How To Heat Print Waist Bags

Waist Bags, Belt Bags, Fanny Packs, Bum Bags. Whatever you want to call them, the summer festival scene always sees the yearly rise of sales in this particular product because of how easy to use the accessory is. 

Secured by a single strap around your waist, Waist bags are designed for convenience and hands-free carrying of personal items such as keys, money, phone, and other small essentials. . Because there are often strict rules surrounding what you can and cant take into a gig or festival, waist bags are favoured due to their compact size and how hard they are to steal.

So how can you heat print onto a Bum Bag?

These particularly tricky print spaces are easiest to print on a hat press.

Why can't you just lay a Fanny Pack down on a heat press platen? 

Because of the thick zips and seams holding the bag together.

Unfortunately if you lay it down on the platen, your heat press will take pressure readings from the thickest area of fabric. Which, as you can see from the above image, is likely to be the rolled seam at the base of the bag. Every time you bring the press down, that seam will get in the way of your heat transfer recieving the correct time, temperature and pressure.

Because of the curved nature of a bag that hugs the body, the curved platen of a hat press is a fantastic fit for printing.

We've used the Hotronix 360IQ Hat Press because of its moulded and heated lower platen. Because most waist bags are made of Polyester, they can be heat sensitive, meaning that if you're using a traditional cap press to put all the heat through the top platen, you risk scorching the outside of your bag. By using a 360IQ Cap press with lower heat, you can reduce the top platen temperature and put the majority of the heat through the bottom platen and the inside of the bag. Meaning, any scorch marks will not be visible on the outside.

Find out more about the hat press: