DTF settings Celsius for UK crafters

Troubleshooting

Ghosting or shiny marks

Three marks get called the same thing. A ghost repeats the picture. A shiny box is the shape of the platen. A halo sits around the design. They have different causes.

A ghost

A faint second image means the film or the shirt moved while the adhesive was still soft. It happens if you drag the carrier off to one side, if the shirt shifts as the press opens, or if the second press is not lined up with the first. Peel straight and steady, in the direction the sheet allows. For the second press, put the garment back in the same place. Tape is rarely needed on DTF the way it is on sublimation paper, but the shirt still has to lie still.

Moisture makes the soft version of this mark. Steam moves things. Pre-press until the fabric is dry.

A shiny box

A rectangle the size of the platen is the fabric, not a failed design. Polyester and nylon do it first. Hi-vis tape can dull in the same press. Cover the garment. On polyester and hi-vis, use the cooler end if your sheet allows it. Heat press settings has a longer note on scorch from vinyl and sublimation. The same rectangle can appear around a DTF print. More time will not polish it away.

A shiny halo

A gloss outline tight to the design is usually adhesive squeezed out, or the edge of the film pressed too hard. Ease the pressure. Keep the second press covered and shorter if the sheet allows a range. Do not wipe it with solvent. If the halo is only on one side, the platen was tipped and that side took all the pressure.

Xpres and Amaya both put a cover sheet in the method, a silicone sheet or protection paper. Use one. The bare platen is how boxes get shiny.

Common questions

Will the shiny box wash out?

Sometimes a light glaze softens. Often it does not, especially on polyester and nylon. Do not promise that it will. The next press needs a cover sheet and, on sensitive fabric, less heat. Another press on the same mark makes it worse.

Is a ghost the same as scorch?

No. A ghost is a second, fainter copy of the design, slightly offset. Scorch or glaze is a shiny or brown area with no second picture. A halo is a shiny outline tight around the print, often adhesive.

Sources