Over the past nearly twenty years, I’ve answered many, many questions about heat presses. So I decided to put this FAQ together with all of the more common questions about heat presses.

Can I use the same heat press for multiple different print methods?

Yes you can, but with a caveat – which is that if the process you’re using is particularly demanding on the heat press, then you’re likely to require a high performing, reliable heat press, vs a no brand budget press.

No weed white toner laser transfer printing, for instance, is demanding on the press, and you would be likely to struggle with a budget heat press.

Is there any reason to invest in a more expensive heat press, when budget heat presses are so cheap?

Yes, there are many, many reasons that it makes sense to invest in a premium heat press from a trusted brand, vs a cheap, non-branded heat press.

In a nutshell, cheaper heat presses mean cheaper components & cheaper build quality. With this comes potentially poorer performance, poorer reliability, and quite a few potential headaches.

For more see buying a cheap heat press.

Should I buy a clam heat press or a swing head/swinger heat press?

It’s completely up to you, both will work for Tshirt printing.

Swing head presses require more room to swing the head out and around the back of the press. But it means you can work on the lower table without the heat bearing down towards you.

Clam shell presses require less space.

They can be a bit easier to operated when you’re getting through larger production runs. You do have the heat coming towards you when you’re working on the lower table.

Some people don’t like the fact that they’re working close to the heat platen, with clamshell presses.

Swing away presses usually enable you to press thicker items. If you’re wanting to press onto particularly thick items such as wooden blocks or acrylic photo blocks, you’ll probably need a swing away press.

I want to print various items, are a combination or combo presses a good idea?

Combination heat presses which allow you to print onto Tshirts and other flat blanks, mugs and other cylindrical blanks, caps, and plates – seem like a good idea, in theory.

As far as I’m aware, the first combo press was created by Geo Knight, the “Digital Combo DC16”, a $1300 heat press.

Many factories in the far east quickly began to “emulate” this combination press.

I even remember that one of them had the cheek to copy and paste the Geo Knight sales copy from their website ;-).

There are now many, many different combo presses being produced and imported into the USA, the UK & Europe, and most of the rest of the world. Many of which are selling for just a couple hundred dollars or so.

The original combo press is $1300 without all of the attachments. The non branded copies are usually $200-$300 with all of the attachments. In fact, a single attachment on the DC16 costs more than most of the cheap combo presses sell for.

How anyone can possibly make combo presses so cheap, I’m not sure, but just keep in mind that if you’re relying on one press for various different kinds of items, that you really need a reliable press.

In short, I wouldn’t recommend any combination press, as I think they’re likely to be a jack of all trades and a master of none, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend one for a few hundred dollars, which probably represents under $100 worth of heat press!

Are vacuum heat presses the same as flat heat presses?

In a word, no.

Vacuum presses are meant for items which aren’t flat, and they were initially designed for “full wrap” phone and tablet cases. You put a blank phone case onto a metal jig, and then sublimate the case via the use of the silicone membrane and the vacuum pump.

Many people seem to be selling the vacuum presses based on their ability to press mugs with the use of oven clamps, using the internal oven part of the press.

If this is what you plan to use the press for, it’s a very expensive way to do it.

You can buy very inexpensive desktop ovens and use them to heat press mugs via oven clamps, for under $100. So buying a vacuum press for $500/$600 or more, to just use as an oven, doesn’t make sense to me.

Also, keep in mind that while you can use vacuum presses for flat hard substrates, it takes a lot longer then with using a standard flat heat press. This is because with Vacuum presses you’re relying on the item being heated up by the ambient temperature of the oven, rather than having direct contact with a heat platen.

Which are the best heat press machines?

In my opinion, the best American made heat presses are Geo Knight, Stahls/Hotronix, Hix & Insta. These heat presses are available in most countries. 

The best UK made brands are Adkins (in particular the Adkins Beta, also sold as Xpres and The Magic Touch) and Jarin Europa.

