What is sublimation printing, and why is it polyester-only?

The artwork is printed with sublimation dyes onto a transfer paper, then pressed against the fabric at around 200°C. At that heat the solid dye turns straight into a gas — that is what sublimation means — and bonds with the polyester fibres. When it cools, the dye is inside the fibre. There is no ink layer on the surface, which is why a sublimated garment feels exactly like an unprinted one.

It only works because polyester opens up at that temperature and accepts the dye. Cotton does not, so on cotton the dye simply washes out. A 50/50 blend gives a faded, vintage result because only half the fibres take the colour — sometimes wanted, usually not.

For all-over designs we print the panels before the garment is cut and sewn, so the pattern runs to every edge and across every seam. For a placement print on a finished garment, the transfer is pressed in position like DTF.

All-over prints. Patterns, camouflage, gradients that cover the whole garment. No other method does this at scale on performance fabric.

Sportswear and team kits. Jerseys, shorts, cycling and training wear are polyester by nature, and sublimation gives unlimited colour with zero weight — the print cannot affect breathability because there is no print on the surface. Names and numbers print from the same file at no extra cost per piece.

Full-colour artwork on polyester. Photographic detail, gradients and any number of colours at one price.

Anything that will be washed hard. The dye is in the fibre; it lasts as long as the fabric does.

Cotton. No exceptions, no workaround. If your garment is cotton and you want a soft full-colour print, that is DTG.

Dark garments. Sublimation dye is transparent — it adds colour, it cannot add white. A design on black polyester is invisible. Sublimation needs a white or light base, which is why sublimated garments are usually cut from white fabric with the colour printed on, dark backgrounds included.

Small logos on a finished dark garment. For that, DTF.

Priced on area and quantity, no colour limit, no setup fee. From our current rate sheet a chest-sized placement adds roughly $1.40 per piece at 50; a full all-over panel print, done before cutting, around $5.50 per piece at 50 and falling with quantity.

Because all-over sublimation is combined with cut-and-sew, it is quoted as a made garment rather than a decorated blank. A fully sublimated polyester jersey from our range lands in the mid-teens of dollars per piece at 50 and lower at team-kit quantities. The calculator prices placement sublimation live; all-over work is quoted against your design.

Because the whole line is ours, the pattern is matched across seams by the people who cut them. We produce sublimated team kits, gym wear and event jerseys for clubs and brands across Pakistan, and export them to the UK, Australia, the Gulf and North America.

Minimum 50 pieces across sizes for placement prints; team kits and all-over work from 50. As fast as 7–10 days on stock polyester blanks; 10–14 working days for all-over cut-and-sew.