Tutorial: How to Use Pressing Pillows in Your Heat Press

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Heat press users will know that some items are more difficult to press such as infant bodysuits, shirts with pockets, or items with zippers or thick seams. In the past, I’ve folded a hand towel and placed it inside the garment that I am pressing a design onto. This method works okay, but I’ve had some lifting on a few of my designs because the pressure was not even. I recently found out that there is a better method – using heat pressing pillows. Lou, the inventor of the Tee Square It (which I reviewed here and here), also manufactures sof-fusion heat press pillows. His company, Heat Press Essentials, graciously provided a set of pillows to me to review in this post.

How to Use the Sof-Fusion Heat Press Pillows

1. Adjust the pressure by turning the pressure adjustment knob on your heat press towards the minus sign (or similar, depending on your model). My heat press model is a PowerPress which I picked up on Amazon here. It works great, I’ve never had a problem – besides some typos, LOL! 
2. There should be about a half inch gap between your heat press pads when the heat press is locked down. 
3. Insert the heat press pillow inside the garment to be pressed and pre-press the garment for a few seconds. 
4. Add your design and press at the necessary time and temperature with a teflon sheet.

The pressing pillow set I received from Lou has 4 different pillow sizes: 6 x 6 (infant, toddler, and bags), 5 x 16 (sleeves and pant legs), 10 x 10 (kids and smaller adult garments), and 15 x 15 (large adult garments). The pillows are reusable, made with a foam core, and covered with teflon material. They can be purchased at this link on Amazon. If you press a lot of items in your Silhouette or Cricut business, I think the cost is reasonable because it makes difficult jobs easier.

If you don’t have a heat press yet, or if you are wondering if you need one – hurry over to this post.

Christine Schinagl, Cutting for Business

Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available through the Design with Me series.

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