The best EU brands are Transmatic and Shulze, which are also available in many countries.

Apologies if I’ve missed out any great brands, and please feel free to contact me to let me know, if I have.

Many of the other presses you’ll find are the more generic imported non branded heat presses that people create their own brand names for.

Once you start doing some research, you’ll notice that there are LOTS of heat presses now with various different brand names which all look the same, which is a result of this.

If you’re thinking of buying a cheap heat transfer press machine, I just wanted to give you this quick warning.  At the end of this post, you still may well buy a cheap heat press, but you’ll at least understand the choice you’re making, and that’s Heat Press Henry’s goal. Hmm, I just referred to myself in the third person, I’m not sure what that means… Anyways.

I’ve been working with heat press machines for longer than I care to admit. I’ve had a lot of experience of a wide range of heat press machinery, from the cheapest heat press machines all the way up to the most expensive well known heat press brands.

So I know exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to the pros and cons of buying a cheap heat press.

Buying a Cheap Heat Press – Pros

There’s only one pro, which is that cheap heat presses are, of course, cheap – or “cheaper”, in comparison to known brands.

Other than cost, there’s no other pro to speak of when it comes to deciding to invest in one of the cheapest heat presses on the market.

Buying a Cheap Heat Press – Cons

Poor Reliability.

In my experience, the cheapest heat presses on the market are among the least reliable. When someone is manufacturing a piece of equipment with price and speed of production (of the heat press itself, not the production the user will be doing with it) being the main priorities, reliability is not likely to be particularly high, especially given that many of these heat presses are generic, the manufacture isn’t creating a brand that they need to protect by ensuring the reliability of their equipment.

Poor Durability. 

To make heat presses cheaper, you have to use cheaper components. Cheaper components are usually weaker than their more expensive counterparts, and as a result, the cheaper heat presses tend to be less able to put up with the knocks they’ll often suffer in transit, and also the general wear and tear from daily use. Generally speaking I’d expect something to fail on a cheap heat press much sooner than with a branded press from a reputable heat press manufacturer, made using better quality components. 

Potentially Dangerous.

I’ve had electric shocks from heat presses, I’ve seen some scary wiring inside cheaper heat presses, and it’s not hard to see why the cheapest heat presses could be dangerous. I’ve even heard horror stories of cheap heat presses setting on fire! The one that springs to mind was a mug press, the heater blanket errupted into flames, but thankfully the user was watching at the time and was able to deal with it before a fire was able to break out. 

Often Impossible to Maintain & Repair.

The reason for this, is that many suppliers of the cheapest heat presses simply “box shift”, they often don’t stock parts, nor offer any kind of maintenance or repair if the heat press has a fault. I receive many phone calls from frustrated printers, desperately trying figure out where to get a part for their heat press. 

I’m not saying don’t buy a cheap heat press

The first thing I want to make clear, is that I’m not saying don’t buy a cheap heat press. I’m simply saying do be fully aware of the choice you’re making. What many people do is buy a cheap heat press machine without even realizing that what they’re buying is actually one of the very cheapest heat presses. 

Let’s imagine that you didn’t know how much motor vehicles cost, and you bought a brand new Sedan for $5,000. Well, $5,000 is a lot of money isn’t it? If you didn’t know how much a reliable Sedan would usually cost, you may expect to be buying a well built, reliable vehicle that will look after you and your family. So when you’re on the expressway and your new Sedan makes a strange noise, and then comes to a halt – you would be shocked and upset, if you didn’t realize the risk you were taking when you parted with that $5k. 

But then someone in the know would say something along the lines of: You paid $5,000 for a brand new Sedan, what were you expecting, a Mercedes Benz? 

I’m not saying don’t buy a cheap heat press, it may be your only option, due to your budget, and you can of course upgrade your heat press later.

All I’m trying to get across with this post, is that if you buy a very cheap heat press, it would serve you to be fully aware of the choice you’re making.  

