# Dye Sub on Lycra



## Tony_Sunshine (Dec 10, 2009)

Hello everyone, wanted to share a test we did for a custom bikini designer. This is dye sublimation on Lycra. We were all conviced that it was going to melt into a ball of goo, but it did really well.










The Lycra has two very different directions. In one direction super stretchy (technical term) and the opposite not so much. I put the dots on the Lycra prior to pressing at every inch to see if the fabric deformed at 400 degrees.

No melted goo, fabric looks great but it did change it's dimension a little bit. Along the stretchy direction it shortened from 8" to 7.75" and didn't change at all on the other. The fabric is still stretchy and surface doesn't seem altered. Since the client is going to be doing the cut and sew it should be fine. This would pose a problem if we were trying to put a logo on an existing garment, that bikini might get really skimpy. I did use liner paper on top and bottom to protect my press in case of meltage!

This is super good news for our client, as now she can do logos, custom art, whatever she likes. No more depending on mass-produced fabrics. Gotta love dye sub!

Anyone else doing dye sub on Lycra? Shout back and let me know what you've found.


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## GAW (Jan 11, 2010)

Awesome info bro. Thanks for sharing!


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## GLC (Jun 3, 2007)

Nice one TS thank you 


--
Ezekiel


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

We do custom bikinis with lycra and the best thing to do with the 4 way stretch material for exact fit is to pre-press. Bikinis, mini skirts, bootie shorts, etc are all excellent ways to enter into cut and sew without a large press and trust me when I say the margins are incredible. We learned early on that thee are 1000's of people in dye sub beating each other up fighting for the premade apparel business. Move into to cut and sew and you elinate 95% of the competition. We can make a bikini cheaper then we can buy a phenom shirt - guess which sells for more?


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## ddinc (Jan 27, 2008)

Tony,
to answer your question if anyone else is doing it on lycra, not until I read your post. I just started looking at bikinis and the like last night and most of them are poly and lycra. The question came to mind about lycra and that kind of held me back from ordering any. All your info is great. Thanks. Ed.


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

We print on lycra too - fabric itself, pre-cut panles and ready-made garments. We usually drop the temperature down to 180 C and use positioning spray to reduce ghosting. Pre-pressing definitely helps, as Mark pointed out.


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