Top 5 Best Shirts For Sublimation Printing 2024

Sublimation printing on shirts has developed into a very lucrative industry thanks to the rapid advancement of technology. Also, starting one is quite simple and affordable. It is simple to complete while seated at home.

Now that you’ve entered the sublimation shirt industry, you probably have questions about the best t-shirt sublimation printing.

You can easily obtain some of the greatest shirts on the market that are suitable for sublimation, so do not be concerned. The shirt’s blend and composition are what count. The ideal t-shirts for sublimation may be found for you as long as you have covered them.

What shirts are good for sublimation will be one of the most important choices you have to make when you start printing t-shirts using this technique. You will begin to feel overpowered by all of your options as you plunge deeper into the world of the best sublimation t-shirt creation. Finding the correct items may make or break your business, even though sublimation is a fantastic method for creating t-shirts.

What Makes A Shirt Ideal For Sublimation?

A shirt is important and the best shirt to sublimate on for a variety of reasons and properties. It is impossible to claim that shirts can be sublimated if they lack these features. Several qualities make a shirt ideal for sublimation, including;

1. How Long-lasting Is The Shirt?

A shirt must be durable to be the greatest possible candidate for sublimation printing. No sublimation print for business t-shirt design ideas can endure for a long time if the garment is not durable. The t-shirt design placement guide will eventually start to age and have fractures in it.

For this reason, you should always select a shirt with exceptional durability and a significant amount of polymers.

2. The Shirt’s Fitness For Wear:

An important factor in determining if a garment is optimal for sublimation printing is its wearability. Imprinting a design on a shirt if you don’t intend to wear it is a time- and money-waster.

Most polyester shirts are uncomfortable to wear because they stick to moist skin. This is the reason you should always pick a shirt that is more wearable than others.

3. Eco-friendly Shirts:

The best shirts for sublimation printing can adapt to their surroundings and are not constrained by any particular environment.

If there are such shirts accessible, you won’t need to continually spend money on new sublimation shirts for every change in surroundings. 

5 Shirts For Sublimation Printing 

Finding the appropriate shirts for sublimation printing is an essential step in the process because if you don’t use the right shirts, your design may not transfer well or may fade after the first wash.

Polyester or polyester-blend t-shirts work best for sublimation printing or transfers. They will accept the transfer well, and when you employ sublimation graphics on them, you can make any blank shirt appear great.

100% polyester exhibits the most vivid sublimation prints, this printing technology can also be used on a variety of fabric mixtures. However, as long as the shirt is polyester, you may print on much darker clothes and the colors will still be visible. The best white shirt for sublimation printing will yield the most vibrant colors and hues.

Custom Round Neck T-Shirts

Affix’s custom round neck 100% polyester shirts are the best polyester shirt for sublimation. Only the polymers found inside polyester fibers can form the kind of chemical link that is necessary for this type of printing.

Using shirts made of 100% polyester has many benefits. One, polyester is far less expensive than natural fibers like cotton or linen. T-shirt manufacturers create polyester from a petroleum by-product by spinning plastic into thin filaments that resemble soft thread.

Moreover, because polyester is so inexpensive to produce, it accounts for more than 60% of the world’s apparel market. This means that you can have any kind of polyester shirt you want! For instance, 100% polyester fabric can be found in many athletic clothing items and team uniforms.

Polyester has the drawback of possibly not feeling as soft to the touch. It could feel hot or damp in some conditions and is less breathable than cotton. For these reasons, some designers and company owners favor the use of fabrics that combine polyester with other fibers to create blends.

Ultimately, the majority of 100% polyester shirts for sublimation prints perform well. Yet, sometimes the sublimation process can be hampered by unique coatings or treatments given to the fabric.

Triblend Full Sleeves T-Shirts

Although it occasionally involves some trial and error, the tri-blend fabric can be successfully sublimated. A heat press should be set at a temperature and for a duration that is optimal for the fabric being used. To get your tri-blend precisely right, you will need to be quite precise with your timing.

Nonetheless, despite this, a lot of printers provide sublimated designs on tri-blend fabric. Affix tri-blend full-sleeves shirt feels incredibly soft if you’ve ever worn one. Tri-blend full sleeves t-shirts are therefore the ideal sublimation shirts for achieving a cotton-like feel.

Three different fabric fibers are combined in tri-blend fabrics. Cotton, polyester, and a certain type of rayon are common variants of the three-fabric mix.

The feel of this material is incredibly soft and flexible, and it frequently has a fine, silky weave. Yet tri-blend shirts frequently cost a little bit more than regular polyester. This is so that producers may create tri-blend yarns, which require a different procedure and costs more money due to the additional fibers.

You might want to try sublimating on tri-blend full sleeves shirts if you enjoy nice, soft clothes that seem like they drape over your skin!

However, keep in mind that the fabric’s approximately 25% cotton content won’t accept color. This implies that even on the greatest tri-blend fabric, you could get a less vibrant or distressed-looking design.

Custom Sublimated Hoodie

A 65% polyester and 35% cotton combination can typically be sublimated rather successfully. 65% polyester and 35% cotton, for example, are only two of the fiber types used in polyblends. With sublimation printing, the general rule is that the more vivid the print, the higher the amount of polyester.

