tshirt sublimation, what poly colours

[Joelmb]

Hi guys. Just a query regards sublimating tees; I realise it's pretty much the norm to use 100% white polyester for best results. But are there any alternatives?

I think I saw one company selling cotton/poly mix for sublimation which i assume gets around the issue partially but cant find them off hand- I'm mainly just a little concerned about selling 100% polyester tees from a customer comfort point of view and in my mind I'd expect to receive a soft material, like cotton, when buying a t-shirt (assuming i hadn't read the microfibre/ sports/ 100% polyester in a description!).

Lastly what about colours? I know colours won't remain true to original on a coloured shirt and you cant print onto very dark/black material, but say i wanted to print darker colours onto a say light blue coloured garment? Again I've not so far found suppliers selling polyester sublimation tees in anything other than white, but perhaps ive not looked in the right places?

Oh, just came across a business who do 'Vapour' wicking material, "soft like cotton". But it's quite pricey! Any other alternatives anyone knows of? Where for best prices too please!

[webtrekker]

You can sublimate onto white or pale colours as long as they are 100% polyester. Remember, any white in your image will come out as the colour of the shirt.

You can sublimate onto mixed poly/cotton shirts, but the sublimation ink only penetrates the polyester fibres, not the cotton, so after the first wash the image will become faded somewhat depending on the percentage of the poly/cotton mix. Can be effective for retro/distressed designs, mainly in black, on say light-grey polycotton shirts, but not really any good for everyday images that need nice, vibrant colours.

Alternatives to this use special papers, direct to garment (DTG), white toner laser printers etc, but these involve an expense and are still not perfect solutions.

There are also alternatives to sublimation that you may wish to explore including heat transfer vinyl (HTV), screen printing, and plastisol transfers.

[StellaD]

Absolute Apparel do the Gildan G42000 at a good price which is 100% polyester but a nice soft feel. The Carolina Blue is a light shade which prints beautifully.

They might send you a sample if you ask nicely.

[pw66]

A lot of the sublimation t-shirts have brushed finish to give a cotton like feel.
Russell make the HD range of 65/35% poly/cotton whic is nice for fashion sublimation. Some nice colours at around £4 +vat.
The Gildan 42000 comes in some lighter colours at around £2.50+. 100% poly withj a cotton feel.
Xpres have just introduced a new range, Vanilla, that looks interesting. Priced between £3 & £4 + vat.

Don't get worried about the light weight of 100% poly. It is naturally much lighter & finer than cotton. Weight doesn't necesarilly equate to quality.

[Joelmb]

Yes it wasn't so much the weight of the material rather than the conception of polyester, which I've only really experienced in technical sports clothing I've owned: good for running in, not so much for fashion garments as it's got a kind of sheen and plasticy feel (as it would) in my experience. Indeed it's for the soft feel I'm looking for. Cheers all some good advice on what/where to look for.

This forum is rather marvellous eh!

[pw66]

The stuff with the shinny finish is usualy listed as 'filiment' polyester in the garment catalogues. The soft, cotton feel is sold as 'brushed'.

[theoriginalmadco]

Hi guys. Just a query regards sublimating tees; I realise it's pretty much the norm to use 100% white polyester for best results. But are there any alternatives?

I think I saw one company selling cotton/poly mix for sublimation which i assume gets around the issue partially but cant find them off hand- I'm mainly just a little concerned about selling 100% polyester tees from a customer comfort point of view and in my mind I'd expect to receive a soft material, like cotton, when buying a t-shirt (assuming i hadn't read the microfibre/ sports/ 100% polyester in a description!).

Lastly what about colours? I know colours won't remain true to original on a coloured shirt and you cant print onto very dark/black material, but say i wanted to print darker colours onto a say light blue coloured garment? Again I've not so far found suppliers selling polyester sublimation tees in anything other than white, but perhaps ive not looked in the right places?

Oh, just came across a business who do 'Vapour' wicking material, "soft like cotton". But it's quite pricey! Any other alternatives anyone knows of? Where for best prices too please!

Hiya I have done a couple of nice 1s mostly printing black rather than other colours as obviously they won't show true to print colour if the background isn't white. I have used cream (which I've taken advantage of as mermaid skin colour within the design) and I've used pale blue, pale pink, pale green. Personally I'm not a fan of white t-shirts as I find they can be a bit see through so prefer a colour. These ones have all been a 65% poly 35% cotton blend. I did try a navy print on grey but it didn't come out as well.

As for fabric, polyester doesn't always feel the same. I have found some 100% poly/ polyblend tops feel nicer and softer than cotton so it's worth shopping around, trying various suppliers and brands and feeling for yourself. Experiment! X

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[theoriginalmadco]

Hiya I have done a couple of nice 1s mostly printing black rather than other colours as obviously they won't show true to print colour if the background isn't white. I have used cream (which I've taken advantage of as mermaid skin colour within the design) and I've used pale blue, pale pink, pale green. Personally I'm not a fan of white t-shirts as I find they can be a bit see through so prefer a colour. These ones have all been a 65% poly 35% cotton blend. I did try a navy print on grey but it didn't come out as well.

As for fabric, polyester doesn't always feel the same. I have found some 100% poly/ polyblend tops feel nicer and softer than cotton so it's worth shopping around, trying various suppliers and brands and feeling for yourself. Experiment! X

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

The t-shirts on pink and green at the top of this are sublimation printed on poly-blend.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Joelmb]

Thanks guys. Where are you sourcing your polyblends please so i can get some samples from them? I've bought a sample from AApparel but the 100% poly though really nice feel and soft was too thin for my liking... I'm aware also that polycottons are more pront to fading which id obv want to avoid!

So recommendations please! Nice poly / polyblend which good colour fastness and soft feel, not too thin, choice of light colours, and good price!

[Daninho]

You can sublimate onto white or pale colours as long as they are 100% polyester. Remember, any white in your image will come out as the colour of the shirt.

You can sublimate onto mixed poly/cotton shirts, but the sublimation ink only penetrates the polyester fibres, not the cotton, so after the first wash the image will become faded somewhat depending on the percentage of the poly/cotton mix. Can be effective for retro/distressed designs, mainly in black, on say light-grey polycotton shirts, but not really any good for everyday images that need nice, vibrant colours.

Alternatives to this use special papers, direct to garment (DTG), white toner laser printers etc, but these involve an expense and are still not perfect solutions.

There are also alternatives to sublimation that you may wish to explore including heat transfer vinyl (HTV), screen printing, and plastisol transfers.

Sometimes the faded look is desired as a vintage effect. I tested subliamtion on tri blend yesterday and the blacks coming our more brownish, i guess this is because of 50% polyester, they need 100% for real blacks.