If you are just starting out with heat transfer vinyl, you may have many questions about the process like how to press your htv. Pressing htv is a breeze if you follow the application instructions of the material because the process may differ slightly between products! In this blog, we will explain how to press Siser Easyweed.

Materials:

WALAPress 15 x 15

Siser Easyweed

Siser Easyweed Stretch

Siser Easyweed Electric

Siser Metal

BELLA+CANVAS ® Women's Racerback Cropped Tank

Steps:

• Turn on your heat press. Most heat presses will have a switch near the back that you will have to turn on. When you turn that switch on, the display screen will light up.

• Once your press is on, adjust the temperature and time to what you need. With our WALAPresses, you hit the “set” button once to adjust temp, then press the arrows to raise or lower it. Then, you press the set button again to adjust the time, using the arrows to increase or decrease seconds. For Siser Easyweed, we set our WALAPress to 305 F for 15 seconds.

• After you have your time and temperature set correctly, most garments suggest a pre-press to remove wrinkles and moisture. When you do that, it is a great time to adjust your pressure. Most heat presses, like our WALAPresses, will have a knob on top of the upper platen to adjust pressure. Simply turn the knob right to increase pressure, and left to decrease pressure. For Siser Easyweed, medium pressure is recommended. Line up your shirt on the lower platen, and press the shirt.

• Once you have done a pre-press and have adjusted the pressure, it is time to press. Line up your transfer where you would like it on your shirt, use a heat press ruler for extra guidance. To use the ruler, place the curved end at the collar, then use the center line to find the middle of the shirt. After you have your design where you would like it, press the transfer. If you are doing one layer of Siser Easyweed, press for the full time. However, if you are doing multiple layers, a 1 second tack of each layer will work. For your last layer, press for the full time.

• When the time is done, you will peel the transfer in a quick, fluid motion from one corner to the opposite. Make sure you know if your material is a hot, warm, or cold peel. For Siser Easyweed, it is a hot peel. That means you peel the liner off the garment immediately after pressing. If you are doing multiple layers, you need to peel the liner every time.

• After you have peeled your final layer, Voila! The shirt is done! Wait 24 hours before wearing or washing, and wash the garment inside out. For this design, we did Siser Easyweed Yellow as the first layer, Siser Easyweed Stretch Frosty Mint for the second layer, Siser Easyweed Electric Frosted Blueberry as the third layer, and Siser Metal Silver Blue for the fourth and final layer. The first three layers were pressed for 1 second. The final layer of Siser Metal was pressed for the full time of 10 seconds.

For more information about getting started with HTV, check out our blog Getting Started with Heat Transfer Vinyl.