Understanding how much money has actually been spent on your heat press.

What many people don’t consider,  when it comes to heat presses, is that cheap means cheap. I think this is due to being unfamiliar with these kinds of machines. 

Take vehicles for example,  if you drive, do you own the very cheapest car you could possibly find?

Most people understand that if they’re going to buy a super cheap car, they’re making a decision based on necessity, which may well come back to bite them. 

You wouldn’t expect a cheap sub brand to perform the same as a BMW or Mercedes Benz.

You would buy a cheap car with the knowledge that you’re not going to have the same kind of comfort, power, safety, reliability & total mileage that you’re likely to get if you could afford to invest in a much more expensive vehicle. 

When buying machines that folk aren’t as familiar with, however, such as heat presses, people often don’t apply the same kind of logic. To many people, a heat press is just a lump of metal which applies heat & pressure, so it may appear that a heat press is just a heat press, and that paying for a brand name is a waste of money.

Anyone who’s experienced with heat presses will know that this isn’t the case at all. In fact, buying a heat press is  very similar to buying a car. If you buy cheap, you’re risking poor performance, poor reliability & potentially poor safety.

The reason that there are cheaper versions of any piece of equipment or machinery, is demand. There’s a demand for cheaper everything – and where there is demand, supply will follow. 

Historically, the way such demand for more affordable versions of any popular item has been met was with advancements in manufacturing processes. For example, Henry Ford revolutionized assembly-line  manufacturing in order to produce the first widely affordable motor car, the model T. 

In more recent history, though, the way supply tends to meet demand for dramatically lower priced versions of popular items, is lower cost production in the far east. Far east manufacturing companies are incredible when it comes to “emulating” popular products & manufacturing them at a much lower cost in order to meet the demand for lower cost versions of these popular products. 

This isn’t purely down to where the products are manufactured. Many of the most well known brands across most industries manufacture or at least partially manufacture their products in the far east. It’s due to what the goal is, when manufacturing such products.  

If the goal is simply to make the cheapest version of a product, without any focus on reliability, performance & longevity (which are the kind of things you would focus on if the goal was to build a reputable brand, but not if the goal is simply to make the cheapest version of a product), then what you’re going to end up with is simply the cheapest possible version of a product. It’s unfair to expect the resulting product to live up to the expectations of the more expensively produced product being replicated. 

A real life example of this is the Geo Knight DC16 Digital Combo heat press,  from one of the world’s best heat press brands Geo Knight, vs the many, many cheap copies that are manufactured in China & Taiwan. 

The DC16 is not a cheap heat press. It’s very well built, using high grade materials and components. The RRP is around $1500 even just with the flat platen, and the individual tools for mugs, caps, plates & cubes are between $200-$400 each – so with all attachments you’re talking about $2600.

The idea of having one heat press which is capable of producing Tshirts, mugs, plates, caps & other products – is very appealing, but the cost isn’t all that appealing – so it would have been apparent quite early on after the DC16 was launched, that there was a demand for a cheaper version.

I recall one of the first versions, it was such an unashamed copy that the Chinese supplier actually copied and pasted the marketing information from the Geo Knight website and simply changed the name. I’m not kidding! But it was substantially cheaper.

Soon after, there was competition for this copy, and within no time at all there were several competing versions, getting to as low as a few hundred dollars. 

Now, the cheapest versions of these cheaper combination presses, are between 8 and 9 times cheaper than the DC16 with all the attachments. 

But they’re not the Geo Knight DC16, they’re not made using the same components & materials. The DC16 is likely to out-perform cheaper imitations in all areas, including performance, ease of use, durability & reliability.

Here’s an exercise which should help to highlight my point.

Take the cost of the cheap heat press you’re looking at, which has been imported from the far east (which is nearly always the case with the cheapest heat presses).

Divide this price by five, and you’re probably somewhere close to how much money has actually been spent on building that machine.

