Welcome to the wonderful world of t-shirts and personalized clothing. You may be wondering which method of clothing decoration is better: heat transfer paper or sublimation printing? The answer is that both are great! However, the method you use depends on your needs and what you want to do. In addition, each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s get into the details to help you determine the best product for you and your business.
The basics of heat transfer paper
What exactly is thermal transfer paper? Thermal transfer paper is a special paper that transfers printed designs to shirts and other garments when heated. The process involves printing the design on a sheet of thermal transfer paper using an inkjet or laser printer. Then, place the printed paper on the t-shirt and iron it using a heat press (a household iron will work in some cases, but a heat press works best). After pressing, you tear off the paper and your image adheres well to the fabric.
Thermal transfer paper printing steps
Garment decoration through heat transfer paper is very easy. In fact, many decorators start with the printer they already have at home!! Some other important notes about heat transfer paper are that most papers are suitable for cotton and polyester fabrics, heat transfer paper is designed for dark or light colored garments, and sublimation is designed for white or light colored garments.
How to sublimation
The sublimation process is very similar to thermal transfer paper. As with heat transfer paper, the process involves printing the design on a sheet of sublimation paper and pressing it into the garment with a heat press.
Sublimation printing steps
Sublimation ink changes when heated from a solid to a gas and then becomes embedded in a polyester fabric.. As it cools, it turns back to solid and becomes a permanent part of the fabric. This means that your transfer design does not add an additional layer on top, so there is no difference in the feel between the printed image and the rest of the fabric.. This also means that the transfer is very durable, and under normal circumstances the image you create will last as long as the product itself.
Post time: Jun-30-2022