[freebird1963]

is chromablast not a "dye sublimation" for cotton ?
Now I am really confused. Thats the way is was explained at the show to me.
Or at least the way I took it.

I thought you needed the dye sub (artainium) for mugs/wood/tile and polyester shirts and to do cotton the chromablast.

Man I either gotta drink more or stop drinking cuz these learning headaches hurt.

Mark

 

[ranarusi]

I am very confused, too... Let me ask you guys something: If I want to print on 100% cutton - what would be the best way to go? Sublimation? Heat Transfer?

 

[Rodney]

I am very confused, too... Let me ask you guys something: If I want to print on 100% cutton - what would be the best way to go? Sublimation? Heat Transfer?

Heat transfer will be the only one out of the two that will work on 100% cotton.

There are many types of heat transfers you can use though (inkjet or laster printed transfers), vinyl transfers, screen printed (plastisol) transfers, etc.

 

[Solmu]

To clear up something that may be causing some of the headaches: you can, under very limited circumstances, sublimate on cotton. Specifically there was one specific ink developed to work on white 100% cotton. It only works on white, it's significantly more expensive, and it's a new product. I don't know precisely how it works, but I can only assume that it has an inbuilt coating that bonds to the fibres, and that coating is sublimated (so it likely wouldn't be true sublimation in my opinion). Personally I don't think it even counts, but it does exist to help make things more confusing

 

[rusty]

May be a little off topic, but I noticed that the medical scrubs my wife wears are 65% polyester/35% cotton. Sounds like great candidates for a little experimenting!!! After I told her of my great idea, I can't seem to find any of her scrubs anymore. I think she hid them from me.... I'll find them! I'll try out some designs on the back and maybe she won't notice

 

[PT Studios]

My son has a Red Hot Chilli Peppers T-Shirt with a two color design on the front... It says it's 100% cotton on the tag. There is NO hand or very very very little... It is a white shirt... ???? any ideas as to what this is? Maybe the ink T-Bot was speaking of?

 

[Solmu]

any ideas as to what this is?

Discharge screen printing most likely.

 

[polomac]

You can Sub on 100% cotton White T-Shirts. With no spray or other transfer product. Sawgrass ChormaBlast ink is for 100% cotton T-Shirt Sublimation.
They use a special ink and transfer paper and the results are great wash after wash.Now only if they would develop White sublimation ink to be used with the chromablast as a under coating for dark T-Shirts , it would open doors for more dark t- shirt orders.

 

[rusty]

I don't think ChromaBlast is Sublimation. It's its own unique animal. It's probably more similar to the inkjet transfers than sublimation (except a LOT more expensive than inkjet transfers). The white area around the design gets transferred to the shirt, but its supposed to wash out after a wash. And it's supposed to have a "soft hand", where as sublimation has no hand at all. It would be interesting for somebody to do a comparison between ChromaBlast and Iron-All.

 

[freebird1963]

I don't think ChromaBlast is Sublimation. It's its own unique animal. It's probably more similar to the inkjet transfers than sublimation (except a LOT more expensive than inkjet transfers). The white area around the design gets transferred to the shirt, but its supposed to wash out after a wash. And it's supposed to have a "soft hand", where as sublimation has no hand at all. It would be interesting for somebody to do a comparison between ChromaBlast and Iron-All.

I am no expert in anyway on this stuff (yet) but at the ISS show as we walked around I was handling the dye sub shirts and the chromablast ones that were on display and I felt no hand on either. Maybe its being a newbie but was really impressed with the vibrant colors of the chromablast shirts we saw. I don't recall every thinking that one was better looking than the other or feeling softer. They both rocked me.
Just my newbie take tho.
Mark

 

[rusty]

I haven't seen one in person. I was just going by their own website where Chromablast says it has a "soft hand". So that's good news. I also wonder about the white area around the design. It says it washes out after the first wash. But you usually do not wash a shirt before giving it to the customer. I wonder if this will cause concern for some customers.

 

[PT Studios]

Check this out ChromaBlast especially if you're in Canada. I'd really love to hear from someone who has used this system. It sounds interesting but kinda expensive... $100 for 100 sheets! With dye-sub you can do other things.. mugs and stuff, but, this does cotton shirts which I really like... hmmm pros and cons I guess.

 

[Rodney]

My son has a Red Hot Chilli Peppers T-Shirt with a two color design on the front... It says it's 100% cotton on the tag. There is NO hand or very very very little... It is a white shirt... ???? any ideas as to what this is? Maybe the ink T-Bot was speaking of?

screen printing regular plastisol inks on a white t-shirt can leave a very light hand since it doesn't require an extra white ink base to cover the shirt color.

It could also be water based ink screen printing.

 

[trishtaz]

Check this out ChromaBlast especially if you're in Canada. I'd really love to hear from someone who has used this system. It sounds interesting but kinda expensive... $100 for 100 sheets! With dye-sub you can do other things.. mugs and stuff, but, this does cotton shirts which I really like... hmmm pros and cons I guess.

I haven't used the system itself so I can't attest to its ease of use, but as to the end product -- I picked up a sample at the ISS Fort Worth show and my husband has been wearing and washing it since October. It had a very vibrant print that washed out a fair amount in the first wash, but it has held its colors since the first wash. My thought was that if I used it, it would be for designs that are meant to look a little faded, and I would put on stickers or hangtags that said something like "Made to Fade". It isn't that dull, just compared to the original print it is.

The hand was almost nonexistent and is probably second only to the other sample I picked up at the show, one printed on the Brother DTG. I was really impressed but have not taken the plunge for the same reasons as you and probably many others -- the cost per print for both the paper and the ink and the white-only limitation.

Sawgrass does claim that it's like sublimation in that it doesn't rest on top of the fibers like plastisol or digital transfers, but bonds with the cotton fibers. I don't understand the chemical process well enough to know if this is a fair claim, though.

 

[NoveltyStuff]

screen printing regular plastisol inks on a white t-shirt can leave a very light hand since it doesn't require an extra white ink base to cover the shirt color.

But, if you can't use plastisol, because you are printing and transfering (on demand at event location), would the IronAll or Chromablast be best for photo images?

Sorry if that is a silly questions, still learning about it all.

NS

 

[Rodney]

But, if you can't use plastisol, because you are printing and transfering (on demand at event location), would the IronAll or Chromablast be best for photo images?

Sorry if that is a silly questions, still learning about it all.

NS

Yep, for photo printed shirts on demand, an inkjet heat transfer or a color laser printer heat transfer would be better than plastisol. It's basically your only option in that case except for dye sub.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

They would be the less expensive but dye-sub would give the best results.

 

[paulo]

They would be the less expensive but dye-sub would give the best results.

David,

I took a look at some of your designs on the Tshirts. IMPRESSIVE. Do you guys do those with the sye-sub process you descirbed above.

 

[jgrimes]

I am new to the business of making t-shirts and uniforms and I could use some help! I print mainly soccer jersey's and they are more of a poly blend and the trouble I am having is that there seems to be a burn mark on every jersey I print. Some are more noticeable that others but I am not sure what to do, does any one have any suggestions?

 

[rusty]

I am new to the business of making t-shirts and uniforms and I could use some help! I print mainly soccer jersey's and they are more of a poly blend and the trouble I am having is that there seems to be a burn mark on every jersey I print. Some are more noticeable that others but I am not sure what to do, does any one have any suggestions?

Some material is just not suitable for DyeSub because it cannot withstand 400 degrees temps. If it's truly a burn, then all you can do is try to lower the temp and/or dwell time and see if you can get an acceptable result without burning the material. It may not be possible.