The rest of the cost includes the profit of the manufacturer, the profit of the agent (there’s very often an agent involved), packaging costs, shipping costs, import duty etc.

So if you’re thinking of buying a $300 heat press, you’re actually considering running your Tshirt printing business using probably no more than $60 worth of heat press components.

Let’s say I’m way off, and it’s actually closer to $120, this is still nothing when you consider what goes into building a heat press, including the cost of the components, and labor.

We’re talking about steel platens, a heating element, a control panel, a thermostat, opening assist (springs or gas struts), power supply, framework, plus the labor costs of the people employed to assemble the heat presses.

With the leading brands of heat press, such as Geo Knight, Stahls, Hix, Insta and Shulze, just a single, fairly inconspicuous component used in the heat press could have a higher value than the entire build cost of cheaper imported heat presses.

Semi Disposable Heat Presses

The cheapest imported heat presses, are machines that are made to be used until they stop working, and then to be disposed of. They’re not made to be serviced & kept in operation for long periods of time. When the goal is to make the cheapest version of a product, period, then you’re likely to end up with a semi disposable machine, as opposed to a machine which can be maintained and serviced over a long period of time.

If you’re lucky, you may get a year of two of work from your cheap heat press – maybe more, but maybe a lot less, too.

If you’re unlucky, you may get a year or less from your machine before you need to replace it. Although, if you’re really unlucky, you may need to replace the press much sooner. You may have a warranty, but then it depends on who you purchased your heat press from and whether or not they honor the warranty. 

If you’re buying your heat press from eBay or Amazon, you need to be careful to ensure you’re buying from a reputable supplier.

“Box shifters” tend to pop up selling heat presses on websites like Amazon & eBay, who see heat presses and other equipment simply as a commodity to sell by offering the lowest prices – and what you’ll often find is that sellers like this aren’t around for very long. This means that many people find that their supplier isn’t around by the time they contact them with an issue.

I know this from experience, I received so many phone calls over the years from people who this had happened to, who were phoning to see if I knew where they may be able to source parts and support for their heat press. 

My stock reply was to phone the supplier they purchased their press from, and usually the reply was that they’d already tried that and the supplier doesn’t stock parts, or no longer exists.

The heat press is the most important piece of equipment for T shirt printing businesses.

The heat press isn’t just a piece of machinery that T shirt printers use. It’s the one piece of equipment that you can’t run your business without, regardless of what printing processes you’re using.

You could have a contour cutter, a CMYK laser printer & heat transfer papers, a dye sublimation printer – and they would all be completely redundant without a working heat press.

Given that this is the case, the heat press is the one piece of equipment that you should give the most thought about when it comes to splitting up your budget.

Consider which printing process you’re going to be using.

One thing you need to be aware of, when you’re considering buying a cheap heat press, is that some Tshirt printing methods are more demanding on the heat press than others.

White toner laser no-weed transfer printing, for example, is a process which demands heavy pressure which is consistent across the platen, and also very consistent heat across the platen.

It’s quite likely that if you try to use a cheap non branded imported heat press for this print process, you will find it very difficult to get consistent results at all. 

Dye sublimation, on the other hand, is quite a forgiving process when it comes to the heat press, you can get away with using a budget heat press, in terms of the process itself.

In fact, for most sublimation blanks, the quality of the finished, printed product will be no different at all whether you’re using a $300 heat press, or a $6,000 heat press.

The same is still true of dye sublimation printing, though, in that if your heat press stops working, your production stops, so reliability is important.

How to buy a reliable heat press, cheap?

If budget is an issue which is leading you to look into the entry level of heat presses, I would recommend considering two options. 

1. Buying a cheaper heat press from a reputable supplier.
2. Buying a used premium brand heat press.

Buying a cheaper heat press from a reputable supplier.

You’re not going to get quite the same low cost from a reputable supplier than if you buy directly from China, or from the cheapest supplier you can find on Amazon or eBay, but there are lower priced heat presses offered by reliable firms. 

