Perfecting Sublimation on Pre-Sewn Garments (With Video!)

Nearly everyone has considered sublimation as a garment-decorating platform. But only since the recent spike in popularity of performance apparel have people looking for serious volume stopped to take notice of this decorating process.

What they see is a laundry list of potential distributors, platforms, inks, raster image processors (RIPs) and a track record for spotty performance. There are plenty of people who proclaim to be experts in sublimation, but that depends on your point of view.

To achieve success in production-level sublimation for garments, certain things must be in place. Here are five key factors:

1. A Profit-Friendly Printer Platform. If you are going to make real money with sublimation, you need a large-format printer (42 inches or wider). You need to minimize the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) in the ever-competitive garment business. Large-format sublimation printers, such as the Mutoh Rio, offer a consumables cost structure that supports 2 to 5 square feet of ink per unit of apparel. This simply is not the case with smaller desktop printers, which are ideal for smaller footprint items and are a critical platform for many profitable sublimators. This article is intended for production-level garment companies. So, for this audience, only a large-format printer will do.

2. Attention to Detail. Sublimation is not a type of printing for the disorganized. You must have a process in place and a rigid sense of dedication about following it. Your most focused members of the production staff should be your lead technicians for sublimation. You also should have a written, documented process for this application. As you scale up, this will be even more critical.

3. Clean Freaks Welcome! Apply Within. Clean paper, clean print heads, clean floor, clean equipment, clean hands, clean prepping table, a vacuum cleaner, etc. Get the idea? Seriously, sublimation requires more focus than nearly any other apparel decorating platform on keeping transfers and work environments clean. The good news is that it is worth the effort. By maintaining an extremely clean work environment, you dramatically increase your success rate.

4. A Reliable Heat Press. You should look at the heat press as a long-term investment. Trying to “go cheap” on a heat press makes no sense. This machine will touch every sublimation transfer you print. It will have thousands of shirts placed onto it for pressing. For sublimation, you want a manual press that allows you to have as much as 3⁄4-inch of gap between the platens. Choose a press that is easy to work with and is known for consistent, reliable heat.

5. Room to Breathe, Think and Lay Out. Successful sublimation is all about making it easy to keep things organized. To have that success, you need a great cutting table and the right tools for cutting. Be sure to have space to lay out the garments prior to pressing for inspection and counting. If you try to consolidate the space you are using, it only will increase your error rates and reduce your profitability.

Now that the five key factors for production-level sublimation have been identified, let’s discuss some of the tactics needed for your shop to become a profitable sublimation house.

Preparing Paper & Press
Sublimation transfer paper should be treated with care after it has been printed. Ideally, keep a proper amount of white space in between images on the paper. There are several sublimation papers available that have a “tack” element that keeps the transfer in place during the process. This can stop a lot of “ghosting” from happening and eliminates the need for heat tape.

The paper should be laid out on a clean cutting table. You should maintain a collection of sharp box cutters and scissors to ensure that searching for these items never slows production. Ideally, leave an extra 3 inches of paper surrounding the artwork.

When preparing the heat press for sublimation transfers, seek a recommended press temperature and time from the garment manufacturer. In the case of the samples shown in the video prepared for this article (see above), I used 385˚F/35 seconds for the Vapor Basic Performance Tee and 380˚F/35 seconds for the Vapor Eco Raglan Recycled Performance Tee.

Here’s a good way to ensure your finished artwork is presented on the garment without any lines showing. Over time, my team and I have developed “The Vapor Foam Method” for sublimation transfer onto performance apparel. While this method was designed for use with our products, it can provide some benefit to nearly any garment you are trying to sublimate. For the best results, use shirts specifically engineered for sublimation.

This foam method has a simple premise: You only compress the foam by one-third; the artwork always is smaller than the foam; and the foam always is smaller than the edges of the paper. By using this guide and the foam kit, you can rid your production facility of lines. To get started, you need heat-resistant foam, Teflon and heat tape/tack paper.

The foam is sold in rolls and should be cut to the specific size you need. To minimize the number of pieces of foam you end up with, establish standardized sizes of art. This will stop you from constantly re-cutting foam. For example, if you will be doing a lot of 4" x 6" prints, then you should create a piece of beveled foam that is 6" x 8". Your paper should be 8" x 10" or bigger.

The Transfer Process
Now that the transfer is ready to go and the press is properly configured for success, let’s focus on the transfer process itself.

Step 1: Inspect and lint roll the garment: Contamination can have a very negative impact on your production error rate. A good sublimation house will average less than 2% fallout. In order to do that, your work area must be clean. You should lint roll any part of the shirt that will be touching the heat press. Dust, dirt or lint can sublimate into the shirt during the transfer process if it is left on the garment.

Step 2: Set Up the Shirt: Lay the entire shirt on the top of the Teflon-covered platen. There is no need to “dress the press” or “sling the shirt” — if you press for 35 seconds you should not have any issues of blow through. You should set up the shirt the same way every time to ensure consistent placement.

Step 3: Align the Transfer: Now, take the transfer and place it on the foam-raised area. Always check the lineup of the transfer twice before pressing. Also, make sure all the edges of the paper are off the foam-raised area and that the entire image is in the right place.

Step 4: Secure the Transfer: This step depends on how you are set up with paper. If you use a tack sublimation transfer paper, you don’t need to tape the transfer in place. If you are not using this type of transfer paper, use heat tape to secure the transfer in place.

Step 5: Press and Remove the Transfer: Now, to set the heat on the transfer with an even, fluid movement. After the 35 seconds expire, lift the heat again in a smooth motion. Wait two seconds and then slowly remove the transfer by starting in one corner and “rolling” it off the shirt.

By focusing on the five key factors and following these five transfer steps, you can be printing high-margin performance apparel with sublimation in weeks. The technology has finally reached a point where it is worth the effort to gain the competitive advantage in the market.

Christopher Bernat is chief revenue office at Vapor Apparel and currently is on the Board of Directors at SGIA. Previously, he was director of sales at Sawgrass Technologies. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Chris at chris@vaporapparel.com.

To view a short video on this sublimation process, visit youtube.com/user/VaporApparel or scroll up to the top of this page.