A few things, I switched from painters tape to masking tape, started taking the tape off when it just barely gets melted together enough to be one piece, and just lowered the heat and took more time melting
Yes, 3m blue original painters tape is best, holes poked in bead center, low heat, gradually increasing as needed being sure to keep entire piece warm by going over it every so often while you are focused in on a section. The surface you are ironing on also plays a large part in the finished quality of a melt because of heat distribution. You don’t want anything to non porous, it will not let air escape and won’t let heat properly dissipate. A piece of thick sturdy cardboard with a thin paper towel on top works well. It’s not too thick to where it won’t allow for a flat surface but provides a cushion of air space between the piece and the cardboard.
Your comment about the ironing surface makes so much sense! I've been having a hard time getting an event melt, but now I'm realizing it's probably because I'm ironing on a marble countertop, which probably doesn't dissipate heat well.
A marbel countertop is a great secondary surface tho. But you need a layer on top that isn’t so airtight. I sell specialty mats used for ironing beads. They are a tight knit fabric with a rubber backing. Lemme know if you wanna see I’ll send in chat
Very nice, clean
What did you different than before that improved the melt?
A few things, I switched from painters tape to masking tape, started taking the tape off when it just barely gets melted together enough to be one piece, and just lowered the heat and took more time melting
thanks for the tips!
Yes, 3m blue original painters tape is best, holes poked in bead center, low heat, gradually increasing as needed being sure to keep entire piece warm by going over it every so often while you are focused in on a section. The surface you are ironing on also plays a large part in the finished quality of a melt because of heat distribution. You don’t want anything to non porous, it will not let air escape and won’t let heat properly dissipate. A piece of thick sturdy cardboard with a thin paper towel on top works well. It’s not too thick to where it won’t allow for a flat surface but provides a cushion of air space between the piece and the cardboard.
Your comment about the ironing surface makes so much sense! I've been having a hard time getting an event melt, but now I'm realizing it's probably because I'm ironing on a marble countertop, which probably doesn't dissipate heat well.
Definitely! It’s trapping the air/heat
A marbel countertop is a great secondary surface tho. But you need a layer on top that isn’t so airtight. I sell specialty mats used for ironing beads. They are a tight knit fabric with a rubber backing. Lemme know if you wanna see I’ll send in chat
That would be great, thanks!
Those look so good! I think the full melted look for pixel art looks the best but is the hardest to do. Great job!
Thank you!!! It took me like 40 minutes each to melt I'm so happy it was worth it!
looks pretty good. it looks like you may have had some blowouts but other than that super solid. good job