Sublimation

Subli-What!?

Sublimation is the method of printing a special ink onto special paper and then transferring it by use of heat onto items, such as mugs (as shown above), t-shirts, signs, and keychains to name a few…. very few. 

Benefits

I know what you are thinking, yea that sounds cool but what is the point? Sublimation products quite literally bond with the product itself, the mugs shown above are completely dishwasher safe and you never have to worry about the design peeling off. Sublimation allows you to have vivid full color designs! On shirts, since the design becomes part of the fabric you are not able to feel the design on the shirt, this is why it is used for sports jersey’s like that of motocross where the whole shirt is the vivid design!

Limitations

As awesome as this method is, much like everything that is so good there are limitations as well. The main Achilles heal of sublimation is there has to be a special coating on the items like mugs or keychains and for clothing sublimation requires there be at least 70% blend of polyester in the fabric. Clothing manufacturers have hopped on board and are now making more and more clothing designed for sublimation giving the cloths a soft cotton feel! Another limitation in clothing is they have to be light colors.