Whether you’re a new customer or you’ve been with us for years, it’s a question we hear time and time again… What’s the difference between all these standard heat transfer vinyls?
While they may all look the same, deep down a lot of these products have their own pros and cons. So to help make your decision, I’ve made a chart that might better help your decision.
| Price | Cutability | Weedability | Instructions | Feel / Look | |
| JSI PerfecPress | 20” Standard colors: 1′ – $3 3′ – $9 15′ – $3720” Fluor. Colors: 1′ – $4 3′ – $10 15′ – $41
Best priced PU HTV, ideal for large quantity jobs. |
Standard cutability for Standard HTV. Fairly similar to Siser Easyweed in this regard. Metallic colors not recommended for small or ultra-fine detail. | Great weedability for small detail/fine detail work, with exception of the Metallic Gold and Silver. Metallic colors still great for small but simple, normal sized, or large designs. | Press at 305 F Medium Pressure 10-15 seconds Warm peel |
Smooth feel on all designs, but can feel like plastic on layered large designs, or designs that use a lot of vinyl surface area.
Matte texture / look, but if repressed with a teflon sheet, it can come out with a luster. |
| Siser Easyweed | 15” Standard colors: 1′ – $3 3′ – $9 15′ – $3515” Fluor. Colors 1′ – $4 3′ – $11 15′ – $42
20” pricing also available. |
Standard cutability for Standard HTV.
Fairly similar to JSI PerfecPress in this regard. |
Best weedability for small detail/fine detail work. Product has super sticky liner. Easy to stick accidentally peeled up details back down to liner, but may cause frustration with some larger designs. | Press at 305 F Medium Pressure 10-15 seconds Hot Peel |
Smooth feel on all designs, but can feel like plastic on designs that use a lot of vinyl surface area.
Matte texture / look, but if repressed, darker colors may exhibit a luster. |
| ThermoFlex | 15” Standard colors 1′ – $3 3′ – $9 15′ – $3715” Neon colors 1′ – $5 3′ – $12 15′ – $44
Most expensive standard HTV. |
Slightly more ridged liner, can take slightly heavier pressure without cutting through material. | Average weedability, can be difficult to work with when using it for small or fine detail jobs as the liner is not as sticky. Easier to work with simple, medium, or larger designs. | Press at 330 F Medium Pressure 17-20 seconds Warm Peel (Cold Peel for Neon, Metallics, and Columbia Blue) |
Soft feel on all designs.
Matte texture / look. |
| Quickflex | 15” Colors 1′ – $3 3′ – $9 15′ – $35Equivalent pricing as Easyweed. |
Not suitable for small detail cut jobs. Material will peel while cutting fine detail. | Extremely difficult to work with small or fine detail jobs. Better for simple, medium, or larger designs. | Press at 330 F Firm pressure 6 seconds Warm Peel |
Super Soft texture on all designs. Ideal for any designs that use a large surface area of vinyl.
Matte texture / look |
| PerfecPress Sport | 20” Standard Colors 1′ – $2.50 3′ – $7.50 15′ – $28Cheapest standard HTV available. |
Slightly thicker than other products due to it’s PVC content, will require more pressure to cut. | Can be difficult to work with small or fine detail jobs as the liner is not sticky and anything peeled up cannot be stuck back down on the liner. Despite that, still weeds surprisingly well. | Press at 310 F Medium Pressure 10-15 seconds Cold Peel. |
Thicker feel, still soft feel.
Matte texture but if pressed again, the material can exhibit a glossy texture. |
| Stretchability | Durability | Layering* | Popularity | Special Features | |
| JSI PerfecPress | Slight stretchability, definitely less noticable in designs that take up a lot of surface area. | Strong durability. Tested up to 30 washes without cracking or peeling. | Layers well on top of itself. Layers on other products that advertise layerability. Other products can layer fine on top of it. | JSI PerfecPress is gaining popularity due to it’s great price and color selection. Used in both crafting and production environments. | N/A |
| Siser Easyweed | Slight stretchability, definitely less notricable in designs that take up a lot of surface area.
Easyweed does however have a super stretchy “Stretch” version also available and recommended for form fitting clothes or spandex clothing. |
Strong durability. Tested up to 30 washes without cracking or peeling | Layers well on top of itself. Layers on top of other products that advertise layerability. Other products can layer fine on top of it. | Siser Easyweed is still our number one product due to it’s great popularity in the crafting market. It’s weedability is also a drawing factor for small or fine detail work. | Optional 1 second press time for multicolor or layered designs. |
| ThermoFlex Plus | Average stretchability. | Strong durability. Tested up to 30 washes without cracking or peeling. | Standard colors layer well on top of itself. Columbia Blue, Neon Colors, Metallics, and Metalflake colors do not layer. Layers on top of other products that advertise layerability. Other products can layer fine on top of it. | Thermoflex Plus is typically used in production environments where they need that softer material for larger surface area. | Product welds or melts back to itself if there are any cutlines that pass through the material. |
| Quickflex | Good stretchability, second best to the Easyweed Stretch product. | Strong durability. Tested up to 30 washes without cracking or peeling | Layers well on top of itself. Layering other products on top of Quckflex is not advised though. Also not recommended to layer it on other products. | Quickflex is only used when customers need to use an ultra soft or stretchy material for their designs. | N/A |
| PerfecPress Sport | Poor stretchability. | Strong durability. Tested up to 30 washes without cracking or peeling. | Product does not layer. | Cadflex is mostly used for Jerseys and numbering events as the liner is not sticky. This allows easy stacking of precut numbers, and the thickness typically prevents polyester color bleed through. | N/A |
* keep in mind, when layering different products, it’s best to test prior to moving to a production standpoint.
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