How to Heat Press A Hoodie
A Hooded sweatshirt or “hoodie”, is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing. They can be sporty, chic and anything in between, but they all offer easy style and comfort. Additionally, there are many options for heat application. If you have a hooded sweatshirt, chances are it could be customized with Siser heat transfer vinyl. Whether you’re adding an extra embellishment (say maybe a pocket or hood detail) or full out customizing a blank sweatshirt you’re going to run into some obstacles you may not have encountered before. Have no fear! We have the tools and tips you need to heat press hoodies.
I started by creating my artwork in Adobe Illustrator and then cut it out using the Silhouette Cameo 2. I chose to use StripFlock and EasyWeed™ Stretch for my design. StripFlock will help add dimension to my design. It can be cut using these settings: Blade:4, Speed: 8, Thickness, 25. EasyWeed Stretch is thinner and more elastic than EasyWeed. Plus Stretch has a matte finish! My cut settings for EasyWeed Stretch are Blade: 3, Speed: 10, Thickness: 14. Make sure to do a test cut and make any adjustments to the settings if necessary.
After weeding all my transfers I placed them on multi-purpose paper. Now I can stack my transfers without the carrier sheets sticking to each other. This makes it a lot easier for me to carry all my project pieces to the heat press.
I’m applying on a 100% polyester hoodie with what seems to be about a million seams. Ok, maybe I’m over exaggerating, but those seams are the obstacles I was warning you about earlier. They like to get in the way during heat application by not allowing the upper platen to fully connect with the transfer. As sneaky as seams are, we’re sneakier. That’s right, we have tricks! We call them heat transfer pillows.
How to Heat Apply the Front of a Hoodie
For the front of the garment, I’m using a 12×14 heat press pillow. This elevates the center of the sweatshirt
higher than the front pocket seams.
I also made sure that all the seams at the top of the garment were hanging off the lower platen so they
don’t get in the way.
Set your heat press to 305°F to apply EasyWeed Stretch. Since there is a pillow inserted in the garment you will need to turn your pressure down, otherwise your pressure will be too firm and your heat press may not even close.
I cut the carrier sheets so that I could apply the orange and
black at the same time. When applying multiple transfers at one time you want to make sure none of the HTV or carrier 
sheets are overlapping with another. Protect your garment and the EasyWeed Stretch from direct contact with the upper platen by placing a heat transfer cover sheet over the carriers. Then I did a 1 second tack and peeled the carriers hot. I only tacked the material because I added a layer of StripFlock over “Maxed”, re-covered with the heat transfer cover sheet, and pressed for 15 seconds. Peel StripFlock’s carrier when it’s cold to the touch.
How to Heat Apply the Pocket of a Hoodie
Avoid putting unnecessary heat on the front application by sliding the hoodie until only the pocket is on the lower platen and the rest of the sweatshirt hangs off.
Place a heat transfer pillow inside the pocket to lift the surface from the surrounding seams. If you don’t have a heat transfer pillow, a few stacked up mouse pads will work just as well.
Similarly to my process for heat applying the front of the hoodie, I tacked EasyWeed Stretch for 1 second and peeled the carrier hot. Then I added a layer of StripFlock, and pressed for 15 seconds, and peeled the carrier when it was cold. All presses were done with a heat transfer cover sheet, of course.
How to Heat Apply the Back of a Hoodie
The back is the simplest place to apply on a hoodie because it has the least seams to avoid and, therefore, doesn’t require a pillow. However, you will want to make sure your design is placed low enough on the back so that when the hood is down it doesn’t cover the design. The back of this hoodie is all EasyWeed Stretch which made layering a breeze because of the EasyWeed 1 second tack.
A popular placement for a business’ website or social media URL is the lower back. When applying to this area make sure the bottom hem is off of the lower platen.
How to Heat Apply the Sleeve of a Hoodie
The 5×18 heat press pillow is a life saver when it comes to heat applying sleeves (it’s also great for pant legs!) The pillow gives me a flat area to apply to. I pressed EasyWeed Stretch for 15 seconds and peeled the carrier immediately after pressing.
How to Heat Apply the Hood of a Hoodie
Position a heat press pad in the hood and let most of the garment hang off the heat press. If you can, move your press on to a table when applying to the hood and sleeves. This will make hanging the garment off the lower platen less of a balancing act.
There are so many application locations to choose from when you heat press hoodies! You may have noticed that there are also so many seams! When you have the right tools you can heat press hoodies while avoiding the obstacles seams pose. Contact your local distributor so you can start using heat press pillows and get the best applications possible. Not sure who your closest distributor is? Send us an email at info@siserna.com.
