a completed cap or you can buy a vacuum
platen and screen print those on paper,”
Ortolani says. “Gang up six to eight hat-sized designs on a piece of transfer paper,
then just heat press them on. The waste
factor is next to nothing.” With ganged
images, multiple transfers are created every time the squeegee is pulled, as most
artwork for caps will fit within a 3" X 5"
area, he adds. An inexpensive option—
with roughly two cents worth of plastisol
ink on cap fronts—transfers, in Ortolani’s opinion, also look great.
“Two main types of transfer paper are
available for making plastisol heat trans-
fers,” he explains. “Coated transfer paper
has a slick coating and is used to
print cold-peel transfers with
standard plastisol. The un-
coated transfer paper is used
for printing hot-split transfers
using specially-formulated hot-
split inks.” Off-the-shelf plasti-
sol inks will suffice for cold-peel
cap transfers, generally providing
good coverage and opacity on dark
backgrounds. “However, the print
does have a shiny appearance,” Or-
tolani remarks. For hot peels, an ink
available from most ink manufacturers
specially formulated for hot-
split transfers must be used.
“This splitting action leaves
a matte finish on the cap’s
surface and resembles a direct
screen print.”
Heat transfers continue to be a vi-
able method for decorating caps, and
Ortolani observes a lot of promotional
headwear still being decorated this way.
“Other types of heat-applied graphics for
caps include flock transfers, digital trans-
fers made with inkjet and laser printers,
embroidered patches and die-cut letting.”
sol inks will suffice for cold-peel cap transfers, generally providingood ood coverage and opacity on dark backgrounds. “However, the print does have a shiny appearance,” Or-
Pressing promotions
“The benefit of decorating headwear, or
any wear, with heat-applied graphics is the
ability to offer personalization on-demand
with an unlimited amount of colors in
your graphics,” remarks Imprintables’
Ellsworth. “All you need is a cap press and
your design. You can cut your designs to
order with a cad-cutter, produce full-col-
or personalized graphics on a large format
digital printer/cutter or pre-design an
event-specific add-on graphic with pre-
made transfers.”
According to Aaron Knight of Geo
Knight & Co Inc., the curved cap heat
press was introduced within a few years
of the first T-shirt heat presses and is abso-
lutely necessary when transferring to caps.
“You really can’t do it on a flat press with-
out mangling the cap,” Knight remarks,
adding that a good cap press should have
options for two or three different sized
bottom tables for loading and correct in-
filling of the cap from behind. “We find
that our mid-sized bottom table option is
almost always needed in addition to the
standard-sized cap form when doing low-
crown and smaller curved caps.”
The youth/child size, he adds, is
less-often needed. “The cap press
is heavily used for embroidered
appliqués, screen- and comput-
er-printed transfer papers, subli-
mation, flocking/crystals and other odd
things people like to stick to hats,” Knight
comments.
Caps Direct’s Kampen mentions liquid
metal and sonic welding as examples of
heat applications that can make a brand
pop on cap in both the corporate and racing market. Additionally, she names photo
and graphic sublimation as one of the hottest headwear embellishments right now.
“This is huge in the retail market on the
Pressing promotions
ability to offer personalization on-demand
with an unlimited amount of colors in
your graphics,” remarks Imprintables’
Ellsworth. “All you need is a cap press and
your design. You can cut your designs to
order with a cad-cutter, produce full-col-
or personalized graphics on a large format
digital printer/cutter or pre-design an
event-specific add-on graphic with pre-
made transfers.”
According to Aaron Knight of Geo
filling of the cap from behind. “We find
that our mid-sized bottom table option is
almost always needed in addition to the
standard-sized cap form when doing low-
crown and smaller curved caps.”
er-printed transfer papers, subli-
mation, flocking/crystals and other odd
things people like to stick to hats,” Knight
comments.
Caps Direct’s Kampen mentions liquid
metal and sonic welding as examples of
heat applications that can make a brand
The curved cap heat press is absolutely neces-
sary when transferring to caps, as a flat press
tends to mangle the substrate. (Image courtesy
Geo Knight & Co Inc.)
