How to Print SweatPants and Yoga Pants with Your Heat Press
lonCustom printed pants are a great add on sale to your t-shirt business. Using a heat press to add a name or a logo to the pant can be very profitable since often this size print can fit on the same sheet as your front t-shirt print as a gang sheet. You can print in the thigh area or take a print down the leg. Also, you can use vertical Express names to add individual names. Like all apparel decoration the best product to use is based on the fabric content of the pant itself. Let’s take a look a some of the most common pants to print.
Types Of Pants
Sweatpants
This type of pant has been the favorite of many for years. There are not many things more comfortable than slipping on a pair of sweatpants. These fleece pants are typically a poly/cotton blend fabric content. For this reason, all of the Transfer Express products can be applied. The best choice will depend on the number of ink colors you are using in your design, the quantity you need of the same design and the print size. Some popular sweatpants’ styles are the Port and Company Core Fleece PC90 or the version with pockets, PC78P, Gildan 18200 or the Jerzees 974MP with an open bottom.
Yoga Pants
Yoga Pants have more stretch and will typically have Spandex content. Since there is Spandex, this does limit your product choice to UltraColor Max or UltraColor Stretch. The choice would be based on how many you need. If you need just 1-24, UltraColor Max will be more cost effective, for larger orders switch to UltraColor Stretch. Two popular Yoga Pants are the LPST880 and LPST890.
Joggers
Joggers have a more tapered fit than most sweatpants. These are often 100% polyester. Some popular styles are the Sport-Tek PST95 and the District DT1307 with Rayon. These fabrics are more heat sensitive limiting your decoration choice to low temperature products that are less likely to scorch. Some low temperature application products are UltraColor Max, UltraColor Pro, and Elasti Prints.
Wind Pants
Nylon wind pants are making a comeback, I know my kids used to call these swish pants because the nylon fabric made a swish as you walked. Just watch that there is no waterproofing that will affect application.
Scrubs
This style pant often worn in doctor’s office or hospital is a new niche you can reach. Scrubs are often 100% cotton, allowing all transfers to be able to be applied.
Flannel Pants
The flannel pant, or pajama pant has become another popular type of pant. This pant is 100% cotton, and all transfer types will work. These are especially fun at Christmas as bottoms for matching pajamas.
Sizing
When printing pants your customer may desire a print on the thigh area or want a print all the way down the leg. If printing in the thigh area, we recommend approximately a 4×4 print. If going down the leg, it is easiest to keep the size to the paper size you will be using as long as your heat press is that large. For a standard screen print this would be 14” long, for a jumbo screen print 17.5” long, for UltraColor Max 22” long and for UltraColor Pro or Soft, 18” long. If you decide to go longer you will need to apply the transfer in two parts.
Application
If you are applying the transfer the thigh area of your pant, obstructions such as seams and pockets will need to be dealt with. A good solution is to cut a mouse pad just a little bigger than your print and slip it under the print area to create a firm, flat surface. With the raised print area, you will need to turn adjust down your pressure. If you are printing down the pant leg, I like to use the natural fold and place the print as close to that seam as possible. To overcome this seam obstacle, you can either use a leg platen or adjust the pressure to firm to compensate for the seam. Then just follow the time, temperature and peel provided with your custom transfer order.