by Matt DeLaere, Marketing
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| Stop heat printing inside the box. |
Everyone likes to “think outside the box,” but nobody likes to heat print inside the box. I mean, of course, that pesky box that sometimes appears around a design on a garment after you remove it from your heat press. This typically happens when heat printing heat-sensitive fabrics like polyester and polyester blends. But how can you think and print outside the box?
Mark Merola of Stahls’ ID Direct tackled this question recently in Printwear Magazine. Mark recommends a couple of options to help avoid this unsightly ghost box:
• Place a thin silicone rubber pad (like Stahls’ Flexible Application Pad) over the design as a cover sheet. The pad will absorb some of the heat, making the box imprint less noticeable.
• Use a heat transfer product which applies at a lower temperature, such as CAD-CUT® Premium Plus™, which will help to alleviate the appearance of a heat printed box. Be sure to choose a heat transfer material or transfer that is recommended for your garment type and test different times, temperatures, and pressures to find the right combination for your material.