt heat press machine, definitely maintain the machine (we’ll explain how).
a) Cleaning Heat Press Machine
Cleaning the machine every now and then will help you out a lot – working with garments will increase the amount of lint and dust on your heat press machine, so cleaning the lint off even after use will ensure your transfers don’t accidentally end up picking up lint and adding it to your print. Lint can also damage the electronics if it’s collected too much.
b) Clean the Air Filter
Keep the heat plate clear as well and ensure the air filter is maintained (for pneumatic machines). This will allow you to have a surface free of dust and also ensure the temperature isn’t affected by anything. It’s good to check on the teflon sheet every now and then as well, so if it’s tearing, replace it with another.
c) Lubricating the Heat Press Machine
Another factor that can damage the heat press machine is not greasing the moving mechanics. If you’re swinging your machine back and forth or moving it up and down, you’ll need to make sure that the moving mechanics are properly lubricated to allow for smooth movement. If this isn’t carried out every now and then, you’ll end up feeling stiff movement, which might even feel like your pressure is all wrong when it really isn’t.
d) Using 20 Amp Outlet
This one isn’t generally maintenance, but more down to replacing mechanics. It’s recommended that you use the standard 20 amp outlet for your heat press machine, but this varies depending on your model. Your instruction manual will be more precise, but if your outlet ever needs replacing, it’s imperative you stick with the amp you require, to not overpower your machine.
One last thing to check on is again, the temperature. This is VERY important. If your temperature isn’t set correctly or isn’t maintaining it to the actual setting applied, your transfers won’t result in high quality and you may instead end up with dwell marks.
Conclusion
We’ve finally covered all the basics and some advanced tools needed to get the best out of your t-shirt heat press machine. If you’re a heavy user of heat press equipment, it’s better to invest in a higher end model, much like our InnoPrinter. With advanced features and automated mechanics, our machines ensure accuracy and efficiency in producing quick and easy heat press methods instead of lower end heat presses that require lots of manual work and less assistance in the process.
If you require independent advice on your machine, help to acquire free rapid ink transfers samples from us or anything else you’re unsure about, give our business team a call at 020 3617 8710
