# T-Shirt materials.... 50/50 vs 100% cotton. HELP



## Spank_Shirts (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Guys....


Total Newbie question here. 

Can someone pls recomend a material for Sublimation T-shirt printing. 

Will 100% Cotton T's work? if so is there anything I need to add to the process. 

or would a 50/50 mix work best?

PLS HELP.


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## Progeny (Jul 28, 2007)

Hi,

You can't use cotton t-shirts for sublimation, they have to be polyester or have a high polyester content. It only really works well on white as the t-shirt colour affects the colour of the sub ink.

If you use 50/50 you will find the print will be faded or look vintage and won't last as long.

I think you can get sprays to put on clothing before sub printing but i have no experience of these and don't know whether they would be retail quality.

Lee


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## celmoso (Jul 15, 2007)

Lee is 100% correct. You can search for previous posts about a polyester spray for subbing cotton shirts, but the majority of the forum had no luck with that.


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## devotid (Jan 31, 2008)

i had the same question then i tried some 50/50's and they were faded and not very opaque. def not retail-able for me at all,unless your into that look. does the all poly shirt show better colors? they must be good for what you pay for those things......like double/triple i think.

kevin


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## jamieleigh (Feb 1, 2008)

has anyone heard of a high poly hoodie?


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## cprvh (Jan 23, 2006)

vapor apparel - your source for blank apparel

Welcome to AmeriTees®


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## jamieleigh (Feb 1, 2008)

Thank You!!!


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

Definitely the higher polyester content is - the better your printed results, so if you want to get the best out of dye sublimation - polyester t-shirts are the way to go. They are more expensive than cotton blanks, but the results you will get are worth it.

Sublimation inks don't bond with natural fabrics - if you are using a blend the ink will only "stick" to poly fibers.
Spray will give you a bit of a hand and if you pull at the sides of the print it will look sort of cracked - until the first wash. After wash it will look faded.
Personally, I wouldn't sell it.


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## jamieleigh (Feb 1, 2008)

Im new here too - i have a customer wanting hoodies and the only shirt option I have to me is sublimation what is the feel of these hoodies - are they simular at all to the cotton ones? thanks for any info on this.


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

Jamie, I don't know about hoodies from Ameritees, but the Vapor Apparel ones very have similar look and feel to cotton hoodies.


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## vkbrown (Aug 5, 2007)

I print the Vapor Apparel hoodies all the time and love them! The color is amazing and to me it feels just like cotton.


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