Heat Printing Made Easier: Why You Need The 11 x 15 Hotronix Platen

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Hey friends, Dave here with transfer express and today, we’re taking an in-depth look at one of the best-selling interchangeable platens for Hotronix presses- the 11 x 15!

I absolutely love Hotronix heat presses for a whole slew of reasons but the quick-change platen feature is definitely near the top of the list. If you’re familiar with our channel you may know I’m pretty fond of the Tag Along HP Platen, but don’t be mistaken- this 11 x 15 is one of the most versatile platens for printing so much more than just t-shirts. Enough talk! Let’s get right into it!

Decorating with a heat press is definitely a great, accessible way to get started with apparel printing, but if you’re running a small business or taking your t-shirt business full time, you’re probably looking to maximize your profits, and that involves making the most effective use of your your time- because time is money, right? Well, that’s where boosting your efficiency with additional platens really factors in.

Not just with the 11 x 15, but all of these quick-change platens will quickly pay themselves off in just the time you save alone. Not to mention the profit from the items that you’re going to be printing with them, too!

Now, before we dive in any further, you may be asking- ‘What are these quick-change platens, and how can I tell if my press is compatible?’ Well, it’s SUPER easy. Pretty much any Hotronix or Maxx branded heat press manufactured after 2014 has the quick-change platens as a standard feature. This includes the Fusion and air powered models. You can easily check your press by heating over to the right side and looking under the platen.

This lever here is pretty much all you need, and removing and replacing your platens is quick and easy. We’ll first pull this lever out to unlock the platen. Then we can lift the platen on the press up and out. One tip to make this process effortless is to lift from the corners of the platen. Lifting this way helps with keeping the platen even so the quick change pin here doesn’t get caught or stuck. To replace the platen, we’ll just line up our pin and lower the platen down.

One thing to note on some of these lower platens- and this 11 x 15, is the notches in the base here that allow you to choose the orientation on press, before lowering the platen all the way you can rotate it to fit the needs of the items you’re printing- We’ll cover it more here in a minute, but for fleece styles like hoodies, I like to have this 11 x 15 sideways like this to avoid seams.

Once the platen is in place, just lock down the lever here on the side and you’re all set- We always recommend readjusting pressure after switching platens because the actual platen height varies based on construction and the thickness of the pad on top.

One product that can help protect your platens here are the quick slip pad protectors. An optional accessory, these coated covers are fitted for each platen size and make garments easy to slide on and off when threading, reduce wear on this pad as well as repelling any stray ink- keeping your press nice and clean.

With our 11 x 15 platen locked in on our 16 x 20 Hotronix Auto Open Clamshell press right here, I want to show you the real power of this platen for printing apparel, so let’s grab some apparel and head back to the press.

For our first style here, and what I LOVE this platen for, is hoodies and fleece. Now, I don’t know about you, but hooded sweatshirts are the second most popular item leaving most print shops behind t-shirts. The smaller platen here isolates our printing area, so we don’t have obstructions like the pocket and seam crossing over our print area to affect our pressure.

Pressing over seams like this can have adverse effects immediately or affect your prints after they leave the shop. You may notice scorching or platen-pressure marks crossing these seams, which isn’t the best look, but at least you know- Worst case scenario, these obstructions on the printing surface impact your application where prints may prematurely crack or peel after being laundered… something you won’t know until your products are in your customers hands- So these platens add some piece of mind along with the added capabilities.

Of course, tank tops are a common garment where seams are going to get close to the printing area, or maybe even styles like those baseball-inspired raglan tees too. This smaller platen allows for the full decoration area while still getting these seams and collar off of the printing area.

Similarly, both youth and women's fitted styles are so much quicker and easier to load onto your heat press with the smaller platen size compared to a full-size platen where you’re going to have to stretch the garments to fit. With the trend of crop tops and athleisure showing no signs of slowing down, this 11 x 15 platen is perfect for printing on these popular styles without slowing production down or compromising on the quality of your prints.

Printing tote bags, backpacks or duffel bags? Isolate the straps and any thick seams or stitching with this 11 x 15” platen too.

One last tip to keep in mind when using these smaller platens is to reduce the pressure accordingly. This helpful chart details the pressure compensation for smaller sized platens. On Hotronix machines like this one, the pressure readout is assuming the pounds per square inch is spread out across the entire 16x20 surface of this heating element, however, since we’re focusing the pressure on a smaller area, our pressure force is increased. This can lead to platen marks, overapplied transfers or in some cases- scorching on some of those more heat-sensitive garments. We’ll link that pressure guide for download down in the description too.

As always, be sure to subscribe to the Transfer Express YouTube page to stay up to date on all of the helpful t-shirt printing tips, tricks, inspiration and education that we’re dropping every single week.

Until next time, I’m Dave, happy pressing!

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