When we talk about heat transfer stickers and labels, heat transfer paper is involved. So, the next question is, what is heat transfer paper? Let’s read ahead to know more about heat transfer papers.

What is heat transfer paper?

Heat transfer paper is treated as a fabric sticker. It is used as a base to print the sticker design on it. The printing can be done with the home inkjet printer. It can be applied to fabrics having 100% natural content. The heat transfer technology behind this paper is using heat to fuse the printed design to the fabric. 

The heat paper can only be used on fabrics that contains 100% natural fibers. For example silk, linen, or cotton. It will NOT work well on stretchy, polyester fabrics like lycra or spandex blends.

Any kind of design can be printed on heat transfer paper. From Images, quotes, sayings, names, to everything together. As long as the garment to be customised is 10% natural fabric, you are good to go with the process.

The different kinds of papers and difference between them

Heat transfer paper is of two types.

1.  Transparent Heat Transfer Paper for light fabrics.

2.  White Heat Transfer Paper for dark fabrics.

We use transparent or clear heat transfer paper to apply designs on white fabrics or very light colored fabrics. This heat transfer paper is a very thin, just like a transparent film. Since, it is so thin, the color of the colored fabrics shows through the paper when applied on colored fabrics.

For darker colored fabrics, we use white heat transfer paper. White transfer paper is a thin opaque white film. The opaque white transfer does not let dark fabric colors show through the transfer. It is necessary to cut as close to the design as you can while using white heat transfer paper. This is done because any white left around the image will be visible after it is transferred onto the garment. Same goes for the transparent heat transfer paper as well. Cut as close to the image as possible. 

Image settings before printing?

The image will need to be mirrored if transparent paper is being used. This is because suring heat pressing, the printed side of the decal is placed down onto the fabric. However, if white heat transfer paper is being used, there is no need to mirror the image. This is because the printed side of your decal will face up when applying on the fabric. Another thing to remember when you are working with white heat transfer paper is that the backing will be removed from the printed decal before pressing.

To know which side of the paper to print on, look for the silky matte finish side. The silky matte finish side is the front of the paper and here you will print your image. The back side has shiny, glossy look to it. Sometimes this side has the colored grid printed on, red or blue . Remember that the designe is NOT to be printed on the back side.

We hope this little article gave you enough information to answer the question, “what is heat transfer paper?”. Thanks for reading on our site!