Image transfers not transfering like they should

I'm doing something wrong, and don't know what. made three more image transfers onto Formica chips this morning and NONE of them turned out right. I used images from three different magazines, too, hoping it was the paper content in the mags. I even experimented with both light and dark images. They are more vibrant when I wet them, at which point you can actually see the image. But once they are dry, they become unviewable again. I have to believe since others have such good luck with this technique, that it's the magazine images and you must use copier transfers.