Sublimation printing on sportswear made in Bangladesh
Sublimation is how team kits, cycling jerseys and patterned activewear are made. Done well it is the most durable decoration there is, because there is nothing sitting on the surface to crack. Done badly, seams do not line up and the colour shifts between panels.
- Fabric
- Polyester or high-polyester blends only
- Base colour
- White or very light fabric
- Hand-feel
- None — the dye is in the fibre
- Best for
- All-over prints, team kits, patterned activewear
- Critical skill
- Panel alignment across seams
Why it only works on polyester
Sublimation dye bonds with polyester molecules under heat. Cotton has nothing for the dye to bond with, so the print washes out. Blends work in proportion: the higher the polyester content, the stronger and more saturated the result. This is also why the base fabric must be white or very light — the dye is translucent and cannot lighten what is underneath.
Printed before it is sewn
Unlike other methods, sublimation happens before assembly. Artwork is laid out panel by panel onto the pattern, printed on transfer paper, pressed onto fabric, then cut and sewn. That sequence is what allows true all-over designs running across the whole garment, and it is also where things go wrong: if panels are placed or cut slightly off, stripes and logos do not meet at the seams.
- Artwork is laid onto the pattern, not onto a finished garment
- Each size needs its own layout, since panels change shape
- Bleed is added beyond every cut line
- Alignment points are marked so cutting can be checked
- A sewn sample proves alignment before bulk
What drives the price
Coverage is the main factor, because transfer paper and press time scale with area, and an all-over design uses far more than a chest graphic. Complexity of the layout matters too, particularly when graphics must match across seams, and size-by-size layouts add development time.
Quality control
Colour consistency between panels is checked against an approved standard, since press temperature and time shift the result. Alignment is measured at seams on a sewn sample and again during production. We also check for ghosting, a shadow caused by paper movement during pressing, and for migration on blends, where residual dye moves into adjacent light areas over time.
What we need from you.
Send what you have and we will fill the gaps with you. Everything below fits in the branding section of our free tech pack template.
- Artwork laid out per pattern panel, with bleed beyond the cut line
- Vector or 300 dpi raster at final size
- A clear note on which elements must align across seams
- Colour references, understanding that sublimation is a CMYK process
- Size-by-size artwork where a graphic must scale with the garment
Products we use sublimation on most.
Decoration is quoted with the garment, not separately, so the price you see per piece already includes it. Check what that costs delivered before you set retail prices.
Sublimation: common questions.
Can you sublimate onto cotton or dark garments?
Not with true sublimation. The dye bonds chemically with polyester, so on cotton it has nothing to hold to and washes out quickly. On dark fabric, the dye is translucent and simply disappears into the base colour, so a design printed on navy is invisible. There are workarounds that are sometimes sold as sublimation but are not: a white sublimated patch or panel sewn into a cotton garment, or DTF transfers, which print onto film with a white base and can be applied to dark cotton or blends. Each has a different feel and durability profile. If your design needs to sit on cotton or on a dark garment, tell us the look you want and we will recommend the honest alternative rather than promising a process that will fail in the wash.
How do you make sure patterns line up across seams?
By treating alignment as a pattern problem rather than a print problem. Artwork is laid onto the graded pattern panel by panel for every size, with bleed beyond each cut line and registration marks that the cutting room uses. A sewn sample is then made and the seams inspected: side seams, shoulder seams, sleeve joins and any panel where a stripe or logo crosses. Tolerances are agreed in writing, because perfect alignment across a stretch fabric that moves during sewing is not realistic; what is realistic is a consistent, small and agreed tolerance. During production we check alignment on garments pulled from the line, not only at final inspection, so a drifting cutter is caught early rather than after the whole run.
Other decoration and finishing methods
Planning an order with sublimation?
Send a tech pack, a sketch or a photo of a garment you like. We reply within one working day with questions or a first costing.
- One merchandiser responsible for your order
- Certificates and audit reports shared before production
- AQL final inspection report before you approve shipment
- NDA signed on request before you share designs