HEAT PRESS = OPPORTUNITIES

I you do not yet own a HEAT PRESS, you may consider putting this piece of equipment close to the top of your wish list.  A heat press can offer so much to your business.   With this one piece of equipment you offer so much to your customers.  And the more you can offer...the bigger your customer base with become.  A heat press is not a small investment but one well worth every penny spent.  A good 15" x 15" heat press will run you close to $800.  You can find them cheaper but make sure its a good brand.

So what can a heat press do?  Wow, where do I begin. :)

FOIL!!  Foil is a great addition to your print.  It adds a lot of class to a shirt.  If there are two identical prints but one has foil added...my eye will drift to the foil shirt.  I think that is true for most people.  Foil is definitely an attention grabber.  Adding a little foil to your design will also add to the price of the shirt and that is always good.  The whole process takes seconds.  You screen print foil adhesive on your shirt, just as you would ink.  Let it cure just until jelled. (Maybe 10 seconds)  Place the shirt on the heat press, place the foil shiny side up over the design, and heat press it for 15 seconds.  Let it cool for a few seconds and peel of the foil.  SIMPLE AS THAT!  And it looks awesome.

BLING!!  Diamonds are a girls (and guys) best friend.  So many articles of clothing have bling on them. It looks cool.  A heat press is used to apply these sparkly little things.  And the cost per application is very minimal.  You will need to purchase additional equipment for this but if you already have the heat press, it is one less thing you need to buy.

VINYL LETTERING!  I had an order for team jerseys with player names on back.  I had to screen print 15 different names on the shirts, which is not a fun process.  If I had a heat press and plotter, the process would have taken me minutes instead of hours.

SUBLIMATION!!  Want to put things on mouse pads, picture frames, key chains and 1000 other items.  A heat press is also used for this process.  You will need to purchase a Sublimation printer but you can pick on up for $450.

CHROMOBLAST!!  Another process where you can hehttp://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/heat-transfers-machines-tshirtsat press on to items.  If someone wanted a picture of their children printer on a shirt, you could easily do it with a heat press and a Chromblast printer.

HEAT TRANSFERS!!  Take your designs and print them on heat transfer paper.  Then you can heat press them to shirts, tote bags, aprons and lots of other stuff.

For most of the processes mentioned, you will need to buy other equipment.  Foil is pretty simple and cheap.  It only takes a 60 mesh screen, emulsion, foil adhesive and foil.  The foil comes in lots of colors.  So definitely check into a heat press.  You can do foil until you are able  to afford the other equipment needed for sublimation, BLING, etc.

If you have any questions, give me shout or check out silkscreeningsupplies.com.  They are very helpful with all you needs.

Thanks!
Jeanette