Why Choose Sublimation Printing for Your Teamwear
In the world of custom apparel, one printing technique stands out as a true game-changer: sublimation. With its ability to produce vibrant, durable, and highly customisable designs, sublimation has revolutionised the way personalised garments for sports teams, clubs, businesses and events are created.
This guide explains what sublimation is and why it’s the perfect choice for creating top-quality custom teamwear.
So, what exactly is sublimation?
In simple terms, it’s a bit like tattooing – but a lot less painful! Sublimation printing is a method that involves the transfer of dye onto fabric using heat. Unlike traditional printing techniques, such as screen printing or heat transfers which lay colour on top of the fabric, sublimation is a process that allows the colour to permeate right into the fabric’s very fibres.
How does it work?
- Design Creation: Your design, colours, patterns, and logos are printed onto special sublimation paper with dye-based inks.
- Heat and Pressure: The printed paper is placed face-down on the fabric and both are subjected to high temperatures and pressure in a heat press.
- Dye Transformation: As the temperature rises, the dye on the paper transforms into a gas which bonds deep within the fabric’s fibres becoming part of the material.
Benefits of Sublimation Printing
- Vibrant, Long-Lasting Colours: Sublimated colours stay bright and bold, wash after wash, making them perfect for showcasing your team’s colours, sponsor logos, and player names with exceptional detail.
- Exceptional Detail: Very much like ink or laserjet printing on to paper, sublimation can reproduce intricate patterns, logos, gradients, and even photographic imagery with amazing detail.
- All-Over Coverage: The fabric is printed before it’s sewn into a garment allowing the design to stretch from edge to edge and top to bottom, back, front and down the sleeves.
- Durable Gear for Active Lifestyles: Sublimated prints resist cracking and peeling, ensuring your custom team or sportswear logos looks sharp even after repeated washing and wearing.
- Breathable Comfort: The dye becomes part of the fabric, maintaining any breathability and moisture-wicking properties ensuring you get to feel those comfort-in-wear benefits for longer.
- Eco-Friendly Printing Choice: The sublimation printing process results in minimal waste with no excess dyes which may make their way into the water system. Durable colour means your garments will look better for longer and so reduce the need to replace items which in turn means fewer items ending up in landfill.
- Cost-Effective for Personalisation: No expensive one-stencil-per-colour screen print setups are needed making sublimation ideal for smaller orders.
- Repeats: Your design information is stored digitally so can be reproduced at the click of a few buttons, without the need to contemplate or pay for the storage of physical screens should you anticipate re-prints in the future.
- Free Logo Incorporation: Team, club, and sponsor logos are incorporated in the design and so all printed together and at the same time, meaning no unexpected charges for additional logos or, where relevant, names and numbers.
Considerations:
- Limited Fabric Choice: Only specific fabrics like polyester (recycled options available) can withstand the heat and absorb the dye.
- Light Base Colour: Sublimation inks are transparent, so they only work well on light or white base fabrics.
- Cost for Large Quantities: Sublimation can be more expensive for large orders compared to methods like screen printing.
Sublimation printing sets the standard for high-quality, customisable teamwear. With its numerous benefits, it’s the perfect choice for creating garments that are both visually stunning and built to last.
Ready to kit out your team, group or club in unique, high-performance gear? Contact us today to discuss your custom teamwear needs and find out more about how sublimation printing can help turn your dreams into apparel reality.
