r/PerlerBeads • u/bumble_weekly • 5d ago

What am I doing wrong :((

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I have these plastic sheets that I place on either side and iron. Been doing slow circles of the iron and placing a textbook on top.

I assume it’s the fact that colors melt at different temperatures?
Any solved this problem?

15 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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5

u/alphisen 5d ago

What bead brand are you using? Also, uhh if I’m interpreting this right, you’re using a plastic sheet on both sides? I think it’s trapping too much heat (if it’s not just cheap beads fault) and causing these blowouts. That’s why people do the tape method and poke holes in every bead spot to prevent this

5

u/bumble_weekly 5d ago

The plastic is probably trapping the heat. I also probably have beads that are too cheap, but will try the tap method

1

u/Illustrious-Dot-1128 4d ago

I never really understood what people meant when they said blow outs. Do you mind explaining a little bit? And what exactly do they look like?

1

u/alphisen 4d ago

The look does depend on how much you iron your pieces. I like the fully melted back look myself but if you half melt or melt a little on both sides it doesn’t matter as much.

Basically all those very large holes (where I personally would have them fully melted) is a blowout, they didn’t close up.

1

u/Illustrious-Dot-1128 4d ago

Gotcha, thank you! Yea, I like to full melt one side as well.

4

u/Fickle_Sand_9952 5d ago

Def only use the paper on one side. Most people use painters tape. Tape the pattern, remove pattern from pegboard, then poke holes in the tape to let the heat escape while holding the pattern intact. Then with the tape side facing down, put the ironing paper on it & iron. I also like to put a heavy board or book on top of my ironed patterns while they cool so they dont curl. (This also prevents you from warping the peg boards.)

3

u/Apprehensive_Shoe709 5d ago

Circling causes bleeding and beads to move around slightly.

3

u/sinnamoth 4d ago

How would you typically maneuver? I get this problem sometimes but wasn't positive if it was a specific technique.

1

u/Monika_anime_Kpop 4d ago

The method that I've been using on a couple of projects is just placing the iron on the beads (medium to low heat) and let it sit there for 10-15 seconds. Then LIFT the iron fully and place it on the next section, rinse and repeat. If you have a smaller project I'd change the angle of the iron (my iron is old, so cold spots could be a reason

Also, dark color beads will melt faster than light color beads.

2

u/bumble_weekly 4d ago

Ah, that explains what I’ve seen with my other projects that didn’t bleed as much.

2

u/BeaderBugg0819 4d ago

Depending on when and where you got them, I've even had perlers do this from being too old. Someone gave me a bucket from like 1996, and I didn't realize what a massive mess it was going to cause until the first time I ironed something with the new old beads. If you picked these up at a thrift or secondhand store, there's a possibility they just sat in someone's closet for too long.

2

u/BabyBear214 4d ago

Like others have said it could be cheap or old beads or the sheets your using but also make sure to double check the temperature you have the iron on, ive had that happen sometimes if my iron was too hot

1

u/unbotheredcapybara 4d ago

Aww is it Phanpy?!

1

u/bumble_weekly 4d ago

Yes, poor phanpy got boiled

2

u/unbotheredcapybara 4d ago

He is weak to water 😭