The Heat Press Technique/ Tutorial and Craft

February 23, 2019

The Heat Press Technique/ Tutorial and Craft

When life hands you a heat press, you go a little bit crazy...

I created many samples on my day with the Heat Press and I thought I would share some with you along with a tutorial.

Steps:

Turn on the Heat Press. It takes 15 minutes to warm up so make sure to turn it on before you need it.

(Apologies for the lack of images of an actual heat press. Just know that it's like a giant Toastie-maker with a tall handle)

Paint your design onto a piece of card with transfer paint and leave to dry.
Prepare the Heat Press machine by placing greaseproof paper over the hot surface. Your material of choice sits flat on top of the material. A second sheet of greaseproof paper should sandwich the card and material.
When the Heat Press is hot enough, enclose the materials by pulling the handle down and shutting the lid. Beep- the 30-second timer will automatically start.
When the timer finishes the machine will alert you with another 'Beep'. Lift up the handle ever so slightly and press for another 30 seconds.

Tip: The second press is to ensure a high-quality print.

Once you've printed the design onto the material, remove the top greaseproof paper, card and material. Check to see that the bottom greaseproof sheet hasn't been transferred ink- if it has then remove this as the print will continue to transfer onto anything it touches during a press. If there's no transfer then leave the paper for the next experiment.

Note: Synthetic fabrics are best for this technique.

Note: The painted design will be mirrored upon transfer.

Note: Each time you use the painted design the outcome will become lighter.

Tip: Create the swatches of each paint colour in order to educate yourself on what the colours turn out as. I often found that the colours came out very different from what they were initially. On some results, they didn't come out at all.