TexSmart
We are getting closer to the winter season and the temperatures have started to drop in Western Europe fast. The cold wind is picking up and I’m getting the driveway ready for Santa and his reindeer pulled sled to come and join us. We definitely don’t want to miss him this year. When the cold arrives, we should be ready to warm up with some hot Chocó and a burning fireplace. On the subject of getting warmer I immediately thought of calanders and heat presses for the textile industry. Dye sublimation is becoming a big standard in the textile industry today and the need for information is bigger than ever before. Today more people are starting to use sublimation technology than ever before and not only sportswear and fashion for but now also for soft-sign and home interiors. Some are using dye sublimation for ridged and promotional items, with great success I might add. As you can see this is only the beginning of a new and thriving industry.
There are many interesting choices you will need to make if you want to start in this new printing world. Questions like, are you using paper transfer or are you printing directly to the fabric. Dye sublimation becomes more complex with the choices you make and choosing the right heat press becomes even more difficult. The world of heating devices trend to become a bit like a forest where there is only one tree that would fit your company, but which tree is the right one. Choices, choices and more choices. So let’s talk about the basics of heat press technology, there are currently 3 types of heat presses on the market. Oil or infrared based drums, indirect infrared heating ovens and the last is the heated flatbed by electrical resistors inside the pressing plate.
If we start with the Oil based drums they are originally made for the Roll-to-Roll markets for lamination, bonding and engraving/embossing textiles. These units where really never really developed for the dye sublimation markets. Many modifications had to be made to make it suitable for the textile dye sublimation markets. Today they are newly developed for this market. Many changes in the roll up and -off feeders have been added or changed and much better temperature control has been implemented. So why a drum? Well, if we want to have a stable heat signature across the whole width, the oil based devices are the most stable around. When it comes to heat distribution a drum is the best you can get. This is important for Dye sublimation as we want to have preferably the same color edge to edge coming off the press. So need to have a great amount of stored energy in the calander to make this work. Oil is a great holder of energy and this combination of a drum and the oil makes it right. The constant temperature makes this the best device for all roll to roll transfer and direct printing sublimation.
As Roll-to-Roll devices can also use a placement table in front of the heat press. Than, the machine can be used for layup processing off pre-cut shapes for sportswear. The transfer paper becomes the conveyer belt for the fabric. Pre-Cut shapes are placed on the right spot and your items will be sublimated. (more on finishing in the near future)
Kieverik Roll-to-Roll Calander
Monti Antonio Calander
Clam Shell Press
By the way when we talk about sportswear is more than this, we include winterwear, swimwear, beachwear and all the other wear’s. OK, how about the Infrared heated drum? Infrared units have some benefits for smaller productions, on one point it’s a lot cheaper in the acquisition of the press, it can heat up and down really fast due to the lower residual heat in the drum and its mostly less heavy so it can be placed almost anyware.
This means you don’t need the enormous energy consumption to heat up the oil for storing like in the oil based drums. Trust me the oil based drums do consume a lot of power, but for large productions this is ok, smaller productions you could think of using an infrared device. Just one warning, make sure you have the right quality Nomex belt on the press. You will be sorry if there is a cheap belt on your heat press. Let’s, talk about the heat ovens. They were designed for the garment industry to dry the screen inks on t-shirts and polo’s. With some internal modifications the temperature was raised to the dye sublimation work regions of 195 Celsius and now it works. The big disadvantage here is that the heat dissipates very fast and there is little consistency in the overall heating. Great for drying screen printed garments but for dye sublimation, I would need more stability to guarantee the quality. I would not advise this type of press to anybody. Last but not least the flatbed heat press, this is a great combination for flexible and ridged substrates. If you are in to the ridged media, think photographic images on metal, wood or other polyester coated medias this is your device.
You can also use it for sportswear pieces and layup shapes. The sizes of these presses are sometimes impressive, did you know that snowboards, 2.5 meter ski’s and even big metal wall coverings are made with flat presses. Many other winterwear items are also made this way. Yes, it’s all printed with dye sublimation transfer paper, transferred on the substrate. to till like. He an thing rapid these after going drawn or. Timed she his law the spoil round defer. In surprise concerns informed betrayed he learning is ye. Ignorant formerly so ye blessing. He as spoke avoid given downs money on we. Of properly carriage shutters ye as wandered up repeated moreover.
Flat presses are also found in round shapes, yes strange but think about sublimation mugs or 3D objects. Sublimation on mugs has been a big business around the holiday seasons for many years. You would need a flat press technology in a different shape it’s probably there. If there is no solution, think about using a kitchen air fryer, yes it works setting it up for 195 degrees and 30 min you can sublimate your mugs and other items. Yes, a Phillips Air fryer is nothing else than an infrared oven, just smaller and cheaper. But let’s keep it professional. There are more uses for flatbed presses outside the dye sublimation world. For example, if you are a small shop and you would like to sell names and numbers for the back of a garment in sportswear, you could use a small desktop flock cutter, cut the number and use a small sized heat press to place these on the garment.
There are many types and kinds but the alligator mouth (image) and the straight down ones are the common types. Last but not least, small flatbed presses can also be used as a color testing press. So you don’t need to heat up the big press for just a color management session. The advantage of smaller heat presses, if you buy a good one, are the constant temperature across the whole heating area due to the fact that the electric resistors that heat the plate are inside the metal part.
The result is lots of choices, lots of prices and lots of possibilities. Just remember that you can see and play with the right calander at your local expert else go to the heat press manufacturer to see the product you want to buy. He will be able to give you the support needed. If not get well informed, what you will produce today and possible tomorrow. How much space do you have, are you goint to print on 3 or 5 meter wide printers. Please invest in knowledge before entering in a black hole. Better save than sorrow. Remember one important thing, a calander is a 10-15 year lifetime device that does not need to be replaced fast, its low on maintenance and you only need to change the belt every few years only if you produce a lot. So it’s a capital investment like a house.
Buy and invest in the right size just like you would do if you bought a home. Just remember if you’re buying a home, get one with a fireplace as you need a place to hang all your newly textile printed stockings next Christmas. I wish you all a happy holiday season 2020. Mike Horsten
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till next Christmas (yes im the first one 🙂 )