Today we are going to talk about heat transfer (or sublimation) print, and briefly talk about our printing program which we call “Pick-A-Print.” How heat transfer printing starts is with a design printed on a roll of heat transfer paper, usually about 1000 yards of print. The paper (now with the print on it) is then sent to a sublimation facility where the paper is rolled on to a base fabric while moving through a machine that applies pressure and heat. This causes the dyes to briefly change into a gas form, dying the fibers that the heat transfer paper is touching. You will recognize that a heat transfer print will not soak all the way through the fabric, only dying the face of the fabric. Due to the nature of heat transfer prints, it is best for them to be printed on Polyester Spandex, as it can withstand the high temperatures needed in the printing process.
In our Pick-A-Print program, customers can choose a print from thousands of prints that are available in our online library and a base cloth from one of our 14 fabrics in stock. Most of our base fabrics our polyester stretch knits, which have spandex, though we do carry some 100% polyester fabrics, like our sanded boardshort or chiffon material. Please call to request a base cloth sheet, which will show you the different fabrics we print on, such as our Tricot 260, Glitter Stretch Velvet, or our Tricot Deluxe. Production is usually ready to ship within just 3 weeks and order minimums are only 50 yards! New prints are added every couple months.
Check out the rest of our prints by clicking the image above! Prices are as low as $6.20/yard, depending on your selected base fabric. A base cloth card featuring our available stocked base clothes for printing is available upon request to your Pine Crest Fabrics sales associate.