Hey friends, Dave here with Transfer Express and today we're going to be covering some basics if
you're just getting started printing t-shirts. So, we're going to be printing our t-shirts using
a heat press and our screen printed transfers today but a lot of the principles that we're
going to talk about will still apply to almost any way you're going to be decorating a t-shirt
be it using heat transfer vinyl screen print or even sublimation now we've got a lot to cover but
i'm going to try to get you printing like a pro in no time so let's get right to it if you are
new to transfer express we are the world's largest supplier of custom screen printed and digital heat
transfers heat presses free customizable designs wholesale apparel and expert advice to help grow
your t-shirt business if you haven't already subscribe we're kicking out new videos like this
one every single week printing t-shirts with a heat press is the fastest and easiest way to do it
i've been printing t-shirts for well over a decade now and pretty much any way you could put ink to
fabric i've been there and i've done it from manual screen printing and pulling squeegees
to sublimation and even directed garment even cutting heat transfer vinyl and yes my favorite
that we'll do today screen printed heat transfers with that plastisol ink but there's some common
tips that i want to tell you about so you could reduce your frustration with the learning curve
and jump out of the gate printing t-shirts like a pro now starting off the first tip is going to
follow the application instructions regardless of your print method if you don't follow the
instructions for curing or applying your inks you're going to have a bad time all of
the transfers here at transfer express come with a nice little sheet that lets you know what settings
to set your heat press at but you could still find them all online in fact we've got an entire
playlist of all of our application instructions for our 16 different transfer types that we'll
link right here and down in the description below now not all heat transfers are created equal
and there's three elements that really matter when you're heat applying anything that's time
temperature and pressure use the settings that are designated for the transfer type that you're using
we've got our goof proof screen printed plastisol ink transfers here with us today that we're going
to apply and looking here at the instruction sheet we have two separate settings for our heat press
since we've got a 100 cotton shirt that we're going to be decorating today
we will use the 100 cotton instructions so we're going to set our press to 365 degrees
for four to six seconds a medium to firm pressure and of course we always adjust that using the knob
right here on the top of the heat press now some heat presses do have a digital pressure readout
this craft press that we're going to be using today is our most beginner friendly press with its
incredibly affordable price but it does not have that a higher end functionality so what i like to
do is just crank the pressure down pretty much until the press won't close and then back it
off until it will that's the easiest way to see where your firm pressure is of course we always
have the trusty paper test which we've used in the past to gauge the pressure of your press if
it doesn't have a digital pressure readout but you can see those videos linked right here and in the
description below so you can see how important the settings are here say after we're done printing
our screen printed heat transfers today we would move over and print some heat transfer vinyl
where 365 degrees would most likely over apply the transfer burning off the adhesive
instead of properly melting it into the fibers of the t-shirt so it's important and always follow
those instructions now the next step is loading our shirt onto the heat press it makes everything
easier with your print placement to align the shirt on the heat press consistently my favorite
way is opening the shirt like a pillow case and threading it onto the lower platen of the heat
press however many heat presses don't have this capability so i want to show you what it looks
like to just lay over the lower platen of your heat press first we're going to want to make sure
that we're grabbing the seams on a top shoulder here in the same spot on each side just to ensure
the garment is not twisted or skewed when we are laying it down because then our graphic is going
to be twisted or skewed in placement on the shirt now t-shirts aren't like a piece of paper they are
meant to be fit around our bodies so they could be a little tricky to get squared up at first
but don't worry you're going to get the hang of handling blank t-shirts in no time if you're just
getting started now the trick is to try and trace the seams around the platen and ensure they're
equal on all sides so on the right hand side you want to make sure the distance to that side seam
or the fold is about the same exact distance that you have on the right hand side don't just go off
the shoulder seams and how far they are away from the platen because garment fabric can twist easily
so check down the sides to ensure that the whole body is straight on the press
also try to keep the fabric gently laid over top any twisting or pulling of the fabric will rebound