If you want to know more about achieving even pressure for your best application go here.
I bought Gildan hoodies and the pocket looks crooked to me. Would you still apply the design straight on the hoodie or do I need to adjust for the pocket? I hope this isn’t a stupid question!
Hi Cindy! Personally, I would apply the design straight and let the only crooked thing be the pocket. If you’re decorating the pocket itself then I’d consider applying the design on an angle to avoid drawing extra attention to the pocket’s less than straight lines. There’s no hard and fast rule for these types of situations though, so whatever you think looks best!
What kind and size is your press?
Hi! I used the 16×20 Hotronoix Auto Clam in this post.
What is the best Siser to use on corded crew sweatshirts?
Hi Sherry! Since the fabric is textured, I’d go with a thicker HTV like StripFlock® Pro, Glitter, or Brick® 600. You can still use thinner materials, but you may get an impression of the texture in the HTV- some people like this look and others don’t prefer it. Additionally, you may need to use a pressing pillow in order to drive the HTV into the crevices of the fabric’s ridges.
Hi Lily! I’m about to attempt to make my first hoodie using siser easy weed htv. I’ll be using the cricut easy press 2. What do you suggest the press time/pressure and temperature to be for 100% polyester, 100% cotton, and 50% cotton/ 50% polyester. I’d really appreciate the advice!!
Hi Jessica! I’d suggest reading over this blog post before applying Siser HTV with a Cricut EasyPress. In most cases, we suggest adding 30°F to the Heat Press setting, but for your 100% polyester hoodies that are more likely to be heat sensitive, I would not suggest increasing the temperature.
Hi Lily. What htv do you recommend for 50% poly 50% cotton material hoodies ?
Hi Nelda! You can use any kind of Siser HTV on a cotton/poly blend- it mostly depends on your preference.
Hi! What temperature and time you recommend for hoodies 50% poly and 50% cotton?
The regular settings for the type of HTV you’re using will be fine for a poly/cotton blend. You can see application settings for each type of HTV on our website when you scroll down on the product pages.
Thank you so much!
How far down from the neck line did you do
Hi Lupe! We typically suggest placing HTV about 2-3 fingers down from the neck line.
Hi. I really want to do sweatshirts but am worried about the quality of the htv after several washes. Have you seen any cracking or anything when applying HTV to sweatshirts vs. tshirts.
Hi Kamini! The durability of the HTV will remain the same on a t-shirt or sweatshirt. When applied with the proper time, temperature, and pressure the HTV will typically outlast the garment.
I was heat pressing Gildan Heavy Blend Zip-up hoodies with the Siser Easy-Subli Vinyl and with the black and navy hoodies the color of the hoodie was coming through the vinyl and distorting the image. Didn’t happen on the lighter color hoodies. The design came out beautifully. Why is this happening with the dark hoodies
I’m sorry to hear that, Cheryl! It’s possible that a higher heat setting than the recommended 311°F may cause dye migration on certain fabrics, but for the best troubleshooting possible I encourage you to send pictures of the issue to Support@SiserNA.com with your application steps so we may sort out the problem ASAP.
Hi Lily, we are having a few problems with splitting/ cracks appearing on a horizontal line on a hoodie (85% cotton 15% recycled poly). after only a 3 washes. This has happened on the flock. Do you think Stretch is the best for this blend of hoodie? Can a crack occur due to a lack of heat? I wonder if the pockets on the kangaroo pockets are interfering also?
Hi Cam! If the StripFlock® Pro is being stretched when the hoodie is worn then it may crack. I would suggest going a size up in the hoodie if you want to continue using StripFlock® Pro since it is not a stretchy HTV. If you want to stick with the same size hoodie, I would suggest switching over to EasyWeed® Stretch which will stretch with the fabric better.
Hi!
I recently heat pressed white vinyl on a black gildan crewneck sweatshirt and after removing the protective sheet I noticed the vinyl look dirty almost as if the black of the fabric stained the vinyl, wondering if you have any tips on how to avoid this? Maybe The heat press was too hot? Not sure what happened :(
Hello! It sounds like you may be experiencing dye migration from polyester content in the sweatshirt. The only way to prevent the color bleeding through is to use EasyWeed® SubBlock which has a built in dye-blocker. I’d suggest using that product on the sweatshirts moving forward. You could also recut the artwork in SubBlock and apply on top of the old HTV to save the sweatshirt.