How To Sublimate A Shirt

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Do you want to make custom t-shirts for your handcrafting business or even to use as gifts for families and friends? Well, you’re in luck because, in this blog post, I will show you how to sublimate a shirt!

If you’re just starting with sublimation crafts, making custom sublimation shirts is one of the best places to get started because shirt blanks are budget-friendly.

So, practicing with your designs is easy until you’ve mastered the process. And once you know how to do this, you can also follow the same steps to make other custom apparel!

Sublimation shirts are also an excellent alternative to making t-shirts with transfer vinyl. The main reason is that shirts made with transfer vinyl press your design onto the shirt.

But with sublimation, the ink is combined with the fibers on a molecular level. This gives you a much more permanent transfer, resulting in high-quality custom shirts.

In this step-by-step guide, I will share everything you need to know about how to sublimate a shirt, the best fabrics to use, and more. Let’s jump right in!

What Do You Need For Sublimation Shirts?

To make a sublimation t-shirt, you will need a few supplies.

• Sublimation Ink
• Sublimation Paper
• Sublimation Printer
• Heat Press (go here to learn more about the best heat press machine)
• Blank Polyester Shirts (go here for a list of the best blank sublimation shirts)
• Lint Roller
• Heat Resistant Tape

How To Sublimate A Shirt

Step #1

The first thing you need to do is preheat your heat press to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step #2

While your heat press is warming up, you can get your unique design printed. First, load your sublimation paper into your printer.

Step #3

Then, open your image/design in photoshop or whatever design software you use.

Step #4

Next, flip the image so that it is mirrored. If you’re using Adobe Photoshop to do that, go to edit>transform>flip horizontally. You will see the image flip on your preview screen.

Step #5

Now go to file and the print option in the dropdown menu. But don’t print right away! First, you need to double-check your settings.

Step #6

In the print preview window, check that you have the correct printer selected, check your paper size, and make sure it is set for photoshop to choose the color. Also, make sure that you have the correct printer profile selected for the ink you’re using. Once everything looks good in the settings, you can hit print.

Step #7

Once your design is printed, you should adjust the pressure on your press. For sublimation, you only need light pressure.

Step #8

Next, place the shirt on the press and remove wrinkles by smoothing it out.

Step #9

Using a lint roller, get rid of any lint.

Step #10

Place your printed image onto the shirt and tape it down using heat-resistant tape. This will ensure the design doesn’t move.

Step #11

Press for 45 seconds, and that’s it!

And just like that, you have your very first sublimation shirt! I hope that wasn’t too hard.

When learning how to sublimate a shirt, you might find it takes a few tries to get it right. That is okay. Just keep practicing until you get it right.

What Kind Of T-Shirt Blanks Work The Best?

When learning how to sublimate a shirt, you want to make sure you are choosing a high-quality shirt because the quality of the materials will make a big difference in the final result of your sublimation shirt printing.

I love cotton shirts for their soft feel, but they don’t work as well as polyester shirts. This is because when you sublimate polyester fabrics, the fibers allow the sublimation ink to penetrate them. This means you get a bright and beautiful result from your design. It even looks like the design was sewn right into the shirt and wasn’t just pressed on.

But polyester t-shirts are not always the softest material. I like to use a poly blend shirt for my t-shirt sublimation crafts. These are much softer than 100% polyester shirts but will still last a long time.

There are a lot of different shirts that you can use as blanks. They come in different styles and colors, and it can be hard to decide which one to start with. In this blog post, I shared some of my favorite t-shirt blanks.

How To Sublimate On A Shirt That Is Cotton

If you would still prefer to use a cotton shirt for your sublimation process, there is a way to do this and still get high-quality t-shirts made. To get the best results, you can:

• Use a layer of heat transfer vinyl between the sublimation print and the t-shirt.
• Use special ink and paper made specifically for sublimating cotton fabrics.
• Treat the finished product with a sublimation spray to keep the ink in place and help prevent any ghosting issues.

Does Sublimation Work On Dark Shirts?

This is a great question!

When you learn how to sublimate a shirt, you might notice that the colors are not as vibrant as those on light-colored shirts. This is because the sublimation inks will blend with the natural fibers in light colors very differently than in dark colors.

You can think of it as using markers on different paper colors. For example, using a red marker on a black piece of paper will look very different from using one that is yellow or white.

But, you can sublimate on black shirts, grey shirts, and any shirt that is a dark fabric. You just need to know a couple of secrets.

A great way to print on dark shirts and still get vibrant colors in your design is to print onto white heat transfer vinyl. The white color behind the design will give you the vibrant colors you would get if you used a lighter shirt.

You can even add a little sparkle to the design using white glitter HTV. (I use Glitter HTV in this video!)

How Can I Print The Designs For My Sublimation Shirts?

When you learn how to sublimate a shirt, you need to be able to print out your designs. Doing this is easy! All you need is a sublimation printer; I recommend using an Epson printer ET-8550 or a Sawgrass SG 500.

Some people have asked me if you can use an inkjet printer, but you cannot. The ink that comes with these printers is not sublimation ink, so they will not work.

You will also need design software that you can use with your printer. You can resize your design to fit the t-shirt, change colors if you want, and set up the print file. My favorite design software is Cricut Design space, but you can also use Silhouette Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and CorelDraw.

Some Free Sublimation Designs You Will Love

Now that you know how to sublimate a shirt, you will need some designs you can practice with! Luckily for you, there are so many free designs that you can use to practice with!

Here are some of my favorites from other bloggers!

• How to Make a Peek-a-Boo Sublimation Shirt
• Ocean Wave SVG
• Too Cute to Pinch SVG
• Sun of a Beach SVG + 15 Free Summer Cut Files!

If you’re looking for designs that you can use for your commercial business, I have a complete guide to read here on the best places to find them. These can help you get started quickly!

I hope that this post has helped show you how to sublimate a shirt. Happy crafting!