Product Spotlight: Dye Sublimation Printing

No, Dye-Sub isn't a really colorful sandwich. It's short for Dye Sublimation, an imprint method that gives you outstanding quality and value. And as one of our staff said recently, applied physics is pretty cool sometimes!

Let's say you want to order custom printed t-shirts. Regular screen-printing is good, don't get us wrong. You can get silk-screened shirts that feature great-looking, durable designs. But it's a surface-print technique. It's subject to fading, cracking, and wear over time.

On the other hand, Dye-sub printing literally puts the ink into the fibers of the surface you're printing on. It can't fade, peel or crack because it becomes a part of the fabric itself. Even better, you can create a design that covers an entire shirt, not just part of it.

Here's how it works:

Dyes in liquid gel ink are used to transfer the desired design to a special paper specific to the process. The ink dries, and then the transfer paper is applied to a garment. A heat press applies heat and pressure. The heat opens the pores of the material onto which the design is to be transferred.

The heat and pressure also cause the dyes to change ("sublimate") directly from a solid to a gas. (There's that applied physics part.) The gas infuses into the garment being printed on. When the heat is removed, the design literally becomes a part of the shirt. The fabric maintains its original texture as well.

That gives you bold, bright colors that won't crack, peel or fade. The design's going to last as long as the shirt itself.

And that's not all. You can get dye-sublimated products of all kinds. Banners, flags, lanyards, cups, tumblers, and more are available with dye-sub imprints.

We're excited about these great-looking products and look forward to serving all your dye-sub product needs in the future!