Are you thinking of using iron on patches on polyester jerseys, jackets, or shirts? Are you wondering whether it is a feasible thing to do? Are you worried about all the positive and negative consequences of such an application?
Can you iron on patches on polyester?
Polyester is a very delicate material and extra care is required for this type of fabric. However, you can still put iron-on patches on polyester fabrics but, you should not place the iron directly on top of the patches as this will burn and discolor the polyester fabric.
Table of Contents
Polyester is a synthetic type of textile that is made out of fibers and this is compatible with iron-on patches.
However, while putting iron-on patches, you need to put less heat on these types of fabric as these fabrics can not withstand high heat.
In addition, while application, you also need to make the polyester fabric wrinkle-free and you will also need to put extra padding or a towel on top of the iron-on patch so that there will not be direct heat contact and thus it will not lead to discoloration.
Will iron on work on polyester?
Iron-on patches will definitely work on polyester. Although polyester is a delicate type of fabric, it still can be proven to be durable.
However, whenever you are placing iron-on patches on any kind of polyester, then you need to keep in mind to use less heat.
Therefore, if you happen to use a temperature of 148 degrees Celsius for 15 to 30 seconds, then you will end up with good and durable work.
How to iron a patch on 100 polyester?
Iron-on patches can really help to give character to your polyester clothing. However, you need to be knowledgeable about the ways to effectively patch your iron-on patches on 100% polyester.
Inspect the Iron Patch:
This may seem like a very obvious step but it is very important to know whether the patch you have in hand is an iron-on patch or not.
To check whether it is an iron-on patch or not, you need to look for the shiny backing. You also need to keep in mind that iron patches’ adhesive will be activated only when you press the iron onto it and also the shiny backing will not feel sticky to the touch.
Decide the Place of Placement:
You now need to take the 100% polyester fabric and need to figure out the place of placement. It is better to do this earlier as you do not want to put an iron-on patch and then regret the placement of it.
The placement of the iron on patches also seems to vary a lot with the usage and the shape of the fabric as well.
If you want to put the iron on patches on a polyester shirt, then you can place it on the chest part and if it is on a polyester jacket, then you can place the patches on the back or on the front pocket area.
Get Rig of Wrinkles:
You now need to prepare the iron and the temperature of the iron will vastly vary however, in the case of 100% polyester fabric, you can set the temperature at 148 °C.
You also need to have an iron board which will be very beneficial for proper support. After all that, you need to iron the fabric itself so that there are not any types of wrinkles left.
If there are wrinkles, chances are the patches and the adhesive itself will not stick to the polyester correctly and the result will be uneven.
Place the Patch:
In this step, you need to place the patch onto the polyester fabric, then you also need to place a towel on top of it and then place the iron on top of it with a temperature of 148 degrees celsius.
You need to put pressure on your iron. After you are done with this, you need to give time for the patch to cool down.
Now, all there is left for you to do is to check whether the patch adheres properly to the polyester and whether there are any uneven areas or not.
Best iron on adhesive for patches on polyester jerseys
When it comes to putting iron on patches on the polyester jerseys, you have a lot of options to choose from and it is also very important that the iron on patches are attached to the fabric very nicely so that it will not come off easily.
To get this effect, the most obvious one is the adhesive that comes with the iron on patches and these are called self-adhesive.
Moreover, this adhesive tends to be activated when heat and pressure are put on it however, a drawback of this type of self-adhesive is that it will only be activated once without any chances of being reactivated.
Therefore, in these scenarios, the best thing for you to do is to use fabric glue to reactivate the adhesive and this will work like a wonder on polyester jerseys.
What fabrics can you iron patches onto?
It is always better to be knowledgeable regarding which fabrics are compatible with iron-on patches as this can really help eradicate all the unwanted disasters and surprises.
Cotton:
The most appropriate fabric for iron patching is cotton and nothing can beat the effectiveness of cotton.
In addition, cotton can not only withstand the heat, but it can also handle high temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit without any problem.
Being a natural fiber, cotton can adhere to the adhesive as well however, you need to be careful of the wrinkles.
Polyester:
Nothing can be more appropriate than polyester fabric. Although they are very intricate, they still can handle the heat of an iron and will let the adhesive stick onto the polyester material very well.
Poly Cotton:
You can also iron patch onto poly-cotton as this poly-cotton material is made out of a blend of polyester and cotton.
As this fabric is a cotton blend and also has a small percentage of polyester, therefore, your iron patches will not cause any discoloration and will stick to the fabric well.
How to remove iron on patch from polyester?
Applying an iron-on patch onto the polyester may seem like a very easy and fun thing to do but when it comes to the task of removing iron on patches, the task may be harder than you think.
However, it is totally doable and most of the time, the same initial application process is used to remove the iron-on patches.
In addition, you can also remove the iron on patches by using warm water, vinegar, a hairdryer, and you can also use a freezing method to remove the iron patches from the polyester.
However, the most common way of removing the iron on patches from polyester is by using an iron and by pressing it onto the iron-on patches for almost 12 to 15 seconds.
After that, you can simply peel the patch off of the polyester but you need to make sure to wear gloves.
Even after all these, some glue residue, discoloration, or stains may still be on the polyester and for that, you can either use some adhesive remover for the residues and you can use vinegar to carefully remove all the stains.
Is it better to sew or iron-on a patch?
You can definitely do both sew-on and iron-on patches on fabrics but it can also depend on the type of fabric.
Accordingly, if it is a polyester fabric, then it is always better to do iron-on patches. Additionally, if the fabric is nylon, denim, and so on, then sew-on patches will be the better option.
In addition, one of the interesting things is that you can sew the iron-on patches as well. When you are dealing with sew-on patches, it may take longer than iron-on patches.
Moreover, you need to sew the sew-on patches very carefully by not letting any edges be left out and if you sew it right, a sew-on patch is more long-lasting and will not come off easily.
However, although sew-on patches can provide a durable effect, it still should be noted that they will take a considerable amount of time and labor to finish the project.
Additionally, this issue can be modified by the usage of iron on patches as these will literally take one or two minutes to patch onto any fabric.
And this usage of less time, less labor, and less effort make these iron-on patches very efficient and better options to choose between sew-on patches and iron-on patches.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, it is definitely feasible to use iron-on patches on the polyester fabric. However, you need to put an extra layer of clothing or padding while pressing on the iron-on patches with the iron because if you do otherwise, you will end up with a tacky design.