STORAGE AND HANDLING OF PAPER
1. Never allow the paper to sit where it will be affected by weather conditions or possible damage.

2. Always stack cartons flat. Never stand on end side as this will cause curling and damage.

3. A cool dry, place is ideal for storing any type of heat transfer paper. Keep paper on racks or pallets away from excessive heat/moisture.

4. Always keep paper in original wrappers and cartons until the transfer paper is ready for use. Never leave unwrapped. Re-wrap or cover with plastic.

5. Rotate your paper stock often. Use first in/first out principle when managing your stock.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PAPER GRAIN
1. What determines paper grain direction? As paper is made, the pulp fibers align themselves in the direction they flow onto the paper machine wire. This creates a fundamental property of paper which causes it to react differently in alternate directions.

2. How are screen print heat transfers affected? As the moisture content changes with humidity, the paper will expand or contract. This changes in a greater degree across the grain than it does in the direction parallel to the grain. This is very important when attempting to attain good registration on multi color jobs. When running multi-color jobs, use paper from the same lot number. Never mix the long grain and short grain of the transfer paper.

CONCERNING THE CONDITIONING OF PAPER
1. For the best transferring results, pre-shrinking the transfer paper is recommended for all multi-color jobs. Pre-shrinking of the paper should be done using the exact same conditions used for the print job (temperature and time on the dryer) and if possible, the same dryer as well. Immediately after pre-shrinking, the transfer paper must be covered with moisture proof paper or plastic, as humidity can cause paper to grow back to its original size within 10 minutes. Ideally, any type of pre-shrunk paper should be kept in a hot room or hot box at 90°F or above and should have low humidity.

2. For best color registration, the transfer paper should be exposed to the atmosphere as little as possible to prevent weathering and warping of the paper. Some printers have a mini hot box at the printing press or they use very small lifts with one person designated to bring the paper from the hot room to the printing press. This is extremely important on days where the weather has very high humidity levels.

3. In general, it is best to gel the plastisol ink at as low of a temperature as possible to prevent any kind of overcure or scorching of the garment and print.

4. For printing jobs that use multiple colors, be sure to use long grain transfer paper whenever possible, as this will reduce the amount of shrinkage experienced with the transfer paper being used.