A non-stick cover sheet (also known as a Teflon sheet) is a protective sheet that can be re-used over and over again. But when do you need to use one? There is a common misconception that cover  sheets should be used every time that you are pressing a heat transfer. However, the truth is that you don’t actually NEED a cover sheet for most types of transfers. A non-stick sheet works as a barrier, and can absorb some of the necessary heat, which may cause a transfer not to peel correctly. This could leave you frustrated and trying to figure out why you are not getting the results you want.

Don’t get me wrong… a non-stick sheet can be really useful and it is always great to have one laying around your shop. These cover sheets serve a couple of important purposes when heat pressing, and today we are going to explain some of these different situations.

Let’s say you’ve just pressed a screen printed transfer onto a garment, and now you want to add a few random rhinestones for a little extra ‘bling’. Or maybe you are creating a design with multiple layers of vinyl. Any time that you are doing multiple presses, you will need to cover any existing transfer with a non-stick sheet to protect that exposed design from the top heat platen. Otherwise you will end up with a messy platen and a ruined t-shirt.

When printing both the front and back on a garment, a cover sheet can be placed inside of the shirt to block heat from getting through the fabric, so that you don’t end up with a shirt that is stuck together. You would also want to use a cover sheet when working with our stock lettering- which requires you to peel and place each letter on the shirt individually. Once the lettering is secured with thermal tape, cover with the non-stick sheet and press according to the instructions listed on our website.

A cover sheet can also be used to add a glossy finish to your printed heat transfers. After printing the transfer as directed, just put the non-stick sheet over the transfer and close the press for a few seconds. This will create a smoother finish to the initial pressing and add a bit of luster. The non-stick sheet can also be helpful if you are experiencing any scorching on your garments, working with particularly high temperatures, or if you have long dwell times.

When choosing a transfer paper to print your own designs from home, the very first thing you want to consider is what type of printer you will be using- inkjet or laser. It is important to use paper meant for the type of printer you have. With that being said, be sure to stay away from “laserjet” which is actually a combination of an inkjet and a laser, and we do not have any paper that will work with these types of models. We also suggest staying away from certain brands such as HP, Dell, and Brother- as we have found that these printers have internal fusers that run too hot. This can cause the paper to get stuck in the rollers, which ruins the paper and possibly the printer itself.

When choosing which type of printer to buy, there a few things to keep in mind. You will need to decide what is more important to you — color and soft hand (inkjet) or cost and time efficiency (laser). Laser paper tends to cost less than inkjet paper, and they can can print at high speeds when printing hundreds or thousands of pieces. With laser, there are trim-free paper options that are not available with inkjet. However, inkjet tends to have a softer ‘hand’ and more vibrant color. Below we will break down all of the different paper options that we offer for both types of printers.

INKJET PAPER

• Clearsoft Inkjet Paper for Lights
  Item# 401 (8.5×11) and 402 (11×17)

Clearsoft is our most popular inkjet paper for light garments. This paper has a polymer coating that bonds the inks to the fabric fibers all without using a plastic film. It can be applied to a variety of materials such as cotton, cotton-poly, canvas, felt, silk or even rib knit. Because the coating is clear, it is not necessary to trim this paper, but it is recommended, to avoid seeing the transparent film on your garment. This paper is great for printing any type of design, whether it is just text or a solid clipart design, a design with gradients, or even a photograph.

• Jetpro Soft Stretch Inkjet Paper for Lights
  Item# 601 (8.5×11) and 602 (11×17)

Jetpro Soft Stretch is also a paper for light garments that is comparable to our Clearsoft paper. Just like Clearsoft, this paper also has a clear polymer coating. You can transfer your photos and images to t-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons or just about any cotton, cotton blend, or polyester fabric. For best results, use light colored material with a smooth surface. This paper provides a vibrant, durable, stretchable transfer. You may want to trim any excess paper for best results, which will eliminate the coating around your design.

