Sublimation Printing

Sublimation printing uses heat and pressure to turn dye into a gas, which bonds directly with polyester fibres and becomes part of the fabric instead of a layer sitting on top of it. Nothing else produces a print with genuinely zero hand feel, and nothing else handles edge-to-edge all-over designs as cleanly.

We sublimate at our Leicester site for sportswear, performance kit, full-colour fashion pieces and all-over printed apparel, alongside screen, digital, hybrid and transfer printing on the same premises.

How Sublimation Printing Works

The design is printed onto transfer paper using sublimation dyes, then pressed onto the garment or panel under heat and pressure. At temperature the dye moves straight from solid to gas and enters the fibre itself. As it cools it locks in. There is no ink film left on the surface, which is why you cannot feel a sublimated print with your fingers and why it does not crack, peel or wash off.

That mechanism also sets the limits, and it is worth being clear about them rather than discovering them at sampling.

What Sublimation Needs to Work

Polyester or High Polyester Fabric

The dye bonds with polyester. It does not bond with cotton. On a cotton garment a sublimated print will look faded almost immediately and will keep fading, so cotton and cotton-rich blends are not candidates for this method. If your fabric is cotton, screen, digital or hybrid printing is the route.

A Light Base Colour

Sublimation dye is transparent and there is no white ink. The design colours mix with whatever colour the garment already is, which means the process works properly on white and very light fabric. It cannot print white, and it cannot print light artwork onto a dark garment.

Where Sublimation Is the Best Method

All-Over and Edge-to-Edge Printing

Designs that run across seams, over the whole garment and off the edges. Most methods print a panel onto a finished garment and are limited to a print area. Sublimation can cover the entire surface, which is why all-over printed apparel is almost always sublimated.

Sportswear and Performance Kit

Team kit, cycling and running gear, and anything technical. Because there is no ink film, the fabric keeps its stretch and its breathability, and the print does not go stiff or trap heat. Numbers, names and sponsor placements can all be built into the same print.

Full-Colour Photographic Artwork

Unlimited colours, smooth gradients and photographic detail with no colour count and no screens to set up. Complexity of artwork does not change the cost the way it does in screen printing.

Prints That Have to Feel Like Nothing

If the brief is a garment where the graphic is invisible to the touch, this is the only method that truly delivers it.

Sublimation Printing Minimums and Turnaround

Minimums for sublimation depend on the garment and the job and are confirmed when we quote. Standard production turnaround is 5 to 10 working days from approval of artwork and payment. Artwork preparation sits in front of that, and all-over designs usually need more preparation than a chest print because the artwork has to be laid out against the pattern pieces.

Sublimation, Screen, Digital or Transfer

Sublimation is the right answer for polyester, light garments, all-over coverage and zero hand feel. Screen printing is the answer for cotton, dark garments, bold solid colour and specialty finishes, from 25 pieces per design. Digital printing handles cotton and full colour with no minimum. Transfer printing suits names, numbers, small placements and mixed batches. Hybrid covers detailed full-colour work at volume on any garment colour.

Tell us the fabric, the garment colour, the artwork and the quantity, and we will tell you which method the job wants. We run all of them, so there is nothing to gain by steering you.

After the Print

Sublimated garments go through the same garment finishing line as everything else, pressed, folded, tagged, labelled and bagged to retail standard on the same site. From there you can hold stock with us through stock inventory management or ship to customers through dropshipping and fulfilment.