Where to Find Heat Press Comparison Information.
If you’re like me, you want all the information you can get your hands on before making a buying decision, especially if it’s something that you will use a lot, like a car, washers and dryers or MP3 players. I usually check Consumer Reports and other online sources. The problem is, if you’re looking for specific equipment, such as a heat press, it’s more difficult to find unbiased reporting. I wish I could be unbiased, but since we manufacturer the world’s most innovative heat presses, you probably think everything I say is just a marketing ploy to get you to consider our heat presses. And in some of the heat press comparisons I’ve run across online, they don’t even include Stahls’ Hotronix heat presses, but I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to why that is. So, since I honestly want you to feel confident about choosing the best press for your business on your own, I would suggest going to industry forums, such as T-Shirt Forums to see what your peers are talking about. Of course there is plenty of information on the subject of choosing a heat press on Stahls‘ website, where we try to point out what you should look for, even from other manufacturers. There is also a series of videos from Josh Ellsworth of Imprintables Warehouse that has a lot of good points on things to look for when choosing a heat press. If you don’t know where to start, this is a good place.
Josh Ellsworth Heat Press Buying Guide
Good luck and happy comparison shopping!
Hi Ted!
I didn’t know where to leave this comment, but here goes:
We have a heatpress, and the plattens will eventually need a good clean-up (even if we were very careful during 6 years of use!)
Do you have something we could use – I can’t seem to find anything that really does the job… we’re screenprinters so we did try the polythinner and varsol – to no avail… Oh – and the stuff would need to be available to Canada since we are in Quebec! 🙂
Thanks Ted!
Sylvie
I’ve certainly been guilty of not using a cover sheet or doing some kind of heat press application that one way or the other left a goopy mess on the upper heat platen. Sylvie, you didn’t mention if your press had a Teflon coating or not. If it does, usually you can clean it by letting the platen heat up and then rubbing vigorously with a rag, but you have to rub pretty hard, but it should come off. (wear heat proof hand protection when attempting this) If it’s not a heat press that has a Teflon-coated platen, you might have to use some light sandpaper or maybe a cleaner called GoJo, which has a light pumice sand in it, used in industrial situations or by car mechanics for removing nasty stuff from hands, or any other heavy degreaser with hot soapy water. (of course when the machine is unplugged) However, if you use something with grit, such as Comet cleanser or Ajax on a Teflon-coated platen, you can scratch the heater. If you don’t want to go to all this cleaning trouble, maybe you can try using a Teflon cover sheet to protect your garments during application. Stahls’ offers a QuickSlip Pad protector to protect the bottom platen from stains and also make it easier to get garments on and off the lower platen.
A good platen cleaner is EZ OFF from http://www.heatpressessentials.com
This product is used in the cleaner industry for cleaning irons with scorching build up.