Heat Presses FAQ

Over the past nearly twenty years, I’ve answered many, many questions about heat presses. So I decided to put this FAQ together with all of the more common questions about heat presses.

Can I use the same heat press for multiple different print methods?

Yes you can, but with a caveat – which is that if the process you’re using is particularly demanding on the heat press, then you’re likely to require a high performing, reliable heat press, vs a no brand budget press.

No weed white toner laser transfer printing, for instance, is demanding on the press, and you would be likely to struggle with a budget heat press.

Is there any reason to invest in a more expensive heat press, when budget heat presses are so cheap?

Yes, there are many, many reasons that it makes sense to invest in a premium heat press from a trusted brand, vs a cheap, non-branded heat press.

In a nutshell, cheaper heat presses mean cheaper components & cheaper build quality. With this comes potentially poorer performance, poorer reliability, and quite a few potential headaches.

For more see buying a cheap heat press.

Should I buy a clam heat press or a swing head/swinger heat press?

It’s completely up to you, both will work for Tshirt printing.

Swing head presses require more room to swing the head out and around the back of the press. But it means you can work on the lower table without the heat bearing down towards you.

Clam shell presses require less space.

They can be a bit easier to operated when you’re getting through larger production runs. You do have the heat coming towards you when you’re working on the lower table.

Some people don’t like the fact that they’re working close to the heat platen, with clamshell presses.

Swing away presses usually enable you to press thicker items. If you’re wanting to press onto particularly thick items such as wooden blocks or acrylic photo blocks, you’ll probably need a swing away press.

I want to print various items, are a combination or combo presses a good idea?

Combination heat presses which allow you to print onto Tshirts and other flat blanks, mugs and other cylindrical blanks, caps, and plates – seem like a good idea, in theory.

As far as I’m aware, the first combo press was created by Geo Knight, the “Digital Combo DC16”, a $1300 heat press.

Many factories in the far east quickly began to “emulate” this combination press.

I even remember that one of them had the cheek to copy and paste the Geo Knight sales copy from their website ;-).

There are now many, many different combo presses being produced and imported into the USA, the UK & Europe, and most of the rest of the world. Many of which are selling for just a couple hundred dollars or so.

The original combo press is $1300 without all of the attachments. The non branded copies are usually $200-$300 with all of the attachments. In fact, a single attachment on the DC16 costs more than most of the cheap combo presses sell for.

How anyone can possibly make combo presses so cheap, I’m not sure, but just keep in mind that if you’re relying on one press for various different kinds of items, that you really need a reliable press.

In short, I wouldn’t recommend any combination press, as I think they’re likely to be a jack of all trades and a master of none, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend one for a few hundred dollars, which probably represents under $100 worth of heat press!

Are vacuum heat presses the same as flat heat presses?

In a word, no.

Vacuum presses are meant for items which aren’t flat, and they were initially designed for “full wrap” phone and tablet cases. You put a blank phone case onto a metal jig, and then sublimate the case via the use of the silicone membrane and the vacuum pump.

Many people seem to be selling the vacuum presses based on their ability to press mugs with the use of oven clamps, using the internal oven part of the press.

If this is what you plan to use the press for, it’s a very expensive way to do it.

You can buy very inexpensive desktop ovens and use them to heat press mugs via oven clamps, for under $100. So buying a vacuum press for $500/$600 or more, to just use as an oven, doesn’t make sense to me.

Also, keep in mind that while you can use vacuum presses for flat hard substrates, it takes a lot longer then with using a standard flat heat press. This is because with Vacuum presses you’re relying on the item being heated up by the ambient temperature of the oven, rather than having direct contact with a heat platen.

Which are the best heat press machines?

In my opinion, the best American made heat presses are Geo Knight, Stahls/Hotronix, Hix & Insta. These heat presses are available in most countries. 

The best UK made brands are Adkins (in particular the Adkins Beta, also sold as Xpres and The Magic Touch) and Jarin Europa.

The best EU brands are Transmatic and Shulze, which are also available in many countries.

Apologies if I’ve missed out any great brands, and please feel free to contact me to let me know, if I have.

Many of the other presses you’ll find are the more generic imported non branded heat presses that people create their own brand names for.

Once you start doing some research, you’ll notice that there are LOTS of heat presses now with various different brand names which all look the same, which is a result of this.