# Can you print Red on black shirts with sublimation?



## Kanook

Gidday from Australia, This is my first post and I am so confused 

I want to start a small business as I am unemployed and need to do something. I found out about the process of sublimation, Print design onto special paper, press it on with heat press and taadaa!!! A shirt!

But after reading I dont know what to do , the designs I am looking at would be mostly white and red on a black shirt or black and red on a white shirt, I just read somewhere here that reds dont work well with sublimation, is this correct?

My funds are limited and I cant afford to throw money away, so I need to find all info that I can. 

Do the images come up sharp or are they dull? What printer, Ink, Press, It all seems a bit too much.

Could some of you wise people here tell me if the process of sublimation is worth it or am I going to waste money?

My choices here in Australia are very limited , I have looked at some presses listed here in Oz on Ebay as anywhere else seems so expensive, I know you pay for what you get so I may be wasting my time, I just dont know?

Oh well sorry for rambling on but I really need to earn a living and I thought this may be a way, I would appreciate any advice you have.

All the best to you and HooRoo for now,

Kanook


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## jberte

in a word......no

or well, you CAN print it - it just won't show up. to begin with, the sublimation dyes are translucent and they only bond to polyester fibers. so if you're using a black cotton shirt you're wasting time and ink - first it won't show up and second it'll all wash out.

sublimation is an amazing process but particularly UNsuited to dark garments.

trust me i know what it's like to need to earn a living! but before you climb too far out on that limb and spend a lotta cash you'll need to replace right away, spend a couple of days in here and read until your eyes bleed about the various processes and what it takes to produce them. then have a good sleep and come back and read some more 

if what you have are some good designs, i'd frankly recommend subbing out the actual grunt work to someone who already mastered the learning curve (and that can be very steep indeed!) at least until you know what processes you want to pursue and how each one works with the designs you have in mind!

good luck - and welcome to the forums!


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## charles95405

Let me echo what Jan says...sublimation can ONLY be used on 100% polyester white/ash and some pastels from Vapor apparel. If you use sublimation process on 50/50 it will look fine until washed and then the ink on the cotton strands washes badly, leaving a washed out look...some like that.. But in general sublimation, while a great process, is somewhat limited in applications for garments.

I would suggest that in the near term you look to a local DTG printer or consider plastisol transfers


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## Kanook

Gidday again, OK Ive upped my anti-depressent meds, but my brain hurts from way too much input  

So I have now learned that sublimation probably will not work for me,bugger, can you good and kind people steer me towards the light of a Tshirt printing system that lasts, I dont want to make goods that will peel off , crack or look like kangaroo droppings after a few washes  

The vinyl system, I assume, requires some form of cutter attached to computer, and from what I can gather cost near on a $1000, this would be too dear for me as I would still have to buy the vinyl rolls and shirts etc and again I assume you can only do one colour at a time.

Plastisol , from what I can gather, cannot be printed at home, must be printed by a pro somewhere?? Correct? I was hoping to do all inhouse as I live in a rural town in Queensland Australia.

I see a forum about Heat Transfers, I know sublimation isnt the only heta transfer method, should I be looking at another form of heat transfer? So many of the posts are by people who know so much but are about specific types or grades of paper etc, I first need to know which transfer path to go down so I can then find the nitty gritty of a particular method.

I would be so grateful if you could get a stick and just poke me towards the path I should take, or should I forget about it?

Sorry if I ramble but my head is swimming with info, and Im typing into this little box  

All the best to you and HooRoo for now.

Kanook


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## jberte

deep breaths - you'll be fine 

the method you decide to choose will depend a lot (IMHO) on your specific designs.

i agree that in your current situation buying a plotter, the software to run it, the vinyl for the application and THEN learning all the ins and outs of running same could be a little much for the moment!

however, plastisol transfers can be ordered from a vender and you press them yourself. they are very versatile and work equally well with light or dark garments. given the details we have, this would be my personal recommendation for you - at least for now until you learn more about what it is you want to do and how much of the actual production you wish to take on.

transfer papers and inks are as varied as grains of sand on the beach - and while they do serve their niche very well there is a tremendous learning curve - as i think you've probably seen today scrolling thru these forums!

to get yourself up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible, i'd say give plastisol a shot!


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## charles95405

do a search on plastisol transfers....Rodney has a thread with a ton of information on them. As Jan says you can do the pressing at home... I recently did a run of shirts...and by ganging up my graphics, my cost per shirt...including the shirt was $3


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## Kanook

Thankyou so much for the replies, I will do some searching around on who does the plasticols here in AUSTRALIA.

From my searching here I found an Australian supplier for VAPOR shirts, I will give her a call on Monday, I know she sells shirts for sublimation and and other blanks, Tania may be able to point me to a plasticol printer, I will do some searching online over the weekend.

I doubt I can get the prices here in Oz that are available to the USA but it may work.

One last question, can you use any particular type of shirt for plasticol eg man made or natural?

Thankyou for the advice.

HooRoo 
Kanook


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## charles95405

most plastisol transfers (which are actually screen prints) will work on most material that will take the heat around 320F for 5-10 seconds. notice I said most..so check with the vendor and see


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## Kanook

Gidday again,

Thankyou for the advice.

Is the Plastisol system only capable of solid colours? Like just letters in one colour and a picture or image in another solid colour? 

Can I present a piece of art say in shades of grey or does it have to be block colours?

Should I move this over to another forum section?

Thankyou for your help

HooRoo
Kanook


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## charles95405

plastisol transfers ARE screen printing...so what you can/can't do in screen printing you can/can't do with Plastisol transfers.....So you can't do gradients/blends or photos (I guess there are some special things you do with screen printing...) but for the most part you will need solid colors....I think...if I have mis spoken...someone will pull my foot from my mouth!


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## jberte

open wide charles  gradients are both possible and wonderful in plastisols - i get mine from F&M


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## charles95405

Huuummm....Jan why didn't I know that??? I have only ordered from F&M about a dozen times!...problem with age..your brain gets overloaded like the hard drive in a computer....I think mine is about to implode!


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## meisfogerty

Hi Kanook im an Aussie also and have also started my own business and got some equipment also...

The forums ive tried and got some great info from there.

If you after plastisol transfers i know a few places in the US and have ordered from them before and there service is great... There are also over 5000 designs and if you buy them by the dozen there cheap as..

The postage is the killer though mate.
Saw your post and just thought id drop ya a quick line or two...Mate my idea would be maybe setup something like an aussie co-op where we all place an order together to split the postage..

My email is [email protected] so drop us a line and we can both get crackin on some shirts..

Let me know your thoughts mate

Cheers
Marko


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## miknic

Hey all I am an Aussie also and fin dit rough finding things I need .. 
I opted for heat transfer to get me started, I have a heat press and cameo cutter and epson Wf 2540 it for me is a little hobby to keep me busy and make great things for my kids but any other info that can get me along would be great. I am happy to help in anyway I can as we learn together along the way.


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