20 steps to making a custom shirt using DARK transfers - "how-to" procedures

[heartbeeps]

this tee was purchased from Dollar Tree for $1. I used it as a "practice" t.

DESIGN BY RUMBLY TUMBLY

[/IMG]


DOES ANYONE KNOW - see the white marks on the black head under the name? Anyone know the cause?

 

[alexis_fate]

I have access to 2 laser printers and no inkjet printers. I know that you have to have special transfer paper for laser jets. Has anyone used one that can recommend.
When reading about some I noticed some said must use heat press. Any info about printing on Laser printers would be great.
Thanks,
Tracy

 

[heartbeeps]

I have access to 2 laser printers and no inkjet printers. I know that you have to have special transfer paper for laser jets. Has anyone used one that can recommend.
When reading about some I noticed some said must use heat press. Any info about printing on Laser printers would be great.

Tracy, you might want to make this it's own thread as I'm not sure the experienced crafters will be reading this thread. Would hate to not have your question answered.

 

[DisneyMom92]

I have access to 2 laser printers and no inkjet printers. I know that you have to have special transfer paper for laser jets. Has anyone used one that can recommend.
When reading about some I noticed some said must use heat press. Any info about printing on Laser printers would be great.
Thanks,
Tracy

My understanding with making t-shirts from a laser printer is that because of the heat of laser the transfers need a higher heat to transfer, if that makes sense. Therefore a heat press would be necessary. I know you can buy home use heat presses now but I am not sure how much they are. It might be cheaper to buy a $50 inkjet printer for crafting purposes. I have my own crafting iron, never gets water and does not have the nonstick surface.

Hope this helps.

 

[DisneyMom92]

this tee was purchased from Dollar Tree for $1. I used it as a "practice" t.

DESIGN BY RUMBLY TUMBLY

[/IMG]


DOES ANYONE KNOW - see the white marks on the black head under the name? Anyone know the cause?

It's just a guess, but either... you didn't iron long enough or iron wasn't hot enough or you didn't have enough in your dryer and it bunched up. It could be any of those or a combination. Make sure your iron heats up before you do the transferring, make sure your transfer cools (if that's the type of transfer you are using) completely, and make sure you are ironing as long or slightly longer than the directions say. If you are doing the vinegar wash, make sure that there is enough in the dryer that the shirt stays tossing by adding a few dry towels to the dryer.

Hope this helps.

 

[heartbeeps]

My understanding with making t-shirts from a laser printer is that because of the heat of laser the transfers need a higher heat to transfer, if that makes sense. Therefore a heat press would be necessary. I know you can buy home use heat presses now but I am not sure how much they are. It might be cheaper to buy a $50 inkjet printer for crafting purposes. I have my own crafting iron, never gets water and does not have the nonstick surface.

Hope this helps.

the cheapest [unused] heat press I saw for home use was ~$300... OUT OF MY BUDGET! Of course, they have many more for a lot more money than that, too!

 

[heartbeeps]

It's just a guess, but either... you didn't iron long enough or iron wasn't hot enough or you didn't have enough in your dryer and it bunched up. It could be any of those or a combination. Make sure your iron heats up before you do the transferring, make sure your transfer cools (if that's the type of transfer you are using) completely, and make sure you are ironing as long or slightly longer than the directions say. If you are doing the vinegar wash, make sure that there is enough in the dryer that the shirt stays tossing by adding a few dry towels to the dryer.

Hope this helps.

maybe I didn't iron long enough (although much longer than HP's directions). The iron was definitely hot enough - I've hardly turned it off over the past few days. (I can't WAIT to see my electric bill this month .) This tee hasn't gone through the vinegar wash yet. I'm gonna try to iron some more and see if it disappears.

BTW, I did see with the black Mickey heads where not ironing enough makes the black appear like a charcoal gray. Continued ironing brings it to its true black color. I'll be posting pix of that phenomena before and after later this week. Very interesting!

Thanks for the ideas. I'll see how the add'l ironing works. I was afraid to do it on this tee b'c it didn't look the like ones that started out charcoal gray; I was afraid the more I ironed the WORSE it would look! (Not really sure WHAT I was afraid of , the tee cost me one buck and this kind of problem was exactly what I bought it for!)

