DTF Transfer Safety

Pressing safely

Heat, ventilation and what the materials do at our recommended settings compared with the temperatures where they break down.

What the materials do at our settings

Our recommended setting is 280°F (138°C) on the print for 3–5 sec. The full instructions, per fabric, are in the heat-press guide; this page is about what happens to the materials at that temperature.

Three things are on the platen: the printed ink film, the adhesive beneath it, and the carrier it rides on.

• The adhesive is a thermoplastic polyurethane with a melting range of roughly 105 to 118 °C. At our setting it melts, flows into the fabric, and sets as it cools. That is the whole mechanism of the bond.
• The ink film is pigment in a polyurethane binder. It softens with the adhesive and bonds with it.
• The carrier is PET. It does not melt at press temperature; PET softens at around 250 °C.

Every one of those is far below the temperature at which it breaks down. Published studies place the onset of thermal decomposition for thermoplastic polyurethanes and for PET at roughly 250 °C and above, more than a hundred degrees past where a heat press operates. What you may notice at a normal press is a faint warm-plastic smell and a little steam from moisture in the garment.

Ventilation

Press in a ventilated space as a matter of good practice. We say this not because we have measured something that requires it, but because it is the right default for any process that heats plastics, and because garments and presses vary. We have not measured press emissions ourselves, and we would rather say that than imply a result we do not have.

Overheating and burning

The honest answer to "what if it burns" is the same as for any plastic, and the manufacturers name the products:

Ink film

Under normal conditions of storage and use the manufacturer reports that hazardous decomposition products should not be produced. Hazardous combustion gases or vapours may be generated in a fire.

Adhesive (polyurethane)

Combustion may produce carbon oxides and nitrogen oxides. Firefighters should wear positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus.

Carrier film (PET)

Heating or burning may release decomposition gases including acetaldehyde, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

None of this happens at a normal press. It happens when a closed press is left sitting on a transfer, when a platen is set far above the recommended temperature, or when a sheet is burned. Keep to the setting, never walk away from a closed press, and if a transfer or garment is scorched, ventilate the area and discard it. Do not try to re-press a scorched transfer.

Peeling

Peel the carrier as the instructions for that transfer say, hot or cold. The carrier's coating stays on the film. The peeled carrier is PET waste; the carrier film page covers disposal.

Burns

Treat a contact burn as you would any thermal burn: cool running water for twenty minutes, no ice, no ointments, and medical attention for anything beyond a small superficial burn. Keep a burn kit at the press.