• 3G Opaque Paper for Darks
  Item# 795 (8.5×11) and 895 (11×17)

This single-step opaque paper is easy to use and is a great way to apply your design to a dark garment. It contains a white coating that allows for photograph quality images to be transferred. You will want to trim around the edges of your design to avoid seeing this white coating when applying the design to your garment. This product may also be cut with a cutter/plotter that has an optical eye, such as our GCC Vinyl Cutter Expert II LX. It can be applied to t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, and more. This is the only option for inkjet when printing on darks – no trim free options are currently available on the market.

LASER PAPER

• Lasersoft EZ Peel Paper for Lights
  Item# 301 (8.5×11) and 302 (11×17)

Just like our Clearsoft and JetPro inkjet papers, this laser paper has a clear polymer coating that allows for printing any type of design, including photographs. Designed for both fuser oil and oil-less laser printers and copiers, this product can be used on cotton, cotton-poly, canvas, felt, or even rib knit. Just like the comparable inkjet papers, it is recommended to trim any excess paper from around your design to avoid the polymer coating showing on your garment.

• CLC Paper For Darks
  Item# 585 (8.5×11) and 900 (11×17)

This paper is great for the heat transfer of high-resolution photographs and images to dark colored t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, coasters, puzzles and more. It is best to choose garments that have a tight weave. Similar to the 3G Opaque paper for inkjet, this paper also has a white coating that would need to be trimmed before pressing. Anything that is not trimmed will show as white on the garment.

• CL Trimfree for Lights
  Item# 1010 (8.5×11)

This is a one step trim-free paper for light garments, which has been developed to only release the polymer coating in areas that have toner coverage where the image is pressed to fabric. This eliminates the need to trim your design prior to imaging your garment. Trim Free Laser Paper produces vibrant full color images that will stand repeated washing. The CL Trimfree paper is not recommended for photograph images or gradient colors.This product is meant for both oil and non-oil color laser copies and printers. Be sure to choose garments that have a tight weave.

• Image Clip Laser Paper for Lights
  Item# 875 (8.5×11) and 876 (11×17)

This paper is a two-step process that is great for solid color designs only. Please note – it is not designed to work with gradients or photograph images. It works well with cotton materials along with 50/50 blends and polyester, as long as the fabric has a tight weave. When using this product, there is no need to trim the excess paper since this product is self-weeding. There will be no background to your printed design.

• Image Clip Laser Paper for Darks
  Item# 871 (8×10.5) and 872 (10.75×16.75)

Just like the Image Clip for lights, this paper is a two-step process that is meant for printing on dark garments, solid color designs only  – it is not designed to work with gradients or photograph images. This product works well with cotton materials along with 50/50 blends and polyester, as long as the fabric has a tight weave. There will be no background to your printed design, as this paper is also self-weeding.

(Printed with Lasersoft EZ Peel Paper for Lights)

When printing with any paper, whether inkjet or laser, please note that there are a few printer settings that need to be changed in order to ensure a great outcome. First, change the paper setting from a ‘normal’ or ‘plain’ paper to a ‘heavy’, ‘label’, or ‘card stock’ mode, which tells your printer that you are using a thicker paper and therefore the feed will open up more. You will also want to change the settings to a ‘best photo’ or ‘photo glossy’ to allow for more ink to be printed on the paper.

Since there are so many makes and models of printers it is virtually impossible to guarantee the results on any one printer. We can only suggest that you check with the manufacturer regarding the use of transfer papers.

Did you know that we offer custom transfers? In addition to the stock products that we carry, we also have a whole section of our business dedicated to custom printing. Before you get started on your first custom order, you probably have some questions. Today we are going to touch on the basic info, as well as diving into some of the most frequently asked questions that arise when placing a custom order. So grab a snack and pull up a comfy seat!

Let’s start off by explaining the different products that we offer. In general, there are three different types of custom transfers – screen printed, rhinestone/rhinestud, and sequins. Today we will be talking about screen printed transfers, which are the most popular and versatile.

