Transfers (Mousepads and T-shirts)
Transfers are plastic-like sheets that you print directly onto with a standard inkjet (or laser) printer. These transfers are applied to fabric or fabric-topped products, with heat that melts the plastic material into the fibers, locking the colors in place. The advantages of transfers are that you can print any range or variety of color on them very easily, they are easy to do one at a time, and they aren’t that expensive. Their disadvantage lies mostly in their life. Transferred products are susceptible to peel-up and must be washed and dried with care. Exact life and care instructions will vary per brand name. Generally, the more expensive they are, the better they survive multiple washings. The transfers will have specific instructions as to whether your design needs to be mirrored before you print, and which side of the transfer to apply to the fabric, whether or not a cover sheet is needed, etc. Transfer paper for dark colored cloth costs roughly twice as much as transfers for white or light-colored cloth.
Most transfers will have instructions for applying with a household iron. You may attempt this, and I’ve even heard of some people having limited success. But it’s very difficult to maintain the temperature needed to get the transfer to stick, and even harder to maintain it evenly and with enough pressure at all locations across the image. I must have gone through fifteen or twenty mousepads before I figured out the trick to them: a professional heat press.
A heat press is a fairly hefty investment. A good one will run a thousand (US) dollars or more, before shipping, and not everyone will be able to afford that kind of set up. Fortunately, most towns have a t-shirt printing shop available, and these folks already have a good heat press. For a minor bribe, you can usually bring in your own printed transfer and blank shirt or mousepad and have them press it. If you approach the right people the right way, they may even allow you to use it yourself at no charge.
Every type of transfer will require a slightly different technique. Some should be peeled hot (use a plastic spatula to spare your tender fingers while you hold the fabric in place!) and some should be allowed to cool before the backing is removed. Peel smoothly, in one continuous motion. Because the peel temperature affects the texture, pausing mid-peel can result in a visible line.
The pickiest part of applying the transfer is getting everything lined up correctly before you press. When you are designing for a mousepad, it’s a good idea to oversize your image slightly and allow the design to spill over the edges. A design without straight borders is much easier to align… or rather, it’s much easier to get away with minute mis-alignments if there aren’t straight borders to draw immediate attention to the fact. Take your time at the lining up stage of pressing t-shirts and mousepads, or your results will be shoddy and your product ruined. It is best to trim to the edge of the printed area when pressing t-shirts; the blank areas still have a plastic texture to them. Be sure your product surface is clean and free of lint and cat hair before you press… anything caught between the transfer and the product is there forever.
If you go to peel off the transfer backing and find that a corner of the image is peeling up, immediately re-press without continuing to peel. Do not press for the entire time again, but only for a count of five or six. If the corner in question is not centered in your heat press, move it so that it is; cheaper heat presses do not have even heat and pressure and you’ll get the best results in the center. Peel again from the opposite corner. If you have already peeled the backing off and find a bit of the image lifting off with a fingernail check (running your fingernail up against the transfer to see if it is inclined to peel up), cover the entire image with a piece of waxed craft paper and repress for several seconds. This can also save an image where the transfer has peeled off in a patchy pattern.
Let your item cool flat. As it cools, the transfer hardens, and a crumpled or lumpy cooling position can cause wrinkles that are difficult to get rid of without re-pressing. Be very careful not to let a hot transfer touch anything until it cools, particularly itself.
Avoid printing up large numbers of transfers before you will actually be pressing them. They have a tendency to curl, ink scratches off of them easily, and they are very easy to damage with water after they’ve been printed and before they’ve been applied. Some transfers will also bleed if they are allowed to sit un-pressed for very long, resulting in a blurred, messy image. Take good care of your blank transfer paper, and protect it from humidity, light and air.
