How to Heat Press a Hoodie
A Hooded sweatshirt or “hoodie”, is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing. They can be sporty, chic and anything in between, but they all offer easy style and comfort. Additionally, there are many options for heat application. If you have a hooded sweatshirt, chances are it could be customized with Siser® heat transfer vinyl. Whether you’re adding an extra embellishment (say maybe a pocket or hood detail) or full out customizing a blank sweatshirt you’re going to run into some obstacles you may not have encountered before. Have no fear! We have the tools and tips you need to heat press hoodies.
I started by creating my artwork in Adobe Illustrator and then exported it to Leonardo® Design Studio to cut it out using my Juliet® cutter. I chose to use StripFlock® Pro and EasyWeed® for my design. StripFlock will help add dimension to my design. For Juliet, it can be cut using these settings: Blade:45°, Speed: 10, Force: 25. EasyWeed is thinner and more elastic than StripFlock Pro, so I decreased my force to about 10 but kept the same blade and speed. Make sure to do a test cut and make any adjustments to the settings if necessary.
After weeding all my transfers I placed them on multi-purpose paper. Now I can stack my transfers without the carrier sheets sticking to each other. This makes it a lot easier for me to carry all my project pieces to the heat press.
I’m applying on a 100% polyester hoodie with what seems to be about a million seams. Ok, maybe I’m over exaggerating, but those seams are the obstacles I was warning you about earlier. They like to get in the way during heat application by not allowing the upper platen to fully connect with the transfer. As sneaky as seams are, we’re sneakier. That’s right, we have tricks! We call them heat transfer pillows.
How to Heat Apply the Front of a Hoodie
For the front of the garment, I’m using a 12×14 heat press pillow. This elevates the center of the sweatshirt higher than the front pocket seams.
I also made sure that all the seams at the top of the garment were hanging off the lower platen so they don’t get in the way.
Set your heat press to 305°F to apply EasyWeed. Since there is a pillow inserted in the garment you will need to turn your pressure down, otherwise your pressure will be too firm and your heat press may not even close.
I cut the carrier sheets so that I could apply the orange and black at the same time. When applying multiple transfers at one time you want to make sure none of the HTV or carrier sheets are overlapping with another. Protect your garment and the EasyWeed from direct contact with the upper platen by placing a heat transfer cover sheet over the carriers. Then I did a 1 second tack and peeled the carriers hot. I only tacked the material because I added a layer of StripFlock Pro over “Maxed”, re-covered with the heat transfer cover sheet, and pressed for 15 seconds. Peel StripFlock’s carrier when it’s cold to the touch.
How to Heat Apply the Pocket of a Hoodie
Avoid putting unnecessary heat on the front application by sliding the hoodie until only the pocket is on the lower platen and the rest of the sweatshirt hangs off.
Place a heat transfer pillow inside the pocket to lift the surface from the surrounding seams. If you don’t have a heat transfer pillow, a few stacked up mouse pads or even a folded towel will work just as well.
Similarly to my process for heat applying the front of the hoodie, I tacked EasyWeed for 1 second and peeled the carrier hot. Then I added a layer of StripFlock Pro, and pressed for 15 seconds, and peeled the carrier when it was cold. All presses were done with a heat transfer cover sheet, of course.
How to Heat Apply the Back of a Hoodie
The back is the simplest place to apply on a hoodie because it has the least seams to avoid and, therefore, doesn’t require a pillow. However, you will want to make sure your design is placed low enough on the back so that when the hood is down it doesn’t cover the design. The back of this hoodie is all EasyWeed which made layering a breeze because of the 1 second tack.
A popular placement for a business’ website or social media URL is the lower back. When applying to this area make sure the bottom hem is off of the lower platen.
How to Heat Apply the Sleeve of a Hoodie
The 5×18 heat press pillow is a life saver when it comes to heat applying sleeves (it’s also great for pant legs!) The pillow gives me a flat area to apply to. I pressed EasyWeed for 15 seconds and peeled the carrier immediately after pressing.
How to Heat Apply the Hood of a Hoodie
Position a heat press pad in the hood and let most of the garment hang off the heat press. If you can, move your press on to a table when applying to the hood and sleeves. This will make hanging the garment off the lower platen less of a balancing act.
There are so many application locations to choose from when you heat press hoodies! You may have noticed that there are also so many seams! When you have the right tools you can heat press hoodies while avoiding the obstacles seams pose. Contact your local distributor so you can start using heat press pillows and get the best applications possible. Not sure who your closest distributor is? Send us an email at info@siserna.com.