The obvious example is the own-brand heat presses produced by heat press nation. This is a well known & reputable company, who also offer most of the most well known brands. While I’d be dubious about purchasing a cheap heat press from an unknown supplier (who may well be simply a box shifter), I wouldn’t have any qualms about purchasing a cheaper heat press from HPN, knowing that they’re one of the biggest heat press suppliers in the US, and that they offer a full warranty with all presses, and hold all parts in stock.

Buying a used premium brand heat press. 

The top brands of heat presses, including Geo Knight, Stahls, Hix & Insta, are often found on eBay for a bargain price.

Click here to see ending soon items for used heat presses on eBay.

If you’re UK based, then including the above brands, Adkins presses (a UK made heat press) are a great press to keep an eye out for on eBay, which also sell under the brand names Xpres and Magic Touch.

There are occasionally some incredible bargains to be found in the form of low priced high value Adkins heat presses selling used, particularly the Adkins Beta presses, which are very popular in the UK for white toner laser transfer printing.

Another UK made press you’ll occasionally find a bargain for on eBay are the UK brand Jarin – their mug presses, in particular, are a very well made press, which can sometimes be picked up on eBay at an absolute steal.

Conclusion – Cheap Heat Presses Have Their Purpose, But Buyer Beware

To conclude, I believe that cheap heat presses do have their purpose, in terms of allowing  startup T shirt printing businesses to get started on a shoe string.

But what I think is important, is that people understand that if they do buy a very cheap heat press to allow them to start their business on a small budget, it’s really only going to be a temporary solution.

At some point, a T shirt printing business that starts out using a very cheap imported heat press, needs to invest in more serious heat press machinery, otherwise it could have a negative impact on the growth of the business, including periods of stalled production, which is not good for a growing T shirt printing business. 

I talk about various different Tshirt printing methods on this blog, and the one machine which connects all these different methods, is the heat press.

Whether you decide on inkjet transfer, CMYK laser transfer, white toner laser transfer printing, contour cut vinyl, DTG printing, screen printing or dye sublimation, you’re going to need a heat press.

And yes, is the answer to one of the most common heat press questions: Can I use the same Tshirt heat press for all heat transfer processes.

Although there’s one caveat, and that is that some T shirt heat transfer processes are more demanding than others on the heat press.

Dye sublimation printing is quite an easy going process when it comes to the heat press, it’s a more forgiving process, and for this reason you’ll notice that some heat presses are sold as “sublimation heat presses” specifically.

Other processes including laser transfer and screen printed plastisol transfers, require a lot from the heat press in terms of heavy, even pressure, and very precise temp across the platen with absolutely no cool spots, meaning that you really need a premium heat press for these printing methods.

Swing away Vs Clamshell.

You’ll notice that there are two main types of flat heat press, swing away and clamshell.

Swing away presses, or swing head heat presses, are operated by swinging the top platen all the way around to the back of the press, while clamshell presses are operated by opening and closing the heat press like a clam seashell, hence the name.

In a nutshell, swing away presses are usually heavier weight, they’re usually more expensive, they tend to have bigger maximum item thickness and probably the major benefit is that the heat platen is swung completely away around the back of the machine, so heat platen isn’t pointing directly at the back of your hands and wrists as you’re loading the press, as is the case with clamshells.

Clamshells are usually lighter weight, more portable, a bit faster to operate as you simply open and close them, no swinging back and forth required in between opening and closing. They’re usually more affordable, and they require less space, you can put them against a wall or push them right into a corner of a room, while swing away heat presses need more space.

For more see swing away vs clam heat presses.

Cheap heat presses Vs premium established brands.

The next question after swing away vs clamshell, is usually whether to go for a well known, more expensive brand, or take a gamble with a cheap imported press.

There’s such a huge difference in price between cheap or budget heat presses imported from the far east, and the well known, premium heat press brands, so it’s very tempting to ignore the top brands and go for a budget heat presses.

