Sublimation Limitations are a Thing of the Past
Want to sublimate onto cotton fabrics? How about onto products for outdoor use? If you answered yes before this year, there would be very little you could do. Now, however, an entire new world of possibilities for sublimation printing has emerged.
Sawgrass (Booth 3739) has worked with manufacturers of transfer media and product substrates to eliminate the barriers associated with sublimation printing, and enable product decorators to do more with a single printer and set of inks.
“It’s really about expanding versatility and helping people get more out of their sublimation systems,” says Darcy Mauro, President of Sawgrass. “Sublimation has long been one of the most versatile methods of product decoration. But it had its limitations. The work we have done with our industry partners have broken through some long-standing barriers, and enables product decorators today to do even more with their fully integrated Sawgrass sublimation systems.”
Limit 1: You Can Only Sublimate Polymers
Many substrate manufacturers have gotten around this limitation by adding a polymer coating to their products. For example, ceramic mugs have a layer of polymers added for sublimation imprinting. This has remained a challenge with textiles, however, especially cotton. People have asked about sublimating cotton for years.
Sawgrass partnerships with Forever and Metrotrade have changed this landscape. Forever’s Subli Light and Metrotrade’s SUBLICOTTON transfer media enable users to generate prints that can be sublimated onto cotton fabrics, while Sawgrass’ Virtuoso Print Manger settings for each type of media ensure consistently vibrant and accurate color.
Limit 2: You Can Only Sublimate on White
The only options for decorating dark or black apparel or fabrics have historically been screen printing, DTG or heat transfer vinyl. This is no longer the case, with Poli-Tape’s SubliTwill and SubliFlock media, Chemica’s SubliTex media and Siser’s white glitter HTV, all now working with Sawgrass’ Virtuoso HD Product Decorating Systems and Virtuoso Print Manager software. Each of these types of transfer media allow users to print directly onto the media or sublimate the media from a transfer, then cut down to size with a plotter, weed and affix to fabric of any color with a heat press.
Limit 3: Sublimation Will Fade in Sunlight
Outdoor sublimation has made headlines all year. That’s because some of the industry’s largest substrate manufacturers, including ChromaLuxe and Unisub, launched substrates guaranteed to resist the effects of sunlight and other environmental rigors for up to five years. Sawgrass worked with ChromaLuxe to develop profiles to work with the new EXT panels and ensure that when imprinted with Sawgrass inks, the panels would not fade for the full length of the warranty. This development is opening doors for all kinds of outdoor signage and artwork applications.
