Why do you need a good quality heat press for tailoring?

A thermal heat press is a hot pressing device that works with an electrical system and sometimes with a compressor according to the available model to merge two pieces of fabric and the interwoven filling material using heat and pressure. 

A heat press is used for several reasons, including: merging woven material designs on clothes, merging the interfusible filling into fabric, or to print graphical images on clothing. In the field of tailoring, we see this device is essential for making a lot of things relevant to sewing clothing such as sleeves, collars, and other things such as button covers and so on. This article will discuss some information based on our experience as a course of recommendation for new tailors and beginners on how to use the heat press and some tips regarding its operation within a tailor shop.

There are many types of heat presses in the global market, but most of them are somewhat unfamiliar to the tailor. I will discuss this point in more detail throughout the article. Heat presses have precise technical details and I advise everyone who intends to buy one to answer three important questions to help them choose a suitable heat press for their project. 

The first question is: What is the manufacturer country or what is the brand? Unfortunately, Chinese brands and factories in China have many disadvantages, including an uneven heat distribution on the heat press plates, which causes a bad fusion on the woven fabric due to the poor bonding of the adhesive particles to the filling layer. Sometimes the heat press will exhibit issues and the machine may suddenly break. This will cause a lot of concern to the tailors and a difficulty in finding spare parts for the machine during such a period because most Chinese heat presses are poorly manufactured and are not good quality.

The second question is: What are the technical specifications of the device There is a lot of specifications you should know of, but the most important ones are the five things I will mention here which include: the maximum heating temperature, the time required to reach the maximum heating temperature, the pressure available or exerted from the device, the electricity required to operate the device, and the method of operation of the device. 

When you buy some interfusible linings from the market, each filler has requirements in terms of temperature and the time required under pressure to integrate it with the fabric market, the most important point is to note the required bonding temperature and to make sure the heat press can reach that temperature. 

Most heat press devices that compress the fabric require applied pressure to help improve the bonding of the fabric, to avoid displaying miniature bubbles that come with time. I advise anyone who wants to buy a heat press to read the instructions manual and the electrical consumption of the heat press before operating the device.

The third & last question: is there a maintenance center or a repair technician nearby? The previous tailors we had in our workshop had a lot of difficulty in repairing the heat press due to the lack of knowledge and technicians in the market. They also faced some obstacles to find skilled people to install spare parts. Therefore I recommend you to buy a heat press from a local authorized dealer to avoid this potential problem, even if the price of the heat press machine is more expensive than buying it from abroad. 

I wanted to provide you with a simple list of well-known brands of heat presses located in Kuwait or within the Arabian Gulf region: Secabo, Oshima, Metalknox, MEM, Hotronix, & MAXX. In conclusion, I hope this article will help you find out what heat press is right for your project by balancing the retail price of the device with the required quality for bonding and the speed of operation to use it on a daily basis.