But just keep in mind that buying a cheap imported heat press isn’t the same as buying a well known premium heat press brand.

When buying a trusted brand, you have the peace of mind of knowing you have a well built press using top quality reliable components, along with a great warranty. With cheap imported presses, you may believe that you have this same peace of mind, if you believe the sales copy – but you may be wrong.

See the pros and cons of buying a cheap heat press.

The various options for buying a heat press on a budget.

If you’re on a tight budget, you have six main options.

• Buy an entry level press from one of the better known brands
• Buy direct from China
• Buy a Chinese imported heat press from a box shifter
• Buy a Chinese imported heat press from a reputable supplier
• Buy a heat press from a newer, lesser known brand
• Buy a used heat press

Entry Level Heat Presses from Well Known Brands.

Some of the better known brands, offer a lower cost entry level option.

Buying an entry level press like this, from a well known heat press manufacturer, isn’t quite the same as buying a non-branded heat press either directly from China or via a re-seller who simply imports them and sells them on.

The lower priced presses from the well known brands, are going to be made with cheaper components, they’re usually lighter weight, and won’t have the same kind of warranty as the flagship models from the same brand.

But these brands can’t afford to have unreliable poorly performing presses bringing down the value of their brand, so you should still expect reliability and great after-sales support with a respected heat press brand, regardless of the cost of the press.

Geo knight have the Jet press 12 and Jet press 14, but keep in mind that these are made for the hobby use and crafting, they’re not intended for any kind of business production.

The same is true of the Hix hobby light, at the very entry level. Hix also offer the Swingman 15×15 & Swingman 20 E.

Currently only available in Europe, Stahls have the Clam Basic, at the very lowest entry level pricing.

I have experience of the clam basic, and I’ve found it to be a very reliable heat press, for sublimation and other less demanding printing methods. I wouldn’t recommend trying to use this, or any other budget press for more demanding methods such as plastisol transfers or laser transfer.

Stahls also have the Stahls Hotronix Maxx entry level clamshell heat presses.

Adkins have the Studio range (sold in the UK also via The Magic Touch and Xpres) which are their entry level heat press, which are marketed as “sublimation presses” to stipulate that they’re not intended for the garment decoration methods that are more demanding of the heat press.

Buying Direct from China.

This is possibly the cheapest option, and you may not even realise this is what you’re doing.

There are heat presses and other machinery sold on eBay and Amazon, and via other websites, which appears to be coming from within your home country, yet when you receive it, you discover that you’ve actually either bought directly from a Chinese supplier, or you’ve bought from a seller who took your money, banked some profit & then bought your press directly & gave the supplier your address.

This can be a shock you also get a customs bill for the tax and customs duty, meaning that it doesn’t end up as cheap a heat press as you were expecting.

When you buy in this way, the warranty can be hit and miss, and if you do need to return your heat press, you’ll find you have to return it to China, and you may even have to pay to have the repaired heat press shipped back to you.

Often when people are faced with this, they discover it’s cheaper to chalk it up to experience and buy again, and the saying “buy right or buy twice” becomes a reality rather than just a cliche’.

Buying from a Box Shifter

Most of the people who sell heat presses on eBay and Amazon, are what are referred to as “Box Shifters”. Even some of the firms who seem to sell a lot, and who even create fancy sounding brand names for their heat presses, are essentially just box shifters.

A box shifter is basically someone who see’s a market for an item, doesn’t really know much about it, just buys in boxes and re-sells them, or, has the heat presses sent directly from the supplier to the buyer.

Box shifters often don’t have a clue about heat presses, or whatever it is they’re selling. If you look at their other items, you may find they also sell kitchen appliances, and a huge range of other items, which would reinforce the likelihood that this supplier is a box shifter.

Box shifters often don’t bother to focus much on the after-sales side of things, and don’t even stock any spare replacement presses or spare parts.

