# sublimation onto cotton shirts with polymer powder yields only faded pictures (and takes long)



## juli

hi
recently i have bought an epson l380 for printing onto this: https://ibb.co/fE47LL using the same company's ink for sublimation, which i then heat pressed onto cotton shirts using a polymer powder.


it was my first time sublimating so i tried a couple times and the result was always faded and the color did not seem to have sublimated off of the paper. that prompted me to try again with some more polymer powder (maybe there wasnt enough? i couldnt see it on the paper afterall) on the same USED transfer paper and i would once again get faded versions of what i wanted and there was still a whole lot of color left on the transfer paper. i did this because i wanted to test some things (without any real result) and also because i didnt want to waste anything. but let's say the first time the transfer process produced a nice picture on the shirt, could i then continue using the same transfer paper again with some more polymer powder or would the second picture then be way more faded? i only experienced slightly more fading, but it was very faded at the first try anyway.



the thing is that i dont know much at all about sublimation except the very basic process. i am not 100% sure if the vendor sold me the right paper or ink. i am not even sure if i used the paper on the right side, because they seem to be slightly different, but not much at all.
i am very open towards all kinds of hints.


most importantly though i am an absolute newbie when it comes to image editing. i barely figured out how to remove backgrounds (do i even have to do that? since i dont have white ink and i print onto white transfer paper, removing white backgrounds seems redundant to me) and realized last minute that i had to turn around the picture.
is there anything else i have to think of when editing a picture prior to everything?


i am currently using the freeware photoscape, because it's the only image editing program i can somewhat use. if it is completely useless, tell me, but i dont intend on doing high quality photoshops anyway. i would just receive image files, open them, edit them as far as photoscape allows and print them afterwards. i cant afford any paid program anyway.


ps: when i printed the motifs onto the heat transfer paper it came out SUPER slowly. it took a solid 20-25 minutes to finish, because i did some changes in the basic properties of the printer to ensure high quality. i am sure this shouldnt take so long, any ideas how to reduce the time? might be that the polymer powder couldnt stick to it due to it drying. but even if it was all wet, usually, should i let the paper dry first before putting it into the heat press? yeah, right?


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## reallyman

sublimation doesn't work on cotton


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## webtrekker

There's no magic method for sublimating onto cotton. Forget about polymer sprays and powders.

You can only sublimate onto white 100% polyester materials. You can obtain some faded 'retro' looks by pressing onto poly-cotton mixes, either white or light coloured, but not on anything containing mostly cotton.

If you're hell-bent on cotton then have a look at the Neenah JetPro SofStetch (JPSS) and 3g Jet-Opaque transfer papers. Not perfect, but usable. 

You should also have an ICC profile for the sublimation inks you use, and print from graphics software that can manage colours via ICC, otherwise you will never obtain good resilts.


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## LancerFlorida

Sounds like you want to do everything on the cheap. 
Well, let's see what we can do.
If you want to print on white/light cotton use the ink that come with your printer. Simply put the transfer paper in your office printer, print and press it. You could even start this exploration using ordinary office copier paper. Start at 320 F and 45 sec. Wash it and see what happens.
If it washes out in a few cycles, then confirm if the native ink is something other than dye or pigment. Both will work.
When you have confirmed you ink will adhere to the cotton, THEN purchase transfer paper intended for white/light cotton.
Epson 88+ is very low cost and provides you an alternative process. 
Sometimes going cheap actually costs more money.


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## sublial

I print onto Dark 100% cotton shirts using a white toner printed in reverse on a clear HOT peel film and printing sublimation ink onto Neenah Image Clip transfer paper for darks. I then register the film over the color design and press them together this removing the white block out off of the transfer paper and adhering it to the film to press onto the dark cotton shirt and hot peeling it after a 30 second time.
AL


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