Heat Transfer T Shirt Vinyl and Cutting Plotter FAQs

How does the Cut n Press make shirts?

– The Cut n Press uses a machine to ‘cut’ heat transfer material that can adhere to a shirt. This material is often made of polyprepelene or PVC. These materials are used because of their soft feel, vibrant colors and durability. This is a premium t shirt vinyl material used by professional apparel decorators all over the world. In fact, you probably have purchased garments from big brand stores with this exact material on it already. This is professional t shirt production! 

Why Heat Transfer Vinyl Tees?

– HTV (Heat transfer vinyl) is a proven and long time standing method of creating custom t shirts. Most methods of creating custom apparel are limited to materials and style of garments. Some methods of t shirt printing cannot work with cotton, others cannot work with polyester or blends. They also can vary based on the color or weave of the fabric. Heat transfer vinyl is superior for these reasons. Your methods of application, look and color are all virtually unchanged. If you have blue vinyl… it will go on just about any shirt. One last important note is that it’s clean. No chemicals to clean with, no liquids, no mess, no dirty hands, no stained floors and carpet. Excess HTV can be disposed of with limited waste and no need for special chemical disposal.

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Does it feel thick and uncomfortable?

– Simply put, No. The material we sell with this kit is designed to have a soft hand and virtually go right into the shirt. In some designs it is even hard to feel where the material was placed. It won’t feel hot, thick, rubbery or uncomfortable. Yes, this material is thicker than doing something like DTG printing, but there are always costs and benefits. The bottom line is that you and your customers will love it.

Do I need to have graphic design experience?

– No you don’t. Since you are working with vinyl material and not CMYK ink printing, it takes away a lot of complications. You will work with solid colors, glitters and alike. Since you aren’t printing, you take away a lot of complicated processes like color matching, gradients, color bleeding and more. If you do have some software and design experience you will absolutely pick this up extremely fast; experience always helps. There are also plenty of resources online for purchasing pre-made art or getting custom designs converted to vector formats. We will help you get started with the software and then it’s just ‘practice makes perfect.’

So, how does it work?

– Let’s start with a simple explanation; we can chat in detail about layering and more later. Here are the steps:

• 1. Design your shirt. Use the software to create lines that will literally be cut out of the vinyl material. The lines on the screen is where the blade will cut out your design. The software can automatically convert jpg, gif, bmp and other raster images into lines. You can also custom draw designs and create lettering using fonts already in the software.
• 2. Pick your vinyl color and t shirt. Just decide the type of shirt and color of vinyl. You can use sports shirts, polyester, cotton, tanks, tees, sweaters, hoodies, jerseys, etc. The vinyl comes in solid colors and glitter depending on the look you like. More styles and colors of vinyl are to come as well!
• 3. Cut out the vinyl. You will place a roll of vinyl into your cutting machine, click ‘Send to Cutter’ and the machine does the rest. It only takes a minute.
• 4. Weed the vinyl. This just means pulling off the excess material you don’t want to adhere to the shirt. It pulls off easily leaving behind a tacky transfer paper to apply to the shirt.
• 5. Position on your shirt. Just place the material where you want it to be and the tacky paper will hold it in place. You can hold it up or step back to look… even try it on.. and it wont fall out of place.
• 6. Heat Apply. Use the heat press to apply heat and pressure for about 10 seconds. Then just peel the clear transfer tape off and the vinyl is adhered to the shirt. You just made a custom shirt!

Do vinyl t shirts wash well?

– The short answer is YES. The longer answer is, it depends. Not all HTV is created equal. Plenty of materials do not adhere to garments as well or can appear to wrinkle easily. This is true with any apparel decorating methods, cheaper knock off style methods won’t wash well, won’t feel good and won’t stand the test of time. However, when you choose to work with good quality custom apparel products, like what comes with the Cut n Press, you will find that it washes well, lasts long and brings back repeat customers!

What comes in the Cut n Press Starter Kit?

When you click on the products you will find all of the details in the description, this will explain in detail. There are two kits we currently offer; the Starter and the Professional. These kits are basically the same, but the professional kit comes with a larger heat press and significantly more vinyl. You can watch our unboxing video below to get a great detailed explanation. This video specifically goes over the Starter kit.

Are you ready to get your business started? Contact Us

[email protected]  –   800-891-1094