need help with wicking shirt

[drose700]

Recently got a heat press, never used one before. I tried to press a name on the back of a hockey shirt that was dark orange with black trim, including piping from the shoulder to underarm. I used a mouse pad because of the piping and followed the instructions that came wih the lettering (I purchased the name from transfer express). I have a hotronix. It damaged the shirt, you can see the imprint of the mousepad. Can someone tell me what temp, etc. I need to use on this type of shirt, it's 100% polyester. Thanks!

[Ballyhoo]

Polyester, including your mouse pad, is dyed using a process called sublimation. Sublimation is a property of a material to go from solid to gas without becoming liquid along the way. Think of dry ice. When you heat sublimatable inks (it is really a dye), they gas and that gas migrates to unintended places. This is why some screen printers will not print on polyester because when it goes through the drying "ovens" the dyes sometimes migrate through the ink. I have had problems with inkjet transfer papers and vinyl films. Less than 10 seconds of heat seems to be OK. Longer and it starts to gas. I don't have a solution, just the explanation!

David Sklar
Ballyhoo!
Arlington VA

[drose700]

Thanks for the help David. I will try the 10 seconds, what temp will it tolerate?