How to Do Sublimation Printing on Cotton T Shirts
Does sublimation work on cotton? Usually you need a polyester surface for sublimation, but in this tutorial we'll compare the sublimation hacks for how to sublimate on cotton! Oh and these techniques also work for how to do sublimation on dark shirts as well!
How to do sublimation on cotton t shirts: Siser EasySubli
The first method to sublimate on 100 cotton t shirts (or dark colored shirts) is to use Siser EasySubli Sublimation Heat Transfer Vinyl- we did on a tutorial on it here.
Use your sublimation printer to print the sublimation design (not mirrored) onto the Siser EasySubli Sublimation Heat Transfer Vinyl material, and cut out the design.
Then, peel the backing off the printed design and press it to the cotton or dark t shirt with your heat press.
The designs we're using to sublimate on cotton (and sublimate on dark t shirts) are from the Giant Printable and Sublimation Bundle.
How to sublimