Personalized thermal transfer logo production and use

At present, there are a wide variety of decorative items on the clothing. To attract the attention of consumers, many personalized designs appear on the clothing, fully satisfying the young people's pursuit of fashion. Some garments have irregular surfaces and cannot be printed using direct printing methods. This requires a transfer method to achieve this. The following is a brief introduction to the production and use of thermal transfer logos.

Glow thermal transfer logo

1. Screen preparation

According to the design pattern making screen, the color pattern part adopts 300-mesh screen, the light-emitting part adopts 100-200-mesh screen, the specific mesh number is determined according to the selected particle size of the light-emitting material, and the light-emitting material with a larger particle size selects the number of meshes. Small mesh, large particle size luminescent material selects mesh with a large mesh. The adhesive is screen printed with 100 to 200 mesh. The contours of the protective layer, cover layer and adhesive layer screen cover the entire pattern, that is, all the outlines of the entire pattern are blank portions, so as to ensure the quality of the pattern. Note that the thermal transfer pattern after printing is reversed when making the plate, and the screen should be reversed in order to ensure that the pattern after the thermal transfer is positive.

2. Raw materials

Transfer paper, luminescent materials, thermal transfer inks, thermal transfer adhesives, solvents.

1) Substrate: The selected material should have good release properties, so that the printed pattern can be smoothly peeled from the substrate. Generally choose single coated silicon paper, the thickness should be appropriate, in the case of acceptable prices, the best choice for the thickness of some coated silicon paper, so as not to uneven patterns.

2) Selection of light-emitting material: The particle size of the light-emitting material should be appropriate, the light-emitting pattern produced by too much light is rough, and the pattern made of the same amount of light-emitting material is too poor in toughness. The light emitting material is generally selected to have a particle size of 10 to 25 μm.

3) Thermal transfer ink: The choice of thermal transfer ink depends on the luminescent material. The common luminescent material is not water resistant, and the pH of the ink to be used is in the range of 6 to 8; only the specially treated luminescent material can select water-based thermal Transfer ink, but the price of such a luminescent material is relatively high, and in general, this method is rarely used. The products described in this article use oil-based thermal transfer inks. Since a luminescent material is used, the transparency of the ink must be required in order not to affect the luminescent effect and the luminescent brightness. The color of the ink selected by the pattern layer should be bright, so as to ensure that the produced pattern has a strong three-dimensional effect and a good visual effect.

4) Thermal transfer adhesive: no special requirements, as long as the thermal transfer to the clothing above the adhesion can be good.

5) Solvent: Generally used in dry agent.

3. Craftsmanship

The thermal transfer process is: base paper processing → printing protective layer → printing pattern layer → printing luminescent layer → printing overlay → printing adhesive layer → drying → packaging 1) protective layer: 300 mesh screen printing transparent heat Transfer ink (if the ink viscosity is too large, it can be diluted to a suitable viscosity with a thinner), and the entire pattern is printed with a transparent ink, which is mainly used to protect the pattern layer, so that the pattern has abrasion resistance, washability, chemical resistance , And play a role in positioning patterns. Use natural drying or low temperature drying.

2) Pattern layer: The pattern layer can be printed once with thermal transfer color ink. The mesh number used is 300 mesh. The viscosity can be adjusted with thinner according to the actual situation. The order of printing is mainly based on the color from dark to light. Pay attention to the positioning accuracy so as to avoid misalignment when printing the light pattern. Use natural drying or low temperature drying.

3) Luminescent layer: The luminescent material and the transparent thermal transfer ink were formulated into a luminescent ink in a 1:1 ratio, and the viscosity was adjusted with a diluent.

Using 100 to 200 mesh screen printing, the number of printing according to the brightness of the light to determine the brightness of the light is high, the number of printing more light, low brightness, printing times, the general printing of two times to meet the requirements. Use natural drying or low temperature drying.
4) Cover layer: Due to the use of a luminescent material printing pattern, a white reflective layer must be printed behind the pattern to increase the individualized effect. We used a white thermal transfer ink to print over the entire pattern with a screen printed with a protective printing layer. Use natural drying or low temperature drying.

5) Adhesive layer: Finally, the hot-melt adhesive layer is printed with a screen of 100-200 mesh to ensure that the entire pattern is covered. It is mainly used for bonding patterns and fabrics. Use natural drying or low temperature drying.

6) Packing: After the dried heat transfer label is packaged, it is placed flat.

4. How to use and precautions

1) Put the fabric that needs to transfer the pattern on the heat transfer machine. The material of the fabric can be polyester, acrylic, nylon, etc. The surface of the fabric should be kept clean. Then dry the heat transfer marking adhesive layer facing the fabric and place it in place.

2) The heat transfer machine temperature was raised to 110 ~ 120 °C, the pressure was adjusted to 20 ~ 30N, the heat transfer machine on the plate after pressing down 20s open, remove the fabric to cool to room temperature can tear off the base paper.

3) Fabrics with a thermal transfer pattern should not be rubbed hard when washing to avoid pattern damage.

4) Do not scratch the pattern with a sharp object.

5. Personalized thermal transfer logo features

1) The transfer process is fast and the method is simple.

2) It is not possible to directly print by a screen printing method on a small area or a complicated surface, but it is easy to realize using a thermal transfer pattern, and multi-color printing can be realized.

3) Thanks to the use of light-emitting materials, it is more decorative and can greatly improve the product quality.

4) Strong adhesion and good wear resistance.

Other heat transfer logo

The production process of the heat transfer printing logo is basically the same, except that some special materials have been added to the personalized logo, which makes the thermal transfer logo distinctive. Hereafter, several personalized thermal transfer logos are introduced.

● Pearlescent heat transfer logo: The luminescent material in the above transparent thermal transfer ink is replaced with a pearlescent material, and the produced logo flashes colorful colors in the sunlight.

● Diamond Heat Transfer Sticker: Adds material with scattering and reflection function to the thermal transfer transparent ink, and has the light of the diamond in the sunlight.

● Reflective heat transfer logo: Adding gold and silver powder with reflective properties to the thermal transfer transparent ink, the logo produced has a reflective effect similar to that of pearl in sunlight.

● Color change heat transfer mark: In the thermal transfer transparent ink, add the material with discoloration function, and the produced mark pattern can produce different effects under different light, heat and humidity conditions.

● Aroma transfer logo: In the thermal transfer transparent ink, add different flavors of spices, the pattern produced in a certain period of time can emit different flavors, make people feel better.

At this stage, there are many types of heat transfer labels, and more new materials will appear in the coming period. The types of heat transfer labels will be more numerous and will definitely meet the needs of the market.

Reprinted from: Screen Printing