# Sublimation ink fading after week



## buppie (Mar 23, 2019)

This is my firs post so please bear with me.
When I first press, the image is crispy and very colorful and vibrant. 
However after a week or so the image is dulling and seems to be fading. 
I'm not sure if this is being caused by the ink, pressing process or the bag material.

I do know the pouches I am sublimating on are a polyester cotton blend. I am just unsure of the ratio. If it is due to the bag being a poly blend is it normal for it to look great and then fade?

I am new to sublimation and would love any tips.
I have a image but cant seem to attach, maybe because I am new to this forum


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

Yes, perfectly normal for poly blends to fade, even after the first wash.


Sublimation ink only infuses itself into the polyester fibre. When first printed, it will look great, but the first wash will wash nearly all the inks off the cotton fibres and subsequent washes will fade the garment even more.


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## buppie (Mar 23, 2019)

Thank you so much.
The odd thing is I have not washed the bag. Might sound cray, but can ink evaporate off the fabric? 

I can upload images now..
Here is the image of the bags. 
The image on the left was presses two weeks ago, the image on the right was pressed three days ago


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

webtrekker said:


> Yes, perfectly normal for poly blends to fade, even after the first wash.
> 
> 
> Sublimation ink only infuses itself into the polyester fibre. When first printed, it will look great, but the first wash will wash nearly all the inks off the cotton fibres and subsequent washes will fade the garment even more.


It is not normal for blends to faded if not washed or messed with in any way. I have never seen any dye sub to change in that short period of time.
Show us the second one in a few weeks.


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

There's a chance it may be due to some additional coating applied to the material by the manufacturer affecting the quality of the print.

Also, you don't say which inks you are using. If they are unknown cheapies from ebay, well.................. 🙂


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