How do you refresh or fix a Teeshirt decal?

Question

Once you wash a shirt, often the decal gets cracked or fades. I once heard that if you had an iron and (I THINK) wax paper, you could "refresh" or "Fix" the cracking. Does anyone know? And if you do know, what is the best procedure?

Okay, since so much finger pointing has resulted in the answers, let me add this. My daughter washed it by accident, didn't know about "the rules" and it was a birthday gift, so I was trying to fix a situation that upset her. Yes, we could buy another shirt. No, in the scheme of life, it's not going to drive us screaming into the streets weeping in frustration.
I just wanted to know if I could help her fix it. She's 13 and this is a "learning experience". People shouldn't assume history behind a simple "fix" question. However, I do appreciate the feedback and responses and we're going to try a few this weekend. Will let you know! THANKS again, really. :-)

Answer 1

Hi,
The OLD kind of iron on's, after they were applied to clothes, if you want to iron them then you would have to place a piece of wax paper between the iron and the fabric so tht you would not reheat the transfer. BUT with the new kind and the kind we use, it has more benefits, like be stretchy, and you can iron RIGHT on the transfer, no wax paper needed. Just don't leave it sitting on the actual decal for too long. But you can definitely go over it with an iron. Make sure you are ALWAYS turning them inside otu when washing and always cold water. I have found with my son's that if you DON'T put them in the dryer, they come out and stay brighter longer, so I hang dry mine.

Answer 2

If the decal is only cracked then yes you can fix it with a hot iron and wax paper. Put the waxy side of the paper on top of the decal and with a hot iron go over it pressing hard. Then allow it to cool before trying to remove the wax paper or you could lift the decal up with the wax paper. By doing the above you are melting the decal so that the cracks melt together and restick the decal to the shirt. The fading of the colors really cant be fixed unless you were to paint them since once color is gone it is gone. I do alot of print on decals for my grandkids using the special paper that you use with your printer. If you have a printer which I am sure you do you can always get some of this paper and scan your decal and fix the colors with your computer , print it out on your printer then iron it on to your shirt where the colors have faded. Like everyone else said make sure in the future that you wash the things with decals inside out and never use hot water or put it in the dryer. Make sure you line dry anything with a decal for it to last. Gentle soaps are better to use with decals too since some detergents are very harsh and will weaken the sticking of the decals.

Answer 3

Iron On Shirt Decals

Answer 4

After 30 billion loads of laundry I can tell you that once damaged that's pretty well IT. Learn to do it right. Always wash delicate clothing (including your t-shirts with the decals, firstly INSIDE OUT, secondly ON GENTLE CYCLE (and most preferrably HAND WASHED) and never, ever, ever, ever, EVER put it in the dryer. A few hangers on a wall rack for important clothing goes a long way on saving the life of your clothing and thus a fortune on purchasing clothing.

If you get into the habit of washing your clothing often and gently they will last you a long, long, time. Use mild detergents like WOOLITE or IVORY SNOW and just let them soak in a tub and then rinse. Use fabric softener if you want but never let it fall directly onto clothing or it will damage it. If you don't like wrinkles let the item drip dry outside or put something under it to catch the drips.

You can try to "repair" the damage to your t-shirt by putting wax paper both under and over the decal and just use the TIP of your iron on the spots you want to repair. It might melt the crack together. Go gently and slow and see how it goes. With any luck it might not look too bad unless it's cracked everywhere, in which case it will end up probably smeary. Let it fully cool before removing the wax paper or you will probably pull the decal off and ruin it totally.

Answer 5

This doesn't always work and there is a risk of actually having the decal smear. Most likely it will not work, because the ink than is going to melt and spread. The only true choices you have is to buy a new one just like that OR IF you printed the decal and put it on the shirt yourself, then you could print it again and lay it over the old one.You gotta be sure you have the cracks together tight though, otherwise it will be looking messed up. Good luck. hope this helped.

Answer 6

Why don't you embroider over the decal!

I did this for my dad about 20 years ago.

He had a windbreaker where the decal wore off, so I grabbed some orange thread and embroidered over the decal.

He liked the work that I did and to this day, many of the threads are still there.

It may take a bit of time/effort on your part, but the finished product will be long-lasting!

Answer 7

It's a marketing ploy to make christianity "edgier." Unfortunately it's in very poor taste and it just makes the dipshiits who created it look like they're trying too hard to reach out to the younger people. That's the best they could come up with? That's pretty disturbing. It's like the lame NOTW decals I see everywhere. It's all a big scam to reach out to the kids by begging them to accept christianity - making them believe church can be cool by putting a Hot Topic design on their merchandising. How low can they get?

Answer 8

i don't think there's anything you can do to "refresh" a tee shirt. I probably would try the wax paper but i don't think it's gonna be a complete remedy. the best way to prevent the cracking and fading is to hand wash it, or wash it on the gentle cycle with cold water. and use woolite. Another thing too if you're weaing like a baby tee, like if it fits tight, depending on your bust is going to cause it to crack.. Believe me I know I got big boobs. But I would try the wax paper on a shirt that you're not too crazy about just to experiment. Good LUck!

Answer 9

Unfortunately.. YOU don't.. Once that decal wears off or is damaged in some way or another, it is not really fixable. The ONLY thing to do is to live with it.. or attempt to find another decal to put on top of the older one

Answer 10

It is worth the try to use the iron and wax paper.Put wax paper on both sides,do not move the iron;only press at at a low temperature. It is best to learn how to wash the shirt. Always wrong side out in cold water ,gentle cycle. Never Dry in dryer.