Screen printing is a technique where plastisol ink is transferred through a mesh screen onto a substrate (e.g. a t-shirt). A screen printed transfer is created in the same way, except that instead of a garment, the ink is transferred onto a release paper, which is then applied to the garment using a heat press. The end result is indistinguishable from a screen printed garment, and is just as durable. We have three different types of plastisol screen printed transfers:

VibraTrans is a spot color product, that is intended to be pressed onto light or white colored garments only. Easytrans is also a spot color product, very similar to Vibratrans, except that it can be pressed onto both light and dark colored garments. Our EasyTrans product gets backed with one of the colors within your design. This backing is an extra layer of ink that creates the base of the transfer, which also creates an approximate 1pt outline around the edges of your artwork. To avoid this outline, you can opt to add Clear as an additional color, and your job would be priced accordingly. In the image below, you will see an example of a transfer that was printed with a white backing.

Colortrans is a 4 color process transfer for both light & dark garments, which uses CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, & Black) to create the colors within your design. These four colors are printed in layers of small dots that combine to create the illusion of many more colors. With this product, we are capable of reproducing full color images. Colortrans is only recommended in a case where spot colors would not be an option- like the designs shown below.

We can also create some gradients/halftones with our Easytrans product by laying down small dots of color to achieve a fading effect from one color to the next. Below is an example of a job that was printed with 3 colors – Orange & Electric Green + Clear as the backing.

Now that you’re familiar with each product, you are ready to fill out the quote form. This form will provide us with all of the information needed to provide a price quote. Choose your transfer type, let us know what type of garment(s) you will be printing on, and upload a file of your design. There is an area underneath where you will upload your artwork, to input any comments about your design that you think we need to know. For example, if you need two different sizes, you would include that information here. (e.g. 50 prints sized at 8×8″ and 50 prints at 3×3″)

We print on 13×19″ gang sheets, and can usually fit more than one print on each sheet. It is important to let us know when multiple sizes are needed, so that an accurate quote can be provided. We can also gang different designs on one layout if they contain the same colors. (i.e. front and back designs, different size labels for t-shirt tags, etc.) Since the quote form only allows for one file to be uploaded, you would need to submit separate quotes for each design that you have. In the comment section, just let us know that you are looking for your designs to be printed on the same layout.

Once a quote is submitted, one of our customer service experts will review it and send you an updated/final quote within a couple of business hours. At this point, you can leave a deposit through your dashboard to proceed with a proof. Proofs are usually completed within 1 business day, and sent to you for a final approval. Once approved, you can pay for your order to push it forward to production. The normal turnaround time from quote-to-print is normally between 2-4 business days. Rush services are available upon request, and can be requested on the first step of the quote form.

Our custom transfers can be applied to a variety of items and materials, such as t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, hats, koozies, and more! We offer 80 standard colors for you to choose from when printing spot colors, including neon colors and metallic ink. Pantone colors are available for an additional charge. You can order a free sample pack for testing here!

Additional resources:

Pricing Chart:  https://www.pwcustom.com/site/pricing/

Artwork Guidelines:  https://www.pwcustom.com/site/art_guidelines/

Calling all vinyl addicts! We have recently expanded our vinyl inventory to include sign vinyl, which can be applied to a variety of surfaces without heat. Check out our post a few weeks back on how to apply vinyl to a planter.

Today, we will show you how to apply our FDC High Gloss vinyl to a car window. This is a great way to add a personal touch to your vehicle, whether you may be advertising your business or creating your own unique stick figure family!

This process only takes a few minutes, but does require you to work slowly, especially when working with a larger design area. You want to pay careful attention to make sure that the design is transferred smoothly and evenly.

I started off by creating my design in Adobe Illustrator, and exporting the file as an AutoCAD Interchange File (*.DXF) to work with our in-house Silhouette cutter. I loaded my white glossy vinyl into the cutter, and off to work it went!

After the design is cut, I used a weeding tool  to weed away the excess material. Next, I cut a piece of gridded clear/blue application tape to the size of my design, peeled the backing off the tape, and applied the adhesive side of the tape to the vinyl. Prepare the sticker for application by firmly rubbing a squeegee or credit card across the clear transfer tape to remove any air bubbles that may have formed.