DSF

Hi ive been printing on mugs for a while now and have now gone on to tshirts having managed to get an Adkins press. Ive got some Russell tshirts supposedly ideal for sublimation. My first tshirt is black and I set the press for 60 seconds at 190. When it was finished though there was absolutely nothing of the image on the tshirt Is this because its black and do you have to prime the garment with a solution when sublimating on black or does this apply to all colours has I also have blue and green tshirts. Thanks

You can only print onto light coloured items.

To print onto dark you either use a heat transfer of one of the white laser toner options which lay down the colour first then white on top then a glue sheet is bonded to the white then you put that on the dark item so the white layer then bonds to the item and the colours are on top and you can then see the image.

You can only sublimate onto polyester and it has to be white or a very light colour.
Black and dark colours are out Im sorry to say. Your only hope if you only do subli work would be to subli print onto subli flock , cut this out and press the flock onto the shirt. But the form of the print has to be easy to cut or it will look a mess. ( With Subli flock you press the image onto the flock for 30 secs at 190c or so and then take the backing paper off and press onto the shirt at 160 for 20 secs.)
Do you have any other print system?

Earl Smith;125435 wrote:You can only sublimate onto polyester and it has to be white or a very light colour.
Black and dark colours are out Im sorry to say. Your only hope if you only do subli work would be to subli print onto subli flock , cut this out and press the flock onto the shirt. But the form of the print has to be easy to cut or it will look a mess. ( With Subli flock you press the image onto the flock for 30 secs at 190c or so and then take the backing paper off and press onto the shirt at 160 for 20 secs.)
Do you have any other print system?

No I don't but im eager to get into garments. The particular market that I sell my mugs to are skinhead/punk gigs mainly. This would be where I really need to sell black tshirts so if the sublimation process isn't working im seriously going to consider buying a DTG. I haven't looked for any posts on here for DTG but there is quiet a bit on YouTube

Earl Smith;125435 wrote:You can only sublimate onto polyester and it has to be white or a very light colour.
Black and dark colours are out Im sorry to say. Your only hope if you only do subli work would be to subli print onto subli flock , cut this out and press the flock onto the shirt. But the form of the print has to be easy to cut or it will look a mess. ( With Subli flock you press the image onto the flock for 30 secs at 190c or so and then take the backing paper off and press onto the shirt at 160 for 20 secs.)
Do you have any other print system?

Not necessarily true. You can sublimate onto JetPro Opaque II, cut around the design , and press onto dark t-shirts which can be pure cotton.

http://www.yolo.co.uk/jet-opaque-ii--in ... -247-p.asp

You'd need to test it out first, especially after a few washes. I haven't tried any washes myself, but the paper prints fine on my Ricoh SG3110DN with sublimation ink. I use a contour cutter to cut out the printed designs for pressing.

Size(s): A4 and A3
Substrate colour(s): Black or dark colours
Substrate type(s): T-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, coasters, jigsaw puzzles, leather goods
Fabric type(s): Cotton, or cotton/polyester blends
Image type(s): Photos, designs, logos
Printer compatibility: Inkjet ONLY
Ink compatibility: Pigment, dye-based or sublimation (pigment recommended for longevity)
Silhouette settings: Blade: 1, Speed: 3, Thickness: 2-3
(use a cutting mat and cut through the film layer only)
Application method: Hand iron or heat press
Heat press temperature: 175°C
Heat press pressure: Medium
Heat press time: 15-30 seconds
Peel: Cold peel
Washing instructions: Machine wash cold and dry at low heat settings

They fade after one wash I am afraid so badly that you can't even see the design. Well that is what happened when I tried it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or, you can print white fabric to be black, and then cut/sew into the Garment

Before you splash out on DTG have a look at the foils from TMT and Forever. Here is a link to a Youtube video about the foils. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_C-7gvSA78
TMT also do something similar and in the UK they have really good support.
They take a bit of learning but you only need a B&W laser printer to use them.
I have an OKi white printer and to be honest I use it more for the foils then white printing.