How to find the best temperature & pressure for sleeking

proTIP #7
 
 
In this proTIP, Bob gives some tips for finding the best temperature and pressure to use when sleeking. 

If you're having trouble with letters filling in or residue being left behind when you sleek, the issue may be your temperature or pressure. 

With SLEEKpro, less is more. If you have too much heat, it will cause picking, where it re-melts the toner, and when you strip away the foil some of the toner will come with it. Too much pressure and you may cause the opposite issue — blocking — where fine details may start filling in.

Specific guidelines for SLEEKpro applications are extremely difficult due to the number of variables involved in the process. These include, but aren't limited to the media, environmental factors (moisture content, etc.), print engine, ink/toner coverage, etc.

Some very basic guidelines are to use the minimum amount of pressure and heat to achieve good results. So start with the lowest pressure and lowest heat possible and increase in 5° F increments until you start seeing the desired results: very solid, flat adhesion to broad areas. 

Often, it's just a matter of figuring out what works best with your print processes and your sleeking device. For example, if you're using one of our PODTopic machines, we suggest starting with a temperature of 212° F (100° C) and pressure of 40psi (2.75 bar) and slowly increasing one at a time, until optimum results are achieved. 

But if you have any questions about the sleeking process, feel free to drop them here, and our team will be in touch.

How to avoid picking when sleeking
Understanding what causes it and some tips for avoiding it