Popular dye sublimation printing solution for garments

Dye sublimation is a popular form of digital decoration partly because it produces vivid color and very soft transfers. No other form of garment decoration produces an image that feels softer than a sublimated transfer. 

Dye sublimation is done by sublimating ink causing it to become a gaseous dye that permanently stains polyester molecules. Sublimation is the change from a solid or liquid to a gaseous state. It happens in nature every day, even to rocks. That’s how we smell things. We detect the vapors given off by solid or liquid objects. Dye sublimation printing harnesses this process. When the ink and paper reach 220~230℃, the ink sublimates and becomes a dye that permanently bonds to polymers.

The amount of time required varies depending on the item being dyed. While polyester apparel can by sublimated in 35 seconds, it can take four minutes to dye a ceramic tile. So for something like sportswear uniform, you’ll generally get a vivid transfer on white shirts with the standard 230℃ at 25~35 seconds. So what’s going on when the same process produces faded prints? Most are tempted to blame the printer, the ink, or the heat press. But the answer lies elsewhere.

The problem is in the polymer coating itself. Referring back to the recommended press times for ceramic tiles and polyester garments gives us a clue. Ceramic is much harder than fabric so it generally takes much longer to sublimate. But remember, we’re not actually staining the ceramic itself, but the polymer coating that’s been applied to enable decoration. The softer that polymer coating is, the more quickly it opens to the dye and allows the sublimation process to begin.  And that’s where the problem is.

Some items coming to market have softer than normal polymer coatings. According to well placed industry source, some polymer-coated mugs being coatings so soft, the transfer paper melts into it during the heat press cycle. Not good.  The same is true of polyester apparel. Perhaps in a bid to match cotton for its trademark softness and comfort, some manufacturers are turning out polyester garments that are so soft, the standard settings don’t work. It’s a good thing if your customer wants a really soft garment. Not so good if you can’t decorate it properly.

Fortunately there’s a simple solution. Sometimes less is more, even in chemistry. If you’ve been getting good transfers from shirts and you start seeing this consistently faded output, just reduce the temperature. We tried this recently with a batch of shirts. Normally, we get brilliant transfers from these garments by sublimating them for 40 seconds at 230℃. When we started getting consistently faded images, we backed it down to 230℃ for 30 seconds and vivid color! If you’re experiencing the aforementioned mug transfer problem, try pressing at 230° for 30 seconds. The other option is to use a different color mode or profile. 

To reduce the possibility of confusing yourself or your staff, it’s always a good idea to start with the recommended industry standards. For polyester apparel, that benchmark is still 230° for 25~35 seconds. 
More info:
Website：www.skyimagepaper.com
Company Name: Fei Yue Paper Industrial Co.,LTD
E-mail: sales@feiyuepaper.com 
Tel: 86-025-83228884
Whatsapp: +86 18252072197
Address: Central Road 323, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China