Hence, a sublimation print on 65% polyester and 35% cotton sweatshirts will appear more vivid and finely detailed than the identical design on a 50/50 polyester and cotton blend. But, it won’t have the same bold, strong, and vibrant appearance as a print on 100% polyester.

Yet, by utilizing sublimation prints on a polyblend, many artists purposefully produce a damaged or old aesthetic.

You can just print your digital image on a polyblend rather than spending hours creating a damaged effect for it. With polyester fibers, the dye will stick, but with cotton, it will fade. You’ll instantly seem creative and retro thanks to this!

65% Polyester with Heather

Certain heathered fabrics will also print well on sublimated designs, depending on the texture you want. There should be at least 65% polyester in these shirts, of course!

Two different fiber types or two colors of the same fiber are woven together to create a fabric that has been entered. In the cloth, this results in a flecked or speckled pattern. For example, grey T-shirts frequently display this fashion.

A more delicate image can be hampered by this type of cloth, but it will look nice behind a solid color or a print with strong colors.

Sublimated Tank Top

Theoretically, polycotton, often known as a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton, can be sublimated. A print created on affix’s 50/50 tank top will initially appear vivid and vibrant. The cotton fibers cannot retain the color, thus the first wash will bleed away 50% of the pigment.

For this reason, if you want a heavily distressed or faded appearance, you should only have 50/50 shirts to sublimate on. Of course, there is a huge market for and continued popularity of vintage or damaged shirts, so you might select this style in your patterns!

Which T-shirt Color Works Best For Sublimation?

The ideal color of a t-shirt for sublimation printing is white. The best likelihood of a high-quality sublimation print is on a white, 100% polyester shirt.

Also, keep in mind that white ink cannot be produced by sublimation printers, which can only produce colors using primary colors. White ink cannot be printed on clothing. The only method to include white in a design is to utilize a white shirt and leave a translucent or negative space that the white shirt may cover. There is no other way to do it.

Moreover, you should be aware that some vibrant shirt colors will fade when heated. When adding a design to a garment, you should always test it in your heat press to check how it holds up to the intense heat.

Are Gildan Shirts Good For Sublimation?

The G5000 model is Gildan’s greatest seller for good reason; people who wear Gildan t-shirts enjoy the fabric’s durability and comfort.

There are other companion editions for toddlers, children, and women. This American-made midweight is durable throughout the entire year.

It is the most appropriate for screen printing, embroidery, sublimation printing, iron-on imprinting, bleaching, and tie-dyeing in addition to being comfortable. All perform their best on level surfaces. It is the best shirt to use for sublimation and bleaching.

The following fabric combinations are available for the shirt:

• An appropriate blend for sublimation prints is 50% cotton and 50% polyester.
• 100% cotton solid-color shirts: Cotton is not a good material for sublimation printing, but you can attempt embroidering, tie-dying, or iron-on imprints on it.
• 90% cotton and 10% polyester are found in antique heather. The cotton component is breathable for summer, while polyester will attach the sublimation color to the fabric.
• Polyester is best for producing high-quality prints that stay longer, whilst cotton inclusion will provide mid-weight strength.
• The Gildan’s shirt offers the greatest fit for all age groups and is available in all colors and sizes. Also, the fabric of the shirt may be washed in a machine.
• Also, the pull-on closures make wearing and removing it a breeze.

 Can You Sublimate On Any T-shirt?

You could, but white polyester T-shirts will yield the greatest results the quickest. Even after washing, the design on a poly-blend shirt might not be as bright.

The best printing method for custom t-shirts, running tops, vests, and any other polyester sports apparel that demands a soft print quality is sublimation printing, which only works on 100% white polyester garments.

Things To Know!

There are a handful of things to bear in mind regarding this list before you start buying.

Even if a shirt isn’t on this list, it doesn’t necessarily imply that it isn’t well-liked because Affixapparel has a tonne of 100% polyester shirts. Nowadays, people are wearing these shirts the most. Several factors may influence what type of shirts for sublimation is popular:

• Season and the temperature 
• The popular brand 
• Stock availability

FAQs

Do Shirts Make With Sublimation Fade Over Time?

Just like apparel you’d purchase from a store, even the greatest sublimation T-shirts will ultimately fade. Sublimation images, however, will stay a great deal longer than HTV decorations since the dye soaks into the fibers.

Will A Grey Shirt Sublimate?

Grey t-shirts are still suitable for sublimation, but the results won’t be as useful or appealing as with other shirts. The graphics imprinted on the shirt appear a little bit greenish as a result of the darker surface of the shirt, degrading both the print and the t-shirt itself. The use of sublimation printing on grey clothing is therefore not advised.

Final Words

The finest sublimation t-shirts are made of 100% polyester. Polyester shirts or t-shirts with a polyester blend work best for sublimation printing or sublimation transfers. When using sublimation graphics on them, you can make any blank shirt appear spectacular because these will accept the transfer beautifully.

I always recommend purchasing “samples” of several different shirts you would like to sublimate if you have your equipment and will be doing the sublimation at home or in your shop. For every kind of clothing, print the same pattern. How to start a t-shirt business, Order in the appropriate size, then check out the comfort level.

The greatest t-shirt for your sublimation designs and the ones that your customers will adore can only be determined at that point.