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First thing&#;s first. Dye sublimation printing only works effectively on synthetic fibres like recycled polyester. As polyester is the fabric of choice for most of our clients, it is basically our duty as custom clothing manufacturers to shine more light on the topic. That&#;s because the polyester fabric on its own isn&#;t eco-friendly, even when the yarn originates from recycled water bottles.
Why do we say this? Because if the polyester clothes don&#;t end up in a landfill, they&#;ll end up in the water streams as microplastics. There are ways to reduce the amount of microplastics leaving our washing machines.
There are also ways to make garment manufacturing as green as possible. One such way is dye sublimation because it can help you avoid traditional fabric dyeing and save a lot of water in the process.
This method of applying colour to the fabric is the ecological lifeline for synthetic fibres. That&#;s because it is possible to colour them while making zero negative impact on the environment.
With dye sublimation, you will use 5 ml of water-based ink to dye 1 kg of recycled polyester clothes. On the other hand, traditional dyeing uses up to 200 l for the same amount of clothes. Another advantage dye sublimation has over traditional dyeing is that it doesn&#;t use harmful substances as a default.
Also, the sublimation ink penetrates the fibre on a molecular level and doesn&#;t wash away. Therefore, it&#;s more effective than traditional dyeing. If you plan to make activewear or sportswear, dye sublimation is ideal because these products are more often than not made from synthetic fibres.
To use this colour application method, you need two machines &#; a dye sublimation printer and a calander for continuous transfer printing.
A dye-sublimation printer looks like an inkjet printer but uses different paper and ink. This paper is specific because it allows the ink to change between solid and gaseous states without turning into liquid. That way, the design transfers from paper into the fibre structure of fabrics.
The machine that makes that happen is the calender. It&#;s essentially a heat drum that paper and fabric pass through. The working temperature is between 190 and 230 °C.
That&#;s how all sorts of fantastic designs end up on customized t-shirts that you see on marathons.
FUSH˚ printing shop at the Belgrade factory. The machine you see in the picture is called Monti Antonio 120T, the calender machine for sublimation and heat transfers.
When we look behind, most of the clothing we made for our clients were various types of sportswear and activewear. That means we&#;ve used a lot of polyester fabrics in the process. Also, we&#;ve used our dye sublimation printers and heat calanders for sublimation and transfer printing a lot.
In fact, we used them so much that Epson decided to let us test their SureColor SC-FH dye sublimation printer in late before its official release in early . One fantastic feature of this printer is that it prints fluorescent colours. That means you can now get that neon green clothing line made while reducing water consumption 40 000-fold. We&#;ve invited a film crew to make a video tour of our Belgrade factory. Our printing department got one of the &#;lead roles&#;. At this moment, FUSH˚ has a total of:
This is the Epson SureColorFH dye-sub printer with fluorescent colours that we had the honour to use before it was officially released in early .
You can try dye-sub transfer on cotton but it won&#;t show very good results. Sublimation inks don&#;t bond well with cellulose, which cotton essentially is. That&#;s why, traditional dyeing methods are still the way to go for cotton, even though this leads to water wastage. However, scientists are constantly tinkering with different strands of bacteria to create natural dyes that achieve the same results as the traditional method. We are yet to hear about a scaled-up solution but it&#;s great that there are many different labs looking for ways to make it a reality. Check out how Kukka, a design studio from the Netherlands are paving the way to a bacteria-dyed future with their project Living Colour.
If you are to start an activewear brand or a sportswear one, you don&#;t have much choice when it comes to fabrics &#; it&#;s either merino wool or recycled polyester/polyamide/nylon. Merino wool is really expensive and if your aim is a mid-price product, it&#;s out of the picture.
Synthetic fabrics, besides being fabrics with great moisture-wicking properties, have an unparalleled inability to decompose. That&#;s why, once people stop wearing them, the clothes present a danger to the environment. That&#;s why you as a clothing brand should do everything in your power to make the production process of those clothes as green as possible.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of OEM Sublimation Paper custom. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Dye sublimation gives you that chance. It gives you an opportunity to advertise the fact that comparatively, you&#;ve used 40k times less water than the next manufacturer using traditional dyeing techniques. And should you find a way to inspire your customers to upcycle their polyester garments, you&#;re keeping your clothes out of landfills, rivers, seas, and oceans. Also, warn them of the dangers of microplastics and what they can do to stop them at the source &#; the washing machine.
Learn more about how FUSH˚ goes around making clothes for startups, growing clothing brands, and established brands:
Find out our lead times and pricing estimates by sending us your enquiry through the form below.
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To get the best possible price and lead time estimate, please include the number of designs and pieces per design, fabric choice, sizes, and printing options.
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In the process of sublimation transfer, you must use sublimation transfer ink. This kind of ink made of disperse dyes will sublime and dye the substrate when it reaches the transfer temperature. The temperature of thermal transfer should be controlled within the range of 180~230&#;, and the time should be about 10~30 seconds. Except for temperature and time. The pressure during sublimation transfer is also a very important process parameter. Taking the substrate as a fabric as an example, if the pressure is too low, the gap between the thermos cup and the transfer paper will be large, resulting in poor printing effect. At the same time, the sublimation ink will easily bleed, the lines will be thick and the pattern will be blurred; if the pressure is increased, the thermos cup The space between it and the transfer paper is small and the transfer coloring effect is good, the pattern is clear, and the lines are smooth and fine. Therefore, KingStar should make a small sample before the formal batch transfer to determine the best process parameters.
The pre-press work of the production of sublimation transfer paper is very important, because the color of the dye ink used in the production of sublimation transfer paper is very different before transfer (the pattern on the sublimation transfer paper without heat and pressure) and after transfer. Before the sublimation transfer ink transfer, the four colors of C.M and Y.K look dark and dull (there is no white ink in the sublimation transfer ink). It relies on the high temperature of about 200 &#; to restore the true color, so it brings difficulties to the production of transfer paper color correction and printing. KingStar will make small batch samples before production, and then make adjustments according to the proofing results and combined with customer requirements, and then proceed to mass production after customer confirmation.
In the heat transfer, the heat pressing surface, the transfer paper and the surface of the stainless steel water cup must be close to each other. There must be no gaps, otherwise the transfer image and text may be blurred.
Are you interested in learning more about 60gsm sublimation paper? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!