The Heat Press Lab: Siser EasyWeed Matte Vs. EasyWeed Stretch
When it comes to matte heat transfer vinyl, Siser offers both EasyWeed Matte and EasyWeed Stretch as their offerings. Though which one is the definitive material to use? Stay tuned to this episode of The Heat Press Lab, where we’ll be closely comparing the two matte vinyls not only by their purpose, but as well as their appearance and color gamut.
To fit in with their standard line of EasyWeed heat transfer vinyl, Siser offers EasyWeed Matte, which replaces the semi gloss look with a matte finish for a few of the most popular EasyWeed colors. This includes colors like Black, Red, Green, and Orange, which are now able to stand out under heavy lighting with this material. And despite being different from its standard counterpart, EasyWeed Matte matches its high quality and robustness, and is applied with the same exact press settings with no additional quirks.
Now with EasyWeed Matte as an available option, you may have heard about EasyWeed Stretch as another alternative with a matte finish. While this is true, Siser’s EasyWeed Stretch is mainly designed to accommodate stretchy fabrics, in addition to common types like cotton and polyester. As a result, this material is one of the thinnest and lightest vinyls from Siser, noticeably eliminating the glossy EasyWeed look. With its unique build, EasyWeed Stretch does require different press settings to fully adhere onto fabrics, most specifically the increased temperature to 320 degrees Fahrenheit and firm pressure.
This isn’t to knock on EasyWeed Stretch however, as it's arguably more versatile than standard EasyWeed by being more applicable to stretchy fabrics. But what about the matte look of EasyWeed Stretch? How well does it hold up against EasyWeed Matte? As our first test, we’ll be comparing two shirts applied with the same colors, but from the two different materials on each one. Even by looking closely at our results, both EasyWeed Matte and EasyWeed Stretch are tough to distinguish from each other. This means that the matte finish of both materials is more or less identical.
Now before you hop onto choosing one or the other EasyWeed, you may want to consider the color gamut both materials offer. From the bat, EasyWeed Matte offers a smaller set of colors compared to EasyWeed Stretch. EasyWeed Matte is ultimately meant to be a direct alternative for a selection of EasyWeed colors. EasyWeed Stretch on the other hand is an overall alternative to standard EasyWeed, offering a similarly large variety of colors, and with most of them coming from EasyWeed.
By this point, it may seem like a difference between what material you prefer to work with in terms of press settings, but what if you’d like to combine both materials for a cut design? EasyWeed Matte does lack some of the colors that EasyWeed Stretch offers, and perhaps you’d like your design to be presented with a fully matte look. As our second test, we’ll be applying a multi color design with both EasyWeed Matte and Stretch layers. Since we’ll need to accommodate for EasyWeed Stretch, we’ll be pressing all layers with the same settings of 20 seconds at 320 degrees Fahrenheit with firm pressure.
Of course, we’ll only be pressing the first layers for about 10 seconds. And for our final layer, we’ll go ahead and press it for the full 20 seconds. With all our layers applied, let’s take a closer look at our results. This cut design using both EasyWeed Matte and Stretch looks great! With the matte finish of both materials being closely similar, it's even harder to tell that we’re using both editions of EasyWeed. The only catch is that the EasyWeed Matte layers won’t be as flexible as the Stretch layers, but on cotton shirts it’s a perfectly acceptable way to achieve a full matte look for your design.
Overall, both EasyWeed Matte and EasyWeed Stretch are great options for matte HTV. While EasyWeed Matte is reliable for its press settings and likeness to standard EasyWeed, EasyWeed Stretch offers a wide color selection and customization opportunities for stretchy fabrics. Yet, both offer a similar matte finish that’s safe to combine for a completely matte vinyl design on standard fabrics.
But if you’re someone who’s had lingering questions about heat transfer vinyl and other materials, feel free to drop a comment below for us to possibly revisit later on. To learn more about Siser vinyl and other materials, please visit our website at HeatPressNation.com. For any questions, feel free to contact a MyExpert representative at heat.press/support.
