Types of clothing stickers, technologies for transferring them to fabric

We live in an era of abundance of mass-produced goods. It is not surprising that consumers want to stand out from the crowd and make their wardrobe unique. Of course, you can buy expensive branded goods, or you can show your creativity and turn an ordinary thing into an exclusive one. Stickers on clothes have become indispensable assistants for fans of creativity. They are diverse, so they are called by different terms: stickers, thermal applications, transfers, stickers. However, the essence of these products is always the same - these are inscriptions or images that can be transferred or glued to fabric.

Varieties

Stickers are very popular among children and adults. There are several reasons for this:

1. Children and teenagers value stickers because they allow you to make something bright and unique, to stand out from others. No one has cancelled the interest in the process of gluing itself. Especially since it is not banal paper that is used, but real clothes;
2. Adults appreciate appliques for their practicality. For example, you can quickly and neatly sign children's clothes or shoes, stick reflective elements on them, put a patch, hide a defect. In addition, this method does not require significant financial and time costs;
3. A wide range of colors, shapes and content of stickers. Thanks to this, both a creative teenager and a caring grandmother will find the right product.

There are many types of stickers. They differ in material and method of attachment to clothing:

1. Stickers transferred to clothing using thermal transfer printing. The application of a design to clothing and souvenirs most often occurs in printing shops. However, with due skill, the availability of the necessary materials and a printer, craftsmen make them themselves;
2. Appliques that can be ironed on or sewn on.

Stickers can be classified according to their materials and content.

• Transfers from fabric or rhinestones and glitter;
• All kinds of labels, logos, emblems;
• Children's stickers with cartoon characters;
• Neon stickers;
• Labels for marking children's clothing;
• Reflective stickers (most often for application to outerwear).

These types of stickers are usually purchased ready-made in sewing accessories stores. Craftswomen make them themselves.

It is advisable to store the stickers in a dark place (if stored in the light, the adhesive properties of the glue deteriorate). The shelf life of such fittings is no more than one year.

Methods of transferring to clothing

The type of transfer determines the method of transferring it to the fabric, the quality of the image and how well it will hold up when washed.

With adhesive layer

Most often on store shelves you can find appliques with an adhesive layer. They are convenient and easy to use. Let's consider the order of actions on how to stick a sticker on fabric:

1. The clothes are laid out on an ironing board and carefully straightened out from creases;
2. The iron should be set to the maximum heat level and the steam function should be turned off;
3. The iron-on sticker is applied to the selected place with the front side up. Carefully smooth it with your hands to avoid wrinkles and folded corners. If you need to seal a hole, then a non-woven base of a suitable shape should be placed under the applique;
4. The sticker is covered with paper (preferably tracing paper or baking parchment);
5. The applique is pressed with an iron so that it is in the middle of its sole. The iron should be pressed and held in this position for 15 seconds;
6. Then the iron is carefully lifted and the paper is left until it cools completely. After a few minutes, the paper should be removed. Now you can admire the updated product!

If the applique is large, it is more convenient to glue it in parts (for example, from top to bottom). Particular attention should be paid to smoothing the edges and small protrusions of the image.

Translations

The stages of transferring thermal transfers to fabric are no different from the algorithms for gluing regular stickers with an adhesive layer. If the fabric structure is imprinted on the image as a result of the work, then the image transfer has been successful. To avoid damaging things, you should perform a test transfer of the image on a small piece of fabric.

Sew-on

You can sew the finished applique on a machine or by hand. To make the product look neat, you need to follow these recommendations:

1. Place the applique on the fabric, straighten it out, and make sure there are no folds;
2. On the machine, install a transparent foot and select the zigzag stitch. The upper thread should match the color of the pattern;
3. The stitching is done along the edge of the applique, carefully repeating its shape.

The applique is sewn on manually with small stitches. They should be close to each other and at a right angle to the edge of the fabric. These recommendations are true for both purchased appliques and hand-made works. Separately, it is worth mentioning the labels and tags that are used to mark children's clothing. They are convenient because they do not require additional edge processing, withstand numerous washings and are easy to rip off. They are sewn to the side seam bent in half ("loop"), or on both sides (for example, on the back of the product near the neck).

Washing

In general, items with thermal transfers tolerate washing well. It can be done both manually and in a machine. Any powders can be used in machine washing. The water temperature should not exceed 60º (better if 40º). It is prohibited to use stain removers and bleaches, as they corrode the paint.

When hand washing, you can use laundry soap, but do not soak for a long time. Also, to avoid damaging the image, do not rub it vigorously with your hands.

It is recommended to iron items with thermal printing from the reverse side. This applies not only to images, but also to compositions with rhinestones.

How to delete correctly

Over time, applications lose their former beauty, and there is a need to remove them. This is easy to do without special devices. For ease of use, recommendations for removing images are summarized in the table.

Sticker type	Procedure
Sticker with adhesive base	Place the clothes on the ironing board; Place paper under the drawing; Place a paper napkin on the sticker as well; Iron with a hot iron until the design is on the paper.
Thermal transfer	Place the clothes on the table (for convenience, you can put a book under the drawing); Soak a cotton pad in alcohol; Remove the image from the product using careful movements.

Photo

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wFgG1vz_1k