Using Rowmark LaserFlex for T-Shirt Graphics

[brianbacin]

Hello everyone!

Quick post about a laser-safe material I found to use for a ‘vinyl-like’ graphic on fabric. I invested in a GF instead of a vinyl cutter for the vast plethora of materials it can cut and engrave. Then, I got roped into coaching winter soccer, and found out I needed to supply team shirts to my boys.

I did a little research here, and elsewhere, and found Rowmark LaserFlex. It works very similar to heat transfer vinyl, but it is laser-safe!

The existing documentation was a bit hazy on some of the details. Specifically, which side to face up in the GF. The posts were from a couple years ago, so I thought I would update with some more detailed photos. (Even JPPlus (where I bought the material) couldn’t tell me properly which side should be up. This MAY depend on the color you choose, but the bright yellow I bought was actually white on the back. Directions I was given said color side up, and this turned out to be wrong. I cut on the film side, and wasted some material.

The best way to figure out which side up, is to cut a small test piece with scissors, and manually peel the material from the film. In one hand, you will have colorful LaserFlex, and the other, the frosted film. The film should be facing down in the GF when you use it.

I ended up fiddling with the settings that I found on the forums, and landing on 200 zooms and 6 pew pews. This is for the GF Pro. I didn’t know about “set focus” back then, so I used manual thickness of 0.123 WITH my Seklema sticky mat. If you aren’t using a Seklema mat, do your own measurement, or use set focus.

This setting kiss-cut the material down to the film, and I manually weeded the pieces before ironing onto t-shirts. This material is supposed to be engravable, to eliminate weeding, but I found the results to be undesirable when I tried it. Just not clean enough edges.

I’m sure people won’t use this material a ton, but it was nice to have this option in a pinch.
Hope this helps someone with a project.

Na zdravie

1. After cutting with frosted film facing down at 200 zooms and 6 pew pews (on PRO!)
   

   

2. After cutting, here is a view of the transfer film side. Laser did not go through.
   

   

3. Weeding
   

   

4. Done weeding
   

   

5. Ready to iron onto fabric!
   

   

[dklgood]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have also used this product with nice results. The downside is the limited number of colors.

There are laser safe HTV materials from Silhouette in more colors and available locally.

[evansd2]

@brianbacin

heat transfer vinyl

Most HTV is polyurethane (not PVC), so it’s generally ok to cut with the GF. You do have to be sure before cutting. It’s nice to have other alternatives, Rowmark stuff is generally pretty good.

[evermorian]

Thank you for sharing your experience!

I have had some good results with both the LaserFlex and the EasyWeed:

EasyWeed & LaserFlex Heat Transfer Redux

I ordered some LaserFlex awhile back to make a T-shirt for someone. I had an idea for another shirt but, an optimal color was not really available. Later, I learned about Siser EasyWeed, which is available in a lot more colors. With some of both on-hand, I tried both back-to-back. Both seem to be workable with minor differences. Ironically, the LaserFlex was easier to weed than the EasyWeed. That may have partially been due to where I settled with the settings. Conveniently, I had an old h…

See also:

LaserFlex Victory!

I originally posted in June I couldn’t get LaserFlex to work at all. Fortunately, my wife straightened me out (as usual). Her perspective on T-Shirt adhesives comes from the Cricut world, where one uses a cutting blade and then weeds the thing. My problem with LaserFlex was I couldn’t find a setting that would both cleanly ablate the excess material (to preclude weeding) and keep the backing intact for easy application to the shirt. So tonight she asked me why I didn’t just weed the thing ma…