2022 Several Mistakes You May Make As a Heat Press Beginnner

    This is for those who already bought a heat press machine. I believe you have chosen an ideal heat press machine for yourself after reading VIVOHOME Heat Press Machine Buyers Guide (https://vivohome.com/blogs/news/gv). We all wish everything goes perfectly well even it’s the first time we use a heat press machine. However, sometimes mistakes are inevetible. This is why we recommend you to read this before you use it. And if you already made some mistakes, we hope you can also find a solution after reading this blog.

Mistake 1: Use the machine without reading instructions

    It happens that some people tend to ignore the insturctions that comes with the heat press machine and find some videos online. But the thing is that, you will miss a lot small details that is related to your own particular heat press machine and will make some unnecessary mistakes. Also, it will be helpful for you to read the instructions and equip yourself with the tips such as setting up, use and maintenance.

Mistake 2: Poor choice of materials

    Commonly, you need to think of two materials when you are using heat press machine. The first thing is the fabrics if you want to design your own personlized T-shirt. Wrongly chosen fabric will get melt or ripped when placed on the hot printing surface. In this case, cotton, nylon, spandex, polyester, and Lycra garments are recommended. And the second one would be the type of heat transfer material. Good quality vinyl will be long-lasting and will not peel off or crack after you wash the garmet.

Mistake 3: Garment Misplacement

    Sounds easy but it’s actually tricky for beginners to place garment properly. It is common that you may place the garment upsided down, too high, or too low. And this will lead to a crooked, off-center, backward, or upside-down images on your garment. In order to avoid this, you need to take time to make sure the garments are well-lined up, find the center point of the garment and place it correctly on the press.

Mistake 4: Improper use of colors

    It is important to use colors correctly if you want to transfer the design succesfully. You need to examine your transfer paper carefully to get a vibrant and accurate image. That is to say it is recommended to use the color that is contrasting and easy to see. For example, if the print fabric is black, you should use a white or light-colored ink to print and vice versa. If you didn’t follow the procedure, you may find your desgin disppeared.

Mistake 5: Printing over zippers, pockets or seams

    It is not suggested to place your design over those areas where there is buttons, zippers, pockets, or seams. Because of the uneven height and texture, it is difficult to apply an even amount of heat and pressure, which will result in crooked design and not adhering prints. Therefore, it is suggested to put your design over a smooth area. If you still need to transfer your desgin over these uneven area, you can try to place a teflon pillow between the garment to raised the print area over the buttons. In this way, you may get a relatively perfect desgin without affecting the zipper, buttons or seams.

Mistake 6: Not doing a test print

    Do not for get to take a trial test run before you really get started. It may save time, but it would help you minimize mistakes and reduces wastages thus to cut reduce cost if you do a trial test run first. Since print fabric and transfer papers are not a small expense. Therefore, you can check the heat setting of the machine, check for color matching, text placement, and more before you proceed the priting. What’s more, remember to mirror or reverse the image or it won’t appear in the correct way in the final print.

    It is more than common to make mistakes when you are using the heat press machine no matter you are a novice or an expert. But we all know it gets better after trying again and again. Hope these little tips will help you to avoid making some of common mistakes.