Dye sublimation

From T-Shirt Wiki

Dye sublimation is a digital print method used with man-made fibres in which the ink becomes part of the fabric. The dye sublimation transfers are applied with a heat press. It can also be used to apply graphics to non-fabric items such as tiles and metal.

Contents 1 Manufacture 2 Limitations and Technical Considerations 2.1 Application Options 2.2 Quality 2.3 Specialty Techniques 2.4 Advantages 2.5 Disadvantages 3 Storage 4 Typical Application Settings 5 Forum Links

[edit] Manufacture

Dye sublimation transfers can be printed at home on an inkjet or laser printer, or screenprinted. They are then applied to the substrate with a heat press. An iron cannot be used for this process.

[edit] Limitations and Technical Considerations

[edit] Application Options

Dye sublimation can be used to decorate light coloured garments, and applied to a wide variety of substrates. The process can make fabric darker, but not lighter - so it is possible to sublimate black onto mid-range colours, but it is mostly used on white and light colours where you will achieve the most professional results.

[edit] Quality

Compared to vinyl transfers, inkjet printed transfers, plastisol transfers, laser printed transfers and opaque transfers, dye sublimation fares fairly well for print quality and durability. It is the preferred decoration method for some applications, such as Lycra or polyester sports uniforms.

[edit] Specialty Techniques

[edit] Advantages

Because the dye actually sublimates into the fibres of the clothing, dye sublimation has no hand. It has excellent stretchability on fabrics such as spandex. It has the same advantages of light inkjet and laser transfers, such as no limitations on the number of colours in a design and the ability to do one-off prints - it also has the advantage over those two print methods of not leaving any polymer behind on the t-shirt.

[edit] Disadvantages

The biggest disadvantage of dye sublimation is that it cannot be applied to natural fabrics such as cotton. There are treatments that can be applied to the cotton to transfer a dye sublimated image to the cotton, but that is a simulated effect more than it is true sublimation. It's other significant disadvantage is the inability to decorate dark garments.

[edit] Storage

[edit] Typical Application Settings

Application is typically in the 370-400f temperature range, and the 30-60s time range.

[edit] Forum Links