Heat Transfer Paper Properties

(Inverse Relationship in Paper Qualities)

In the world of heat transfer paper, no heat transfer paper is the answer to every individual’s needs. Many of the properties of heat transfer papers have inverse relationships with one another, let me explain. Some key components that consumers tend to look at with heat transfer paper are wash-ability, color vibrancy and “hand” (how soft the transfer feels on the garment.)

Color Vibrancy (how the colors “pop” if you will) and “hand” are inversely related. This is to say that as you get a better hand with a heat transfer product you tend to lose some color vibrancy because in order for the chemist to make the sheet transfer softer to a garment, they basically need to lay down a “thinner” top coat of chemical compound on the heat transfer sheet. It stands to reason, that if there is less top coat on the sheet then of course the sheet is going to have trouble holding as much ink as a sheet that perhaps doesn’t possess the same soft hand.

Think about what I am saying here, why do inkjet heat transfer products for dark fabrics always look so colorful and bright? The answer to the preceding question is actually quite simple; to put an image onto a dark fabric, an opaque layer needs to be laid down so the colors don’t blend into the fabric. In creating heat transfer papers with this opaque layer, such as T-ShirtSupplies’ JetWear® Dark, the sheet has to be thicker because of this opaque layer thus the hand on a dark transfer sheet is never great but the color vibrancy is outstanding. The colors “pop” because they are laid down against a pure white background thus enhancing their brightness.

For light fabrics, T-ShirtSupplies’ JetWear® Hot-Peel product has a good hand but excellent color vibrancy. Conversely, T-ShirtSupplies’ Jet-Pro® SofStretch™ product has a great hand; however, it doesn’t have quite the color retention of the JetWear® Hot-Peel product.

The lesson to be learned from all this is that the consumer needs to understand what they are trying to achieve with a particular garment before choosing a heat transfer paper. If you want a soft transfer that becomes part of the garment, Jet-Pro® SofStretch™ is your choice; however, if you want a good hand with great colors on a light garment then JetWear® Hot-Peel is the paper for you. Of course, if you’re going onto a dark garment with an inkjet printer, JetWear® Dark is the finest paper in the industry for this application.