Guide
How DTF works
Direct-to-film puts a full-colour design, white ink included, onto a clear film. You press that film onto the garment. The shirt does not have to be polyester.
If you print the film yourself, Xpres describe coating the wet ink with hot-melt powder and curing it until it has an orange-peel look. Their steps say about 3–4 minutes at 150–160°C. The recommended section on the same page says about 2–3 minutes at roughly 150–160°C. Both are on that page. Use the sheet that came with your powder, and keep powder off the printer. Masks, gloves and eye protection matter with hot-melt powder. That is a printing job, not a pressing job.
Most people using this site are pressing a transfer someone else has already made. Your work starts at the pre-press. The adhesive side goes against the fabric. The carrier film faces you. Press, peel, press again. Fabric-by-fabric numbers are on the fabric pages and in the lookup.
The blank kids’ pyjamas linked from the children’s clothing page are cotton, so this is a DTF job or a vinyl job, not sublimation. A full-colour picture belongs here. A one-colour name may be simpler as heat transfer vinyl.
How to do it
- Start from a finished transfer, or make one. A bought gang sheet is already printed and cured. If you print your own, the design goes onto DTF film, powder coats the wet ink, and the powder is cured until it looks like orange peel.
- Pre-press the garment. Xpres say to pre-press so the fabric is dry and flat. Do this before the transfer goes down.
- Press adhesive side down. A common setting they describe is 150–160°C for 10–15 seconds at medium pressure, under a silicone sheet. Your packet overrides that.
- Peel the way the film says. Their how-to says to take the garment off the press and peel cold. Hot-peel and warm-peel films say otherwise. The word on the packet is the instruction.
- Press again under a cover. Return the garment, cover the print, and press again for the time the sheet recommends. Evolution cold-peel sheets suggest 10–15 seconds.
Common questions
Do I cure powder if I bought the transfers?
No. Curing is part of making the transfer. A finished gang sheet is ready to press. Do not bake a bought transfer in a curing oven because a printing guide mentioned 150–160°C.
Why is there white ink?
So the design shows on a dark or coloured shirt. The white sits under the colour on the film. Sublimation has no white ink, which is one reason it cannot lighten a navy shirt.
Sources
- Xpres, how to DTF — powder cure, pre-press, 150–160°C for 10–15 seconds, cold peel, second press
- Xpres DTF Evolution cold-peel sheets — second press 10–15 seconds; wash up to 40°C inside out; iron on the reverse only