when you take it off of the press after printing leading to a warped or skewed print we don't want
that one of the most important things to keep in mind is giving yourself a nice smooth flat
even surface for printing that's going to help you achieve a nice smooth and even pressure across the
entire surface area of your press leading to perfectly applied transfers every single time
so be sure you keep all collars wrinkles and seams off of the printing area we'll always pre-press
our garment before printing to remove moisture and wrinkles and this is a great opportunity to
see if the press is closing properly or if your pressure needs adjusted when you close the press
it will also highlight any wrinkles in your t-shirt that should be smoothed out before
printing especially those pesky hidden wrinkles maybe on the back side of the t-shirt like we've
got right here after we've moved all collars and seams off of that lower platen of your heat press
let's pre-press the garment now one of the most overlooked steps with heat printing is always the
pre-press i'm guilty of it sometimes too t-shirts soak up moisture from the air like a sponge
leading to evaporation when you hit it with the heat from your heat press when you have moisture
in the form of steam pushing upwards the transfer you're trying to push down is going to have a bad
time adhering to the fibers in the shirt and while it might look like it applied to okay
it's most likely going to crack or peel after it runs through the washer a couple times so
you don't want that to happen always pre-press for the absolute best prints now that we're
loaded and pre-pressed let's grab our transfers and here is one design that i already removed
from our gang sheet now gang sheets are just the industry nickname for these transfer sheets that
have multiple pieces of artwork grouped together on them now they're great with transfers because
you commonly only pay for the sheet so you're paying for the entire sheet not the amount of inks
that you use so the more that you could fit on one page the more profit you could pack into one sheet
and maximize your print cost now some transfers come on a clear plastic carrier while some
come on paper carriers the plastic ones are great because you can see the exact placement but here
on these screen printed transfers they have to be paper but you can still align them perfectly
now before we head back to the press let's hold it up to the light and fold each edge of the ink
to each other that way regardless of the amount of paper on each side of the design
i will know where the actual center of the artwork is now once you line up each edge of ink we'll
gently crease the top and bottom of the release carrier and just as you can see a little pinch
allows us to create this great centerline guide for us now all we have to do is eyeball it up
to the collar and center it on our t-shirt right here for different placements we put a whole video
together right here talking about placement and positioning that really helps dive into standard
and additional locations but for today we're just going to be doing a standard center chest
for most sizes of t-shirts you're most likely going to be between one and a half to three inches
down from the collar to start your print now we have a couple ways to do it my favorite the three
finger rule simply by taking three of my fingers and aligning the graphic exactly three fingers
down from the bottom of the collar seam you could also use one of these super handy t-shirt guides
and these rulers which hey look at that is just about three fingers down from the collar same
distance as my three finger rule and my fingers now be sure you know exactly where the graphic
starts on the carrier and not just the paper liner so if you have to peek just peek around as needed
because we definitely want to be aligning to the top of our graphic not the top of our paper
which is going to add another half inch to an inch down on there then we just press and peel now the
peel is important too because different transfer types have different peels hot warm and cold peels
these goof proof transfers we use today are a hot peel so appeal immediately when the press opens
warm peel be waiting three to five seconds after opening the pressed appeal and cold peel means
room temperature commonly three to five minutes after pressing if your transfer is a cold peel
remove the shirt from the press to cool completely sitting here under the heating element is going to
keep it warm now we did just release this super helpful troubleshooting tips video right here and
we'll link it down in the description below too if you're having any application troubles whatsoever
of course here at transfer express we're always happy to help so just give us a call email chat
or submit a resolution in your order dashboard for immediate assistance with your transfers
we are dedicated to helping you and your t-shirt business succeed with tons
of inspirational ideas marketing tips tricks heat transfer application education and oh so
much more be sure you hit that subscribe button on our youtube channel to stay up to date on all
the new videos that we're dropping every single week but until next time i'm dave happy pressing