Polyester clothing and sports outfits for soccer, cycling, basketball and other sports are colored with sublimation colours. But, if on one hand, the coloring of polyester sportswear with sublimation printing is a must, on the other hand, there could be problems for print shops that have the necessity to personalize polyester garments with logos, numbers and writings . As a matter of fact, if you do not know about the characteristics of the sublimation colors or you are not particularly careful in the customization process, it could happen that the sublimation colors migrate to the surface and alter the colors of the transferred prints. This problem sometimes occurs immediately after the heat transfer process, other times even after a few days.
In this article you will find all the SUBLISTOP solutions to this common problem.
Before moving on to the various solutions to prevent the migration of sublimation colours, here is a brief look at sublimation and how it works technically.
The sublimation process indicates the instantaneous transformation into gas that sublimation inks undergo with heat. And it is in the form of gas that sublimatic inks combine with polyester permanently. In other words, sublimation printing uses printers with sublimation inks that print either directly onto the polyester fabric or on special sublimation papers which are then heat transferred onto polyester fabrics with a calender or a press. The same for direct printing on the fabric: a passage in the calender/heat press is necessary to allow the sublimation inks to “sublimate” due to heat. The final result will be washable and perfect fabric which maintains its original texture. A sublimated colored garment is clearly recognizable because it will be colored on the outside and white on the inside. If, on the other hand, the bath coloring technique is used for polyester fabrics, both sides will be equally coloured.
So far so well! But if on one hand, as we have already said, sublimation printing is the most popular technique for coloring polyester sports outfits on the other hand, for the subsequent customization step it is certainly necessary to be careful and choose a SUBLISTOP product for each printing technology which is able to prevent the migration of sublimatic colors and which guarantees long lasting results. This is because by their very nature sublimatic colors are reactivated during the heat-transfer phase and if not stopped with the appropriate product the result of the personalization will be altered.
Today there are several solutions to deal with this problem, each with its pros and cons. Before delving into the solutions, however, it is useful to know that the migrating of sublimatic colors is more evident and quicker on vertical striped polyester fabrics (see football shirts) while it is slower on single-color shirts.
Now let’s take a look at the various solutions. The printing technologies that have SUBLISTOP features, i.e. which create a barrier and effectively stop the migration of sublimatic colors are screen printing, digital solvent/ecosolvent plotter technology and cutting plotter technology.
Let’s start with screen printing, the king of graphic art. It has SUBLISTOP features that are ideal for customizing sublimated polyester sportswear and sets no limits in the choice of colours. Prints can be both single color and multicolor. Screen printing ensures very bright colors and very high washing resistance. A limitation concerning this technology lies in the initial installation costs and in the fact that to reduce these costs it is necessary to print a minimum number of pieces.
The solvent/ecosolvent plotter technology also includes specific SUBLISTOP print and cut heat-flex films which prevent the migration of the sublimation inks, guaranteeing perfect transfers. The blends/formulas and the particular processing of these products prevent the colors used for the fabrics from staining the transferred print, thus keeping the original colors of the prints unaltered. And, moreover, SUBLISTOP solvent products are opaque, guarantee a soft touch and set no limits in the choice of colours. Both single-color and multicolor graphics can be created with high chromatic quality and excellent washing resistance.
Finally let’s talk about the plotter-cut technology which also includes SUBLISTOP heatflex films for customizing sublimated colored polyester sports apparel. Thanks to their opacity these films are able to prevent migration of sublimatic colors giving excellent final results and also very high washing resistance. But if these are the pro’s for heatflex films, on the other hand this technology has also well-known limitations. One of these is the ability to customize sports outfits in just single colors, with simple graphics and fairly long working times, as a matter of fact you must consider the times for the cutting phase,the peel-off and those of the heat press application.
Need to customize polyester sportswear? Now that’s no longer a problem and everyone can choose the SUBLISTOP product they prefer based on the printing technology they have at hand. Those currently on the market for the three technologies perfectly solve the problem of the migratorio of sublimatic colors.
Content is available in:
0 Comment