DTF Deep Dive on the Second Press
Susie Graves

DTF Deep Dive on the Second Press

The second press for any DTF transfer is a crucial stage of the process. So, at DTF Superstore we decided to look at the effect a second press has on a garment when using the following 11 materials:

Second Press Types

  • Butcher Paper
  • Silicone
  • Parchment Paper
  • Kraft Paper
  • Copy Paper
  • Used DTF Film
  • Silicone Mats
  • Embroidery Stabilizer
  • T-Seal
  • Teflon sheets
  • Old T-Shirts

We graded each material on the following in determining an overall grade:

  • Feel
  • Look
  • The rubbing sound of the print
  • The crinkling sound of the print
  • What the feel of the print was like after 10 washes
  • Overall durability

We used the exact same press machine, washing machine, heating temperatures, and settings with each material. Each press was set at 285 degrees for 20 seconds.

The results were interesting and conclusive!

The T-Seal had both the best first feel and look. It also put in a solid effort in the crinkle sound category, in which most materials performed poorly in. More importantly, T-Seal was the clear winner after 10 washes also.

Overall, we found that T-Seal performed best as second press material, by a long way in fact. Kraft paper also proved to be a good choice, especially when it came to sound and feel but was not very durable.

For more information on this test and how each material performed in each category, visit DTF Superstore on our YouTube page and watch Jeremy’s detailed testing and discussion.

Download the Second Press Method Results Chart here.