Layering (HTV)

Layering HTV stacks two or more separately cut vinyl colors, pressed one at a time in sequence — bottom layer first at full dwell and temperature, each layer after that tacked down for a shorter five-to-seven-second press before a final full press seals the whole stack at once. Standard smooth vinyls like Siser EasyWeed or StahlsCAD-CUT layer three or four deep without the edges lifting; push past four on a cotton tee and the stack starts feeling like a sticker rather than a print.

For a two-color team logo or a name-and-number job, layering is what lets a shop skip screens entirely and still hit an exact vinyl color rather than an ink mix. It also changes the price — every additional layer is another sheet of material, another weeding pass, another press cycle, so a three-color layered logo on a youth tee routinely costs more per shirt than the same three colors screen printed in bulk. We quote layered HTV by color count for that reason, never as a flat per-design fee.

Order layers largest shape to smallest and bottom to top by press sequence, so upper edges land inside the boundary of the layer beneath rather than hanging off bare fabric. Watch total stack height on thin, form-fitting shirts — four smooth layers is barely noticeable, four layers that include flock or puff is a different garment entirely.

Assuming any specialty vinyl slots into a stack wherever a buyer likes is what leads to a reprint. Glitter and holographic sheets carry a textured or foiled top surface that won't bond to more vinyl pressed over it, so they have to sit on top, last, never underneath another color. Get the order wrong and the top layer peels off by the first wash.