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1/14/2021 – I am having trouble getting the patch to stick. I am using a hat press and the hat is polyester. Does the fabric matter? Is the backing on the patch material all I need? Is there a film to peel?
I am using the sheets. I cut the patch and sublimated before trying to add the patch to the hat.
Response From Enmart: The fabric you are applying onto doesn't matter as long as it will take the heat of the press. Polyester hats will work great as long as they aren't the ones with a big thick seam running down the middle right under your patch.
The backing on the patch material is indeed all you need, and there is nothing to peel.
The backing on the material will melt and fuse to the material it is being pressed onto, once it gets hot enough, and is under enough pressure for a long enough period of time. If you checked the backing on the white material before you did anything to it, and it was a mostly smooth, semi-shiny finish, you're good to go. Then it comes down to time, heat, and pressure. You need a lot of pressure - especially if you are trying to go across any seams in the cap. Also, a lot depends on whether your heat platen is on top, on the bottom, or both.
If you have top heat, set your press to 400F. It's best if you can verify that you really have 400 degrees with a pyrometer, because a lot of times gauges are incorrect on heat presses. Use 400F, heavy pressure, and up to 30 seconds. If you have heat on top and bottom, you can do 375 on top, 400 on the bottom, and about 15 seconds.
It also depends on how thick the cap is - thicker caps require more time.
Going across seams requires more time and pressure, and even then sometimes it's difficult to get right.
One last thing - when you sublimate the material before putting it on the cap (or anything) you want to make sure you used teflon under it, and let it cool for a good minute or two before peeling it off. If you peel it away and the laminate backing kind of strings away from it and leaves you with a rough sandpapery finish on the back, then you've pulled it away when it was too hot, or heated it too long at too much pressure, and that will also cause trouble when going to heat seal it on. Please email support@myenmart.com if you have more questions, and send some pictures so we can help you further.
Once you apply to the cap, let it cool before testing to see how securely it's attached.
8/8/2020 – If you sublimate this product before attaching to something, will this create bond issues as the adhesive will be activated?
Response From Enmart: Great question. Short answer - as long as you don't overheat it and put too much pressure on it (which squeezes more of it into the fabric), it will be fine. This is how we make our sublimated patches - sublimate the fabric, then cut and merrow.
Longer answer - Use 380F - 400F actual temperature, and around 45 seconds to 1 minute at medium pressure. Different papers and different heat presses may require some adjustment to the time and temperature to get the best result, hence the range listed. We typically use 390F and 55 seconds with our MPRES sublimation paper and George Knight heat presses.
The polyurethane backing will liquefy when you heat it to sublimate, so you need to make sure you use a sheet of teflon under the fabric or it'll make a mess on your heat press. Afterwards, let it cool for a couple minutes, and you can peel it off the teflon and it will be just like before with all adhesive properties intact.
5/24/2018 – Tip sand Tricks states:
Temperature: 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Time: 15 seconds
Pressure: 80 lbs
Is this to apply the sublimation or to apply the patch to a hat?
Response From Enmart: Those settings are for heat sealing the material onto something. As far as sublimation, if you were to sublimate the material, you'd want to use the same 400 F temperature, lighten up the pressure to medium-light (35-45psi), and increase the time to around 50-65 seconds.
12/8/2016 – Is the material sublimated and then attached or is it attached and sublimated at the same time?
Response From Enmart: The preferred and recommended method would be to sublimate first, let it cool completely, then attach. While technically you could probably do it the other way, you could run into other issues like the ink blowing out around the edge onto whatever you are attaching it to, plus the time for heat sealing onto something is about a third of the time to sublimate, so the increased time might affect the bond.
Just remember when applying and heat sealing on something that has been already sublimated, such as a patch, for best results either cover it with a piece of teflon or have a teflon cover on your press head. If not, use a sacrificial piece of paper - tissue paper, or copy paper - over the sublimated item. That way, any residual re-sublimation from the patch material won't wind up on your press head and then transfer to the next item you do. If you use teflon, be sure to wipe it off with a dry cloth to remove any residue before doing the next item.
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