When we are pressing dye sublimation transfers onto tile and stone sometimes you can get light areas in the surface of the item. Most commonly this happens in the center and edges of the tile or stone.
Mike…What happened here? Though this can happen for many reasons, the first reaction for many customers is to point to the coating on the tile or product as being “bad” or defective.
A good thing to try is to re-press the already imaged problem tile with a solid dark blue or black transfer. Even better if you reposition or rotate the tile on the press.
If the tile takes the dark image within the light spots, you know it is not the coating on the tile…perhaps a paper problem or a problem with the temp, time or pressure of your press.
Mike…after pressing the dark transfer my spots did not go away…What can I do about it? If the light spots persist after the 2nd pressing with the dark transfer, well then you have a coating or product problem. Time to call your vendor for RMA and replacement of these items.
Mike…after pressing the dark transfer my spots went away…What can I do about it? If your tile is light around the edges or has a light circular spot in the center, add a minute to your time until you get the best result. You can also check the temp of your heat press. See my article on having a bad case of BTC.
It is important to use a high temp Nomex Felt pad when doing tile or stone. This provides best surface results and a great print along the edges of the item. If you are pressing a light image or image with a lot of white in it, the placing a clean white paper between your image and the nomex pad is a great idea to prevent ghosting or staining in light areas.
Placing tiles face down on the press and heating them from the back is the best way to print ceramic tiles. This procedure provides better contact with the entire surface of the tile and its beveled edges. All you do is place the Nomex felt on the lower rubber bottom platen. The sublimation transfer is placed on the felt, face-up (and slightly towards the back). The tile is centered on the image, facedown. A Teflon sheet is placed over the back of the tile so the tile does not scratch the upper heat platen. Close the heat press for the recommended cycle time.
On a personal note, I enjoy helping out fellow decorating professionals. If you found this blog helpful and would like my direct help to expand your decorating business please call me at 888-431-7385 Ext 201
Do You Suffer from BTC (Bad Temperature Control)? or how hot… or cold… is your heat transfer press…really?
A True Story of a Customer with BTC - “Mike, We have a 40×64 Geo Knight Maxi Press we use for layering materials…. (He was experiencing “water spot” type white areas, uneven color, unpredictable results - Mike).All we needed was a thermometer and some calibrations to solve tons of problems. We now have all 3 of our heat presses operating correctly, and are able to sublimate on our materials consistently with no problem. This has saved me days of trial and error and tons of scrap materials. Thanks Mike and BestBlanks for your help!” -David R.Mike…What happened here? Their actual press temperature did not match their dial/temperature display. Sometimes this can be a few degrees. In David’s case it was more than 30 degrees low. He also had a small press that was more than 30 degrees hot!
This can happen over time or can sometimes occur out of the box. Either way, periodically testing your equipment at least every 6 months is essential maintenance step. The savy customer will check their brand new press. You want to make sure your transfers are applied at the correct temperature so you are providing your customer with the best possible products. I handle many customers’ problems with their presses not reading the right temperature. This really can be very frustrating, because they seem to be doing everything right and “by the book.”
Mike…What can I do about it? There is no pill for a bad case or BTC (Bad Temperature Control), but there is a cure! Just like mom did… when you were sick or just faking it… the 1st step is to accurately take the temperature of your heat press. There are 3 ways to do this.
Use a Digital Pyrometer & Surface Probe Kit. This is the most accurate and precise way to determine temperature. With the surface probe, fast, highly accurate temperature readings of the heat platen surface are immediately available.
Paper Temperature test strips are an inexpensive, however less precise way to determine temperature. You close the press on these strips and they will darken in the appropriate areas to show you what is the highest temperature that they reached. Paper strips are accurate but will only get you within 10 degrees.
IR (InfraRed) Non Contact Laser Gun thermometer do not get accurate readings from Aluminum Platens, due to the completely different Emistivity (radiating) characteristics of aluminum. With non-Teflon coated aluminum heat platens, an IR Gun reading of 100-150 degrees less than the actual platen temperature is not uncommon. It is a great way for testing final product temperatures, but not the actual heat press platen itself.
The next step is to calibrate your press to your measured readings. Here you will consult your heat press manual or the manufacturer of your heat press. BTC is nothing to be feared and easily cured… Just ask David R who we helped to cure.
On a personal note, I enjoy helping out fellow decorating professionals. If you found this blog helpful and would like my direct help to expand your decorating business please call me at 888-431-7385 Ext 201.
When a new decorator is first starting out, they can miss a step in the Ink Jet Heat Transfer directions. This can result in slight bleeding or ink migration in their T-Shirt Transfers. Most of these problems can be totally avoided by closely following these instructions.
The first rule to keep in mind is… Until you are confident that you are doing this right, make one shirt and wash it by itself before producing your first order or any large order.
This will help you from making costly mistakes and will allow you to take corrective action before you make a quantity of shirts. When the instructions are followed you will get excellent results!
I have chosen an Epson C88 printer to illustrate these instructions.
Use the plain paper setting on your printer and Set the printing mode to Photo Quality (In the “Printer Properties” Driver Control Panel) DO NOT SELECT Photo Paper or matte coated paper, it will cause more ink to be laid down and can cause the ink to bleed.
Turn the mirror image option on or mirror your image within your graphic software. Here we clicked on the advanced button, then the Page Layout tab. You will see the mirror image selection box.
3. IMPORTANT: For textile printing anything higher than 200-250 DPI is a waste of ink & time and it will not produce better results. In fact, you may create a bleeding problem if you use too much ink! 4. Your image resolution must be set in the design software: (ie: Corel Draw®, Photoshop®, etc) and is not set at the Printer Driver Control Panel! Using this lower setting will result in using less inks and will help speed up the printing process.
5. After printing transfer with the Inkjet printer, allow the transfer to dry thoroughly (we suggest 5-15 minutes).
