by Emily Gray, Marketing
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| Emily shows off her handiwork. |
Last week I had my first solo heat pressing experience! This may seem like a trivial feat to some, but to me this represented something greater. While working at Stahls’ over the past year, I have watched a lot of T-shirts, jerseys, bags, – you name it – coming through these office doors and have been dying to try and make something like them on my own.
Surprisingly, last week I had some spare time, so I decided to try my luck at heat pressing. I was given an old English D a while back, so I had something to heat press onto my gray cotton shirt. With Web Marketing interns Bella and Tina as my witnesses, I quickly and easily made my first T-shirt. Once I finished I finally felt like I was truly a member of the Stahls’ family!
If you want to know the steps I took to make this T-shirt, keep reading!
First, I had to go to the Stahls’ website because I had no idea what temperature, pressure, and time I should set my heat press to. The design was cut in white Glitter Flake™ heat transfer material, so I searched for Glitter Flake in the navigation. I found it under CAD-CUT® Heat Transfer Materials, clicked on it and went straight to the Tips/Application tab. All the information I needed for my next step was right there in a convenient 4-step application process: Time – 10-15 seconds, Temperature – 320⁰ F, Pressure – Firm, Peel – Cold. I prepared a Hotronix® Air FUSION® heat press with these settings and was on my way.
Next, I straightened out my T-shirt and made sure to pull the collar off the edge of the lower platen to ensure even pressure, and then pre-heated my T-shirt to get out the wrinkles. I then placed my old English D design on the left chest of my shirt, placed a cover sheet over the heat transfer material and let the heat press perform its magic.
After 15 seconds, the heat press released. The application instructions listed a cold peel, so I waited for the moment when I was finally able to peel off the material’s carrier. For good luck, I heat pressed my shirt again for another 10 seconds with a cover sheet and voilà! My shirt came out perfectly! My first solo heat pressing experience was a success and surely a memorable and fulfilling one at that.