 

[DisneyMom92]

maybe I didn't iron long enough (although much longer than HP's directions). The iron was definitely hot enough - I've hardly turned it off over the past few days. (I can't WAIT to see my electric bill this month .) This tee hasn't gone through the vinegar wash yet. I'm gonna try to iron some more and see if it disappears.

BTW, I did see with the black Mickey heads where not ironing enough makes the black appear like a charcoal gray. Continued ironing brings it to its true black color. I'll be posting pix of that phenomena before and after later this week. Very interesting!

Thanks for the ideas. I'll see how the add'l ironing works. I was afraid to do it on this tee b'c it didn't look the like ones that started out charcoal gray; I was afraid the more I ironed the WORSE it would look! (Not really sure WHAT I was afraid of , the tee cost me one buck and this kind of problem was exactly what I bought it for!)

I never thought of the black doing that, I knew that bright red did. I guess it's a matter of all the ink getting from the transfer to the shirt, maybe? Who knows.

As far as re-ironing, I have never scorched a transfer, although I have heard of it being done. I think as long as you keep the iron moving you should be fine.

 

[alexis_fate]

Thanks for your answers, I think I am just going to buy a cheap inkjet. My dad gave me 2 HP color catridges and I will just buy the printer to go with them.
Tracy

 

[heartbeeps]

this is an example of a tee that has not had the iron applied long enough - see the lighter gray areas of the black Mickey head? I'll post another pix to show how it looks (completely black) when you continue to iron longer.

DESIGN BY WDWPSP




printed on Women's tank top from jiffyshirt.com - sizes ran a little large; had to return for a size smaller.

 

[heartbeeps]

this post is a place holder for posting the Minnie breakthrough Mickey head when ironed properly. Pix to be uploaded in a couple of days.

 

[heartbeeps]

this tee was purchased at the Dollar store (for a buck of course). I bought a few of these just to "practice." I don't recall who's design this artwork is from; I added the words myself to the top and bottom.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y]

Does anyone know what I did wrong? The red "bled" through on my designs. I think I will just not use red shirts anymore. LOL This was after I messed up about 3 sheets of paper.

I am not sure what brand of transfers you are using but...

I just tried out the HP transfers that I bought online like many others on here.

Their directions said to iron 20 sec on each pass pressing lightly, then another 20 on each pass pressing firmly. The first shirt I did following these directions (actually I only did it a total of like 30-35 sec each pass) and the red of the shirt started to bleed through the transfer.

I did 4 more shirts ironing for only 10 sec each pass pressing firmly and then a few extra seconds around the edges and NO PROBLEMS!

I think that the problem is that their directions are not accurate. Try ironing a lot less.

Hopefully this may help someone else from making the same mistake.

 

[DisneyMom92]

I am not sure what brand of transfers you are using but...

I just tried out the HP transfers that I bought online like many others on here.

Their directions said to iron 20 sec on each pass pressing lightly, then another 20 on each pass pressing firmly. The first shirt I did following these directions (actually I only did it a total of like 30-35 sec each pass) and the red of the shirt started to bleed through the transfer.

I did 4 more shirts ironing for only 10 sec each pass pressing firmly and then a few extra seconds around the edges and NO PROBLEMS!

I think that the problem is that their directions are not accurate. Try ironing a lot less.

Hopefully this may help someone else from making the same mistake.

I iron just until the backing slips off. Some brands that's longer than others. I iron the outside first and last and then zig zag down the transfer top to bottom, then around edges and check. If the backing doesn't come off easily, then I repeat the above process. I can't say about red, because it's been years since I did a red shirt, but mine don't bleed or fade and I've done a lot of darker shirts.

Hope this helps. It really does get easier with practice.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y]

I iron just until the backing slips off. Some brands that's longer than others. I iron the outside first and last and then zig zag down the transfer top to bottom, then around edges and check. If the backing doesn't come off easily, then I repeat the above process. I can't say about red, because it's been years since I did a red shirt, but mine don't bleed or fade and I've done a lot of darker shirts.

Hope this helps. It really does get easier with practice.

Thanks for your help!

I have actually had really good success with transfers. This was the first time I used the HP brand and what I was trying to say is that it was their directions.

When I followed their directions, the colors started changing on the transfer which is when I stopped but it was already too late. When I did them for a fraction of the time, they looked incredible.

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on here because I know that a lot of people bought those transfers when they were on special.

 

[goofydebi]

That's the transfers that I used. It did that on the 3 red shirts that I did. I think that I did iron too long. Wanted to make sure it was long enough I guess. I bought several more shirts (no more red) just need to make myself get busy maybe this weekend and give it another try.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y]

That's the transfers that I used. It did that on the 3 red shirts that I did. I think that I did iron too long. Wanted to make sure it was long enough I guess. I bought several more shirts (no more red) just need to make myself get busy maybe this weekend and give it another try.

Try ironing for less time than the directions. Mine turned out fabulous!

I can't wait to wash them and see if they wash well.

 

[heartbeeps]

In case you're interested in my t shirt experience, read on:

I bought my "first" batch from shirtsupplier.com - some Gildans, Hanes, & Anvil. Then I bought my "second" batch from jiffyshirts.com - Gildans & Hanes. From both places I only purchased 100% cotton.

Shirtsupplier - I found a pinhole in a couple of the Gildans from shirtsupplier... but not until I was doing the final touch ironing.

Jiffyshirts - I didn't see any on the ones from Jiffyshirt.

Dollar Tree - I bought a few kids small t shirts on sale at the Dollar Tree ($1/ea.); I used these to "practice" on. They worked fine.

Michaels - I also bought two kids tees at Michaels on sale for $2.99/ea. I was afraid to buy more there because they only had 50/50 cotton/poly in the sizes and colors I needed. However, the 50/50 look just as good in my opinion and didn't need much pressing either. (Folks had strongly recommended 100% cotton so I did stick with that for the other 46 shirts! )

Return policies - I found that shirtsupplier has a restocking fee but jiffyshirts didn't if you were exchanging for size.

Recommendation - In the future, when I have large quantities to buy - or difficult colors to find - I'll probably go with Jiffyshirts.com. If I only need a few shirts, I'll probably just spend more and go to the local stores like Michaels and Wal-mart.

Colors - I found the tees I bought in the color gray barely needed a touch up whereas the yellow, greens, pinks, fuchsias, and tans all needed to be pressed when I was finished.

Shirt Weight - I bought a couple Hanes tagless 6.1 oz. but they are a heavier weight so I wouldn't recommend them for WDW, especially in the summer! I found the 5.6 oz. to be a "good" weight - especially for ladies as they're not too light and not heavyweight.

 

[heartbeeps]

Here's another completed shirt for my granddaughter.
DESIGN BY MICHELLE



shirt from shirtsupplier.com. basic short sleeve t 100% cotton 5.6 oz. ANVIL in Azalea color in size "small" ladies - Anvil runs a tad on the small size.

The design was already customized for another little girl named Madison so no customization was needed! Thanks Michelle!

sorry I used the flash when I took this pix so it looks grainy but I've gotta tell you - it really looks great... especially on that "azalea" pink shirt.

 

[heartbeeps]

I bought to gray shirts from jiffyshirt.com - a ladies size L Gildan 6.1 oz. sport grey and a men's size L Gildan ultra 6.1 oz. sport grey tee. (Both 100% cotton.) Unfortunately, I didn't realize I grabbed the ladies' shirt and ironed on the man's pirate transfer until it was too late . (The cut on the ladies' shirt is smaller AND the sleeves are much shorter than on the mens shirt.)

I tried to be very careful to make sure I had the right shirt for the proper recipient and used post it notes to mark each shirt; however, when I scooped up both of these shirts - in the same color - I took off the post-it notes and didn't realize I had the guy's shirt in my hand with the girl's transfer.

So I needed to figure out a way to "recover" my mistake. What I did was keep that design (thank goodness it was nameless) on the front, then put the princess/pirate design on the back. So the recipient will "match" her DH in the front but have a 2nd design on the back.

Here's the result:

DESIGN BY AMY!

front -


I added the name "Jenny" to one ear on the back transfer using my digital camera photo program (Olympus Camedia). It's not sophisticated but it did the trick!

back -


I photographed this tee with a ruler to show how far I came down from the top of the back of the shirt (4.5"). Most shirts I placed the transfer on the back somewhere between 4.5 and 6.0 inches from the top of the shirt.