Transfer printing is the transference of an image to fabric or other materials via a substance. An image can be transferred via heat and pressure. When heat is applied, the dyes sublimes which is also known as sublimation printing. There are 3 types of transfer printing: Dry Transfer, Wet Transfer and Digital Transfer.
DRY TRANSFER
Fabric crayons are made of dispersed dye which works on synthetic fibers such as polyeste, nylon. It does not work on natural fibers such as cotton and silk.
Materials:
Crayola Fabric Crayon
Iron
Baking Paper
Polyester Cloth
Method:
1. Create your design on the piece of paper using the crayons
2. Flip your paper to face it down on the polyester cloth
3. Set temperature to about 330-375F. Place a baking paper above the paper before ironing
4. Iron for about 30seconds to 1 minute
5. Remove iron and fabric and allow cloth to cool
WET TRANSFER
Materials:
Transfer ink
Polyester cloth
Brush
Iron/ Heat press machine
Baking paper
Method:
1. Create the design on a paper using the brush with the transfer ink. Allow ink to dry
2. Flip your paper to face down on the cloth
3. Set the temperature to about 330-375F and place a baking paper above the paper before ironing/ putting to the heat press machine
4. Place on the surface for about 30seconds to 1minute
5. Remove the fabric and allow it to cool
DIGITAL PRINTING
Digital transfer papers allows us to transfer prints onto many different surfaces such as t-shirts, wood and ceramics. They require different transfer papers as well as different temperature in the heating process.
Materials:
TTC 3.1 Transfer Paper (Textile)
TTC 3.3 Transfer paper (Wood)
Cloth (T-shirt)
Wood
Laser Printer
Heat press machine
Baking paper
Method:
1. Create your design and print on the respective TTC transfer paper using a laser printer
2. Flip your paper to face down on the cloth
3. Set temperature to about 400F and place a piece of baking paper above the surface before heat pressing it
4. Leave fabric/ wood in the heat press for about 30seconds
5. Allow fabric/Wood to cool
