10 Things I Hate About Heat Presses

Heat presses are not optional if you’re in the t-shirt or custom t-shirt business.  You’ll need a heat press to do DTG [direct to garment printing], both before AND after you print a shirt.

Not only that, but if you want to do t-shirt transfers with the new white toner printers, or white toner transfers you’ll need one too. Same goes for wood prints or custom prints on custom coasters and tiles.

And, you most certainly need a heat press to do HTV – that’s heat transfer vinyl. Heck, you even need it for using a Cricut and making t-shirt designs. Same goes for sublimation, embroidered patches and sometimes screen-printing.

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Heat presses are one of the most useful tools in the custom t-shirt business… and yet they’re just so… unsatisfying.

Heat presses have primarily been the same for 20 years. And here is what I hate about them:

•  It’s so MANUAL. It’s a big, heavy chunk of metal gets heated up.
• It’s so MANUAL You pull on a big lever to press it down onto a shirt or whatever.
• It’s so MANUAL You yank up the lid when the timer goes off.
• They are REALLY heavy and ridiculous to take to an event and set up.
• What if you’re not tall? I’ve seen people put steps in front of a heat press because they couldn’t reach the top of the handle.
• Those clamshells can be hard to close – what if you hurt your shoulder or have arthritis or something?

They’re NOT That Accurate

They are not ACCURATE for temperature! Here’s a fun exercise (not). Set your heat press to 350F then measure the heat on the surface. Come back in 10 minutes and do it again. Take a reading in different parts of the press. All D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T.

Some of them don’t open automatically. Do you run a business? Can you stand there and watch a transfer cook on your heat press for 3 minutes? Even if they beep when they’re done – what if you’re on the phone? In the bathroom? Wasted transfer.

They are not ACCURATE for pressure. Some processes are very particular about the pressure you use on the heat press. What a waste of time – when the pressure is set with a BIG SCREW and knob that you basically have to “feel” to figure out what “medium” pressure is.

Even the new ones, the really expensive ones share too many of these old-fashioned approaches.

Okay, I’m oversimplifying. There are swing away presses that you move the big heavy lid off to the side. There are air presses that let you push a button or 2 to make it go up and down (but you need an air compressor with those – cool, but a pain)

Why Haven’t Heat Presses Come Farther Along?

20 years ago my phone at the house plugged into the wall. It had an ANTENNA for goodness sakes.
It had an answering machine separate.
I couldn’t leave my house with that phone and have it work!
Now I’ve got an iPhone that I can basically produce a tv commercial on, or do my taxes on – WHILE talking on the phone.
My heat press – exactly the same.
20 years ago people gave presentations with a slide projector.
20 years ago Windows 98 was hot.
Those things changed – heat press design? Not so much.

Just My Rant, I know. But…

Look, I know there have been some advances and there are some cool slider swing air special super duper heat presses out there.
But when you look closely, you’ll still see the handle to press down, the screw to turn, the temperature variable and the pressure readings just a general idea.
Hopefully, someone will see this and invent the next heat press!
Dyson heat press? Tesla heat press? Apple or Samsung heat press? Sign me up!