Dye Sublimation v. Screen-Printing

As a hallmark of textile manufacturing, screen printing is the standard upon which quality must be matched or overcome. Using pressure and an overlaid mesh, ink is imprinted on to the fabric in an outline provided by a stencil. This process is cheap, efficient, and versatile, making it perfect for creating custom shirts and clothing. Considering this, screen printing has remained in use despite other methods becoming available in the market. Screen printing does have its draw backs, though. For instance, a print’s longevity can be affected by the quality of the manufacturing process as well as the care a consumer takes while owning the final product. If you have ever had a shirt whose printed design or picture begins to flake off and fade after many washes, you know firsthand the limitations of screen printing. This is where methods such as dye sublimation provide a better final product.

Dye sublimation is a much more modern method of textile printing. During the process of dye sublimation, solid dye is flash vaporized onto the fabric. This makes the print near permanent and practically immune to fading and deterioration. What’s more, due to using solid dye, this process wastes less water, making it surprisingly eco-friendly. Dye sublimation printing can even be applied to whole sheets of fabric rather than individual shirts, the textiles being assembled into the final product. For custom clothing manufacturing, dye sublimation is superior to screen printing in many ways. Though, dye sublimation’s drawbacks help explain why screen printing has continued to reign supreme. Perhaps the biggest limiting factor is cost. Dye sublimation requires expensive specialty machinery, which many print shops do not have the incentive to invest in. This brings us to another drawback, limited availability. At least in the United States, compared to screen printing, full dye sublimation is not as readily available and usually has to be outsourced overseas. Lastly, manufacturers who do provide dye sublimation printing may only specialize in spot sublimation. This is essentially a focused version of dye sublimation, yet it is less versatile and time consuming.

Whichever method is best for your company, dasFlow Custom Apparel will help you get the best quality print for your custom clothing. Go to www.dasFlow.com for your free quote today or click here.