# Fleece



## joeh (Dec 21, 2010)

Just a quick question.... Has anyone tried applying a dye sub transfer to fleece.... Can it be done and if so is there anything special I must do.....


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

Just make sure you find a 100% or 85/15 Polyester Fleece. We've done many projects with both double-sided anti-pill and sweatshirt fleece.

Make sure you pre-shrink it, a solid 30 seconds minimum. I've found a fair amount of shrinkage in fleece.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

We just did our first fleece pull over jacket. The material holds up really well to the heat. Better than the sweatshirt material. We pressed at 380 for 45 seconds and it printed brilliantly. Best part is you can find it anywhere on the web. I do understand Vapor will start carrying bulk fleece around Thanksgiving.


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## joeh (Dec 21, 2010)

Did you use a sublimation transfer? If so which color fleece did you use? White?


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## T Industry (Mar 22, 2010)

Can u press fleece with sublimation transfer? Dont you flatten the fabric (press area)? Even after washing the fabric wont go 'up'. Best way to do is embroidery...


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

T Industry said:


> Can u press fleece with sublimation transfer? Dont you flatten the fabric (press area)? Even after washing the fabric wont go 'up'. Best way to do is embroidery...


Yes, that is the point of the thread - sublimation on fleece. We are a cut and sew shop so we are making our fleece garments not pressing on premades. Again for us the fleece held up really well especially compared to the sweatshirt fabric which when we pressed virtually loses all of the softness. The quality of print on fleece was incredible. As good as a shirt which surprised us. We were using a some fleece we grabbed from Joann's just to test.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

joeh said:


> Did you use a sublimation transfer? If so which color fleece did you use? White?


Yes white - we are fleece noobs so others are more qualified to explain the difference between double sided, regular, anti pill, etc. The same rules for shirts would be the same for fleece. You have to print on a color lighter than the color of ink you are using. We do cut and sew thus we are always starting out on white.


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## joeh (Dec 21, 2010)

That's great to hear!!! And thank you!!!


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

T Industry said:


> Can u press fleece with sublimation transfer? Dont you flatten the fabric (press area)? Even after washing the fabric wont go 'up'. Best way to do is embroidery...


I disagree that the "best way to do is embroidery." Can you imagine how costly and heavy a fleece product would be if it were 100% embroidered?

As far as flattening the fabric, it all depends on what fleece you use and how you set up your press.

I'm buying pallets of kraft paper from ULINE and I've found that the backside of my fleece doesn't flatten out. Of course, the printed side does a bit, but, we're mainly using sweatshirt fleece here, so, there's nothing to flatten out.

We used to do blankets out of double-sided anti-pill and we've converted that over to the sweatshirt fleece so as to have a better and cleaner looking graphic.


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## joeh (Dec 21, 2010)

No doubt the cost, not to mention it isn't the look I'm looking for... Have you had a problem with shrinkage? I have never had a problem with it in any poly material... Am I missing something unique to fleece?


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

There are probably two answers. If you are printing a design on a shirt with a desktop type press the actually shirt will not shrink. If you are doing large format on a press like a MaxiPress where you are pressing the entire surface of the fabric it will shrink. Not just fleece but most poly. This is what cause the vast majority of ghosting and is why tacky paper is the greatest thing to hit dye sub in years. I


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

Riderz Ready said:


> There are probably two answers. If you are printing a design on a shirt with a desktop type press the actually shirt will not shrink. If you are doing large format on a press like a MaxiPress where you are pressing the entire surface of the fabric it will shrink. *Not just fleece but most poly.* This is what cause the vast majority of ghosting and is why tacky paper is the greatest thing to hit dye sub in years. I


This is my experience as well.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

A pic is worth a thousand words - here is our fleece pullover jacket prototype coming together. Has a pro sport 3" collar and missing from the pic a 9" zipper that goes from the top of the collar. Includes front pouch. Far from being a photographer but this should show how well fleece prints. For those never involved in cut and sew it show how a garment comes together.


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

Great job Mark!

Loved our phone conversation today as well.


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

Mark, the pullover looks awesome!


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

JYA said:


> Great job Mark!
> 
> Loved our phone conversation today as well.


Ditto

Cut and sew is so much fun. You can make literally anything you want.


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## uncletee (Feb 25, 2007)

love the colors on white, just got to practice, with temp pressure and use pro spray. foam under can also help, don't cut the image, good luck uncletee.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

uncletee said:


> love the colors on white, just got to practice, with temp pressure and use pro spray. foam under can also help, don't cut the image, good luck uncletee.


Practice? Pro Spray? Foam? Don't cut the image? 

None of the above has anything to do with cut and sew.


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

uncletee said:


> love the colors on white, just got to practice, with temp pressure and use pro spray. foam under can also help, don't cut the image, good luck uncletee.


What's pro spray? 

No need for foam; kraft paper does the job and is far cheaper.

Pressure? No problem! We work under pressure every day!


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

JYA said:


> What's pro spray?
> 
> No need for foam; kraft paper does the job and is far cheaper.
> 
> Pressure? No problem! We work under pressure every day!


 
Pro Spray is $4.00 repositioning spray that is sold to people in the dye sub world for $15.00. Crazy but people seem to fall for it. Maybe we should get a label called Spray Pro and sell the $4.00 can for $10.00?

Pic of the finised product.


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## JYA (Jun 2, 2008)

Riderz Ready said:


> Pro Spray is $4.00 repositioning spray that is sold to people in the dye sub world for $15.00. Crazy but people seem to fall for it. Maybe we should get a label called Spray Pro and sell the $4.00 can for $10.00?


I was teasing about the spray. Like you, I love my Beaver Tacky.

Believe it or not, I have a bottle of "spray" I got as a sample at ISS 18 months ago and have NEVER used it. I did check the price on it and it is $3.50-$4/bottle.


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## texasjack49 (Aug 4, 2008)

So cut and sew shows great results but how about for the less fortunate? Wouldn't this also work on an off the rack fleece item. Has anyone tried it or can recommend a specific brand? I'm not very familiar with fleece, may have to run to a fabric store and have a look.


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## discoqueen (Jun 5, 2010)

Riderz Ready said:


> Pic of the finised product.


Wow, RR - that's awesome!


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## PC Prodigy (Sep 13, 2018)

thank you all for the info


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