I don’t have a heat press. I tried a small sample of the white eco iron on today and had a total fail trying to adhere it to a wool coaster. Anyone here have any suggestions regarding the heat and pressure necessary to get a good result?
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I found I needed firm pressure at at least 325, 350 was better. Did you press on a firm surface or something squishy? Firm is better.
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I have only tried it once, but I did get it to work. I don’t have a heat press either…in fact, since we moved into this apartment, I only brought a little mini table-top ironing board with me…so that’s what I used. I did go online to find out what the equivalent setting on a household iron would be for 350 and I’m pretty sure it was a 5 (blend) on mine (my iron is really old though). I had to press it down for longer than I thought it might take.
It was really delicate and a bit difficult to remove after cutting, but it turned out really lovely…it’s the logo for the Orient Express on a small canvas bag.
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Thanks everyone. My experience with irons and ironing chores is quite limited in spite of my advanced age. I will exert more heat and pressure on a firm surface. @Xabbess your bag turned out quite nice.
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All kinds of heat transfer products have a specific temperature and pressure range that makes them happy. This should be listed in the specs. If it is not, find another product.
I do a lot of heat transfer garment decorating, though with a heat press, not an iron. Before I got a heat press I tried using an iron and had poor results. A proper heat press is an absolute game changer, so if you are interested in doing this often I would look into them. Ruin a handful of $7 T shirt blanks and the cost of a heat press won’t seem so bad.
If you are using an iron and not a heat press, you need to figure out the temperature that any iron setting actually produces, and how to set the iron to make your transfer work. For example, “cotton” is supposed to be 400F and that is too hot for any heat transfer vinyl that I know. Most are closer to 300F. What fabric setting on an iron is 300F? 325F? Beats me, which is why irons suck for this work.
Pressure is hard to do by hand… I think you have more wiggle room than with temperature though. If in doubt, press harder. However, too much heat can ironically prevent your transfer from adhering at all.
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The product gives temperature and time settings. As you note, determining the actual temperature of an iron is the problem.
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I believe that eco-iron says heat at 350. As I said in my post, I had to look it up online. I don’t know what new irons have for settings, but mine corresponded to about 350 on a number 5 setting which was called ‘blend’. Heaven only knows what that means…but, it worked.
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…and…if there are only certain presets, pretty iffy. If you could just turn the dial to any number you wanted, it would be much easier.
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I use a non-contact thermometer to test mine.
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If you have not dialed in the right emissivity for the iron’s surface you may be off target. I prefer a contact thermometer when practical because it eliminates that problem.
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No kidding. My oven dial doesn’t say “BEEF,” it has numbers.
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