Going to try screen printing/ heat pressing for the first time...help please!

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

So i am going to attempt screen printing onto transfer paper.....could anyone on the group here point me to the right materials?

I will be heat pressing a simple 1 color design about 4" x 4"....i have never done this procedure before and want to experiment with an idea.

The ink color is black....so can I use regular plastisol??..do i need a special kind of ink?

Transfer paper to use?

Isn't there a powder i need to sprinkle on the screen printing transfer paper?

If anyone could throw out some brands and what I need id appreciate it...I need to learn how to do it so im experimenting...not a critical situation.

[inkstain]

Here's some things I've learned doing this process:

I use the transfer paper from Ryonet.  Sorry, don't know the name off the top of my head.
Turn the belt speed up pretty fast, put the papers you're gonna use through once.
Yes, print with regular plastisol ink.  All good.
Yes, get some of the transfer paper powder, put some at the edge of the paper and tilt to cover your print.
Give it a little pop on the back to get off excess powder, it just needs to cover the logo slightly.
Put it through your dryer at the same fast speed before, kinda like a semi cure I suppose.
Then you can go to your heat press and get at it. 
You'll have to dial in your heat temp and time of pressing. 
I only heat press trucker hats so temp and time is probably different then pressing tees.
Hope this helps.

[ericheartsu]

I'm sure someone will correct me, but you shouldn't have to preheat your transfer paper, if you are just doing one color. You want to use a lower mesh, like a 110, maybe even a 160 if you wanna mess around. Sometimes we use the adhesion powder by union, sometimes we don't. It really depends on the project, and the garments it's going on.

We typically run transfers through our dryer around 230 degrees, just to get the ink to gel, so that it's not tacky or wet to the touch.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

So put the transfer paper thru two times??..once BEFORE print and once after?....does this mean I have to print on "warm" transfer paper?

[ericheartsu]

So put the transfer paper thru two times??..once BEFORE print and once after?....does this mean I have to print on "warm" transfer paper?

no it's usually to shrink the paper and get it acclimated to your shop. We only do this on multi color transfers. For one color you shouldn't have to do this.

[KevWilso]

So put the transfer paper thru two times??..once BEFORE print and once after?....does this mean I have to print on "warm" transfer paper?

no it's usually to shrink the paper and get it acclimated to your shop. We only do this on multi color transfers. For one color you shouldn't have to do this.

Correct.  He only needs to worry about pre shrinking for multi color.  He is just doing black ink; so he should be able to skip this.

[bulldog]

I also use the Ryonet 15x15 hot peel papers. And their adhesion powder. It's the best combo I've used. I ordered some 15x15 from GSG and man are they garbage.

I don't run my papers through first for one color.

I use a 110 screen coated 2 thin/2 thick. I print a lot of white on 50/50s and this gives me the best opacity. You might be able to get away with less on black ink.

I run my transfers through the dryer at 199 degrees (this will vary for you with speed/temp/dryer brand) - I do it just enough to gel the ink. Too hot and it will cause problems later.

Hix heat press...366 for 6 seconds on 7 pressure. That will vary according to your ink.

With my ink it is regular plastisol but I use a hot split additive. Not 100% sure if it is necessary but it works good for me.

[royster13]

For 1 colour you might consider F&M Expressions.....15 cents each plus 20.00 set-up charge.They make a great product and are quick....

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

For 1 colour you might consider F&M Expressions.....15 cents each plus 20.00 set-up charge.They make a great product and are quick....

well i want to learn how to do it.....just one more thing to know about the biz.

[Sbrem]

For 1 colour you might consider F&M Expressions.....15 cents each plus 20.00 set-up charge.They make a great product and are quick....

well i want to learn how to do it.....just one more thing to know about the biz.

And, you should I think. The more you know, the better. We get our paper and powder from Ace Transfer Co. As said, you only want the ink to gel (like flashing) not cured all the way. The dryer we print our transfers into is old, and doesn't have much for temp control, so we just speed up the belt. Print one, powder it, send it through the dryer and try to heat press it onto a test shirt, and see what you get. If it seems to work, print the rest. You've picked a fairly easy thing to do for your first try.

Steve

[larryk]

We use ink made specifically for transfers for our hot splits. It is made so that half the ink comes off the paper and onto the garment and half stays on the paper. Give One Stroke ink a call and see if maybe they might send you a qt sample for hot split transfers............ you will be much happier with the results and no additives and no sprinkling stuff on you paper..... if your gonna learn to do it... please do it right the first time. Good Luck.....

[screenxpress]

The 'tricky' part will figuring out temp and speed on YOUR particular dryer to get the ink to gel and not cure.

Test several temp and speed settings and carry it from printing to dryer to pressing on something to make sure the setting won't cure the ink and it will still permanently bond to a final substrate without rubbing/washing off.

[larryk]

Not very hard to figure out the cure needed on plastisol transfers..... just speed you dryer up and when they come out the other end they should be tacky to the touch.... if they are wet just slow it down a tad and try again. Easy peasy...........

[1964GN]

We use UltraStrip 3000 paper at the transfer company I work for... it's really good stuff. I agree with larryk as well on the ink. Especially if you end up doing it a lot.

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

I also use the Ryonet 15x15 hot peel papers. And their adhesion powder. It's the best combo I've used. I ordered some 15x15 from GSG and man are they garbage.

I don't run my papers through first for one color.

I use a 110 screen coated 2 thin/2 thick. I print a lot of white on 50/50s and this gives me the best opacity. You might be able to get away with less on black ink.

I run my transfers through the dryer at 199 degrees (this will vary for you with speed/temp/dryer brand) - I do it just enough to gel the ink. Too hot and it will cause problems later.

Hix heat press...366 for 6 seconds on 7 pressure. That will vary according to your ink.

With my ink it is regular plastisol but I use a hot split additive. Not 100% sure if it is necessary but it works good for me.

I went with the Ryonet products you mentioned.....should arrive next week..will be my Christmas vacation experimenting.