Has this happened to you? Suddenly, you spot an extremely nice team shirt in a truly nice design. You try to find something similar on the market. You spend (too) long time in an online configurator trying to get the same result, but you never get there. Unfortunately, you have never heard of sublimation printing.
Sublimation Printing for Teamwear
The difference between a boring standard shirt and an exciting one may just lay in one simple word: SUBLIMATION.
Let’s discuss what this is and how it can help you get superb outfits with sublimation printing for teamwear.
What is Sublimation?
In principle, it is a special print technique designed for outstanding results. Using special machines and ink, the desired design is transferred (“sublimated”) onto the fabric.
How Does it Work?
1. You come up with a unique design – you have access to an enormous range of brilliant colors, and you can print all the way to the seam. One reason why your shirt from the online configurator looked more like SH$T than SHIRT is that you were constrained to a certain print area.
2. The design is printed onto special paper with special ink, called “sublimation paper” and “sublimation ink” (you guessed it!)
3. Now it gets exciting: In a special sublimation machine, the printed paper is transferred onto the fabric of your teamwear. The machine is heated up like a giant ironing board, opening up the pores of the fabric and transferring the color design onto the textile.
4. After cooling down, the fabric is taken out of the sublimation machine, cut and sewn into the final garment. Voilá!
Advantages of Sublimation Printing for Teamwear
The special print process results in permanently colored fabric in your desired design. The colors come out better and fade less, giving your garment a permanent pretty life.
Compared to other prints where the design is simply laying on top of the fabric, the results is much more stunning.
“It just looks so much better than a simple print on a pre-made shirt”, explains Magnus Johansson, partner of the team expert Senzor. “The design goes all the way to the seam, the colors really pop and they stay strong and vibrant for ages. Plus it is easy to integrate individual player names and numbers into the design, and also multiple team or sponsor logos work well.”
Minimum order quantities already start at 10 sets, making sophisticated sublimation designs even available for small sports clubs.
From an environmental point of view, sublimation printing requires less water, ink and electricity than other printing technique, thereby avoiding waste and cost, making it a sustainable and affordable process.
Limitations of Sublimation Printing for Teamwear
Due to the print technology, for optimum results the fabric used has to have a minimum amount of polyester in the mix. On cotton clothing, the print would come out less strong and would eventually fade.
But for sports garments, lightweight and breathable performance materials based on polyester are actually favorable.
Ghosting and white creasing are potential problems when using inferior printing technology. But with a tried-and-tested supplier you can rely on a solid quality control system.
And if you expected price to be one major limitation, you feared wrong: personalized teamwear with sublimation print is extremely price worthy.
Conclusion
“All in all, sublimation printing is all the rage among the best teams nowadays, and we are extremely glad to make the technology available also for smaller teams or groups of amateurs”, states Magnus. “When you look the part, you will feel more confident and perform better than when you feel like a loser in a poorly made shirt.”
Sublimation printing for teamwear may just be the right solution for your club.
Senzor is happy to discuss and realize unique design wishes also for small teams – simply use the contact form or send an email.
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