I know this because in my roles in the past with various companies who supplied heat presses, where my job was to provide support to customers, I would receive many phone calls and emails from Tshirt printers who were seeking spare parts for heat presses they’d bought from these kinds of suppliers.

The usual response when I suggested they speak to their supplier, is that they either can’t get any response from them, or they’ve been informed that the supplier can’t supply any parts or other support.

Buy a Chinese imported heat press from a reputable supplier

Some of the reputable suppliers of Tshirt printing equipment import and sell Chinese heat presses.

Buying a Chinese made imported press from a well known supplier, is usually a different experience from buying direct or via a box shifter.

Unlike box shifters, specialist suppliers tend to know quite a bit about what they’re selling, and they have regular repeat customers who they don’t want to lose, so they tend to make sure they can perform well on the aftersales side, which usually means that they stock parts, and educate some of their staff on carrying out the common warranty repairs.

You’ll probably pay a bit more for the same kind of press from a reputable supplier vs buying direct or via box shifter, but it’s probably worth it too.

Buying a newer, lesser established brand.

Most of the newer brands of press I tend to see popping up, are Chinese imported heat presses which are being sold under a new brand name.

Often, if you choose a press like this, you’re probably just buying from a box shifter, or you’re buying a Chinese built heat press from a new supplier who hasn’t as yet built up a reputation, in either case you’re possibly taking a bit of a gamble.

If you hunt around, though, you may be lucky and find a new decent brand of heat press, who’re selling at a lower cost by necessity, having not yet built the reputation to allow them to demand the same prices for their presses as the tried and tested brands. This is an option which might take some time and effort, and again, it is a bit of a gamble.

Buying a used heat press.

In my opinion, one of the best ways to go about buying a heat press on a budget, is to carefully look for a used top brand heat press.

I say carefully, because you don’t want to end up with a piece of old junk, so I would recommend that you look at all of the photos very carefully, properly read the description, and ask the seller some questions to be on the safe side.

If at all possible, I would look for used heat presses selling close enough for you to go and view the press first, see it working, and then collect in person so you don’t have to pay a pricey shipping cost.

If you’re really lucky, you might even get hold of a top brand heat press which still has a warranty. Some of these presses have lifetime elements which stay with the press regardless of the owner.

The best brands of heat presses

In my opinion, the best brands of USA made heat presses, are Geo Knight, Stahls/hotronix, Insta & Hix.

These are all very well known, reputable brands of heat press, and if you’re in the US, I really don’t think you can go wrong with any of these, if have the budget for them, or if you can find a bargain on eBay within your budget.

Click here to see ALL the current offers on eBay for Geo Knight, Stahls/Hotronix, Insta & Hix heat presses.

Or if you’re interested in any specific brand, see the links below:

Used Geo Knight Heat Presses

Used Stahls/Hotronix Heat Presses

Used Insta Heat Presses

Used Hix Heat Presses

I’d recommend that you then enter your zip code and sort them by closest to you, so you can see if there are any of these brands of heat press close enough for you to go and see in person.

In the UK (UK visitors represent the second largest group here after US based visitors) the best heat press brands in my opinion, are Adkins, Jarin Europa & Techmech UK made presses. Also, the Italian brand Transmatic and the German brand Schulze – in addition to the US made brands, Geo Knight & Stahls Hotronix which are particularly popular in the UK.

The following links will take you to used heat presses selling within the UK only, sorted by ending soonest.

Again, I’d recommend that you filter by nearest to your post code first, and see if there are any selling within driving distance so you can go have a look before taking the plunge.

Keep in mind that the link I’ve formatted for used Adkins presses, will bring up results for “Xpres” and “Magic Touch” heat presses too, as these are Adkins heat presses, re-badged.

Used Geo Knight Heat Presses

Used Adkins Heat Press

Used Stahls/Hotronix Heat Presses

Used Pressmech Heat Presses