Impressions - February 2015 - 58

Screen Printing Technique

Mixing media is
a great opportunity to
increase your proﬁts.
Here, CAD-CUT glitter
was added to a screenprinted background.
Photo courtesy of
Stahls'; Screen-printed
background art courtesy of
Great Dane Graphics.

HOT-PEEL TRANSFERS
After heat pressing a hot-peel transfer
(also made from plastisol ink), it's important to peel the paper immediately and
all of the ink will be transferred to the garment, leaving the paper clean. Some hotpeel transfers use special adhesives applied
to the back of the transfer to help with
the release and to increase the mechanical
adhesion. General guidelines for applying
hot-peel transfers are 365˚F, ﬁrm pressure
for 4 to 6 seconds and peel hot.

TRANSFERS FOR
PERFORMANCEWEAR
Heat transfers made for the new moisture-wicking fabrics are commonly made
with a special mix of plastisol that has
elastomers added in the ink formulation
to provide extra stretch qualities.
Most transfers that are made for performancewear are backed with a low melting
adhesive that allows the graphic to be heat
printed at 275˚F for 15 seconds and peeled
cold. This lower melt temperature is ideal
for decorating on heat-sensitive fabrics
and the lower application temperature
helps to reduce dye migration.

made by using bulk rhinestones and design
templates. In addition to rhinestones, there
also are nail heads, studs and rhinestuds
available for that unique look. General
application guidelines for rhinestones are
325˚F, ﬁrm pressure, and peel the carrier
sheet cold.

FOIL TRANSFERS
Another favorite with garment decorators for that ultimate bling factor, stock
foil transfers can be purchased from
manufacturers or made in house. General
application instructions are 330˚F with
ﬁrm pressure and peel cold.

GLITTER AND BLING TRANSFERS

FLOCK TRANSFERS

The garment decoration market has
exploded with the growing popularity
of "bling" heat transfers that include glitter transfers that were so popular in the
1970's. General application guidelines for
plastisol glitter transfers are 350˚F for 15
seconds and peel cold.

Considered a special effect transfer
with a fuzzy feel and a 3-D look, ﬂock
transfers are manufactured by the screenprinting process using equipment made
speciﬁcally for ﬂock transfer printing.
Flock can be heat applied to a variety of
substrates from towels to woven materials
and is ideal for decorating challenging fabrics like terry cloth and corduroy
General guidelines for applying ﬂock
transfers are 350˚F, light pressure for 12 to
15 seconds and peel cold.

CAD/CUT GLITTER
This is another process for heat printing glitter for that retro look. Glitter CAD
materials are available in a wide variety of
fashion colors and can be purchased by the
roll or by the yard. With this process, all
that is needed is a computer, digital cutter,
CAD/CUT glitter yardage and a heat press.

RHINESTONE TRANSFERS
You can get great textures using some of
the specialty transfers available today. This is a
close up of CAD/CUT pebble puff transfer heat
applied to a screen-printed design.

Impressions | February 2015

These are included in the "bling" category and currently are the rage in the
fashion apparel market. Custom rhinestone designs are available from several
industry manufacturers or can be custom

CUT-ABLE CAD FLOCK
This is another great way for T-shirt
shops to heat print with ﬂock in-house.
With this process, all that is needed is a
computer with a digital cutter, CAD ﬂock
yardage and a heat press. CAD ﬂock has
an adhesive backer and is laminated to a
carrier sheet that allows the ﬂock yardage
to be cut and weeded before heat printing
onto the garment.
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Impressions - February 2015

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