How To Fix Cracked Print On Shirt | 3 Methods to Ensure Print Stability

Fashion is not complete without screen printing on t-shirts, shirts, hoodies, and other clothing. One of the most fashionable attires is screen printing on clothing. After several washes, however, a shirt’s print may crack, even if it was just bought a few days prior.

Even though this is true, it is shameful to throw away a shirt just because it has a cracked print when it looks stunning to this day. And, at this point, the creative idea appears that you can restore or revive the former attractiveness of your shirt. In this article, we have accumulated all the tips and techniques on how to fix cracked print on your shirt, which will help you deal with that difficulty at its best.

Why Does The Print Crack?

As people are becoming trendy and always searching for something new and fashionable, printed shirts and t-shirts have also gained their marks in this fashion era. Usually, a printed shirt comes with lettering or design and even an image on it. Not to mention, the printing here is actually textile printing and is only used in durable fabric types.

Usually, the image or design of the shirt can crack for three reasons. These are as follows:

1. Prolonged Use

Anything you use for a long time will cause it to decrease its quality day by day. Similarly, the designs or images of the shirt start to fade away after prolonged use. If your shirt is good enough in quality, you actually don’t need to fix the cracked print. Because, the print only becomes cracked after long-term use, and you’ll never want to fix the print on an old shirt.

2. Low Print Quality

In this case, you may have bought a low-quality shirt, and it’s obvious that the print will be cracked after a few days of use. Though the print is cracked, the clothing may still be new. So, you need a fix for your cracked print in that case.

3. Improper Care

If the proper care of the clothing is not taken, the design or image of the shirt will start to be cracked. For instance, if you bleach or use a harsh chemical to wash your shirt that wasn’t meant for it, you may crack the print at some point. So, you can fix the cracked print in that case too.

How To Fix Cracked Print On Shirt – Look at the Methods

In reality, a high-quality print on a shirt can also be cracked if you don’t treat it carefully. In this way, you can actually prevent the print from damaging, and you don’t need to think about fixing it too. However, when fixing really becomes a necessity, you can use three basic techniques which will be now explained below.

Method 1: Using Hot Iron

Specifically, you can use a steam iron to fix the cracked print on a shirt. In this method, you actually remove the print from the shirt instead of correcting it. That means you can get a fresh shirt after getting rid of the print.

1. First, turn the shirt over and put a board inside just below the print. This board can also help protect the other side of the shirt.
2. Put medium-sized papers on both sides of the print, which can cover the whole print. Don’t use cardboard or magazines as paper. Get the official white papers without lamination and use them the same way. This way, the top paper will protect the canvas from iron and the bottom paper will stick to the molten print after ironing.
3. Now, fill the water tank of the iron and heat it at maximum temperature.
4. After that, turn on the steam function and iron the top paper. For ironing at the top, the print will melt into the bottom paper. Remove the whole sticker now using a plastic card or a knife.
5. Perform all the tasks very carefully so that you don’t burn your fingers or damage the fibers. If you can’t scrape the whole print on the first try, repeat the whole process several times to remove it entirely.
6. When the entire print is removed, wipe the shirt using a nail cleaner. If the glue of the print is still not removed, you can use regular vinegar to wash that glue. And, after that, you are ready to wear your fresh and clean shirt again.

Method 2: Use External Paint

In this method, you need to paint over the previous design so that the shirt can get the same look again. So, this technique is known as paint masking. Because you are actually masking the cracked print to get a fresh look.

1. Select a paint mix to repair the cracked print. Only one mix is enough for one project.
2. Before painting the shirt, you should mix a volumetric medium into the paint. Adding this medium will allow the paint to get thicker, and the cracks can be filled in a better way, too.
3. After adding that medium, you need to add another usual medium, which will help the paint to stick to the fabric more securely. However, don’t forget to read the instructions since you may sometimes need to iron after painting the print.
4. When the paint is perfectly stuck to the fabric, let it rest for some time in a dry place. When the shirt is fully dried, your crack-repairing task is over.

Method 3: Using Medical Alcohol

Fixing cracked prints using alcohol is not very common. However, it is very effective in removing the textile print. Not to mention, thermal printing can suffer when using this type of agent. Because solid polymer-based printing is very reactive to alcohols.

1. First, clean your shirt carefully, and there should be no dust left on the fabric. Because the dust deforms when it gets in contact with the alcohol.
2. Remove the print by pouring alcohol into it. In this process, the print becomes so delicate and damp that you can simply remove it with scratches.

Conclusion

Ultimately, a small cracked or broken print part causes anyone to throw the whole shirt. However, sometimes the shirt remains good, but the print is cracked and brings frustration. In such a condition, you can use a steam iron or alcohol to remove the print entirely. And, when you just want to repair the print, use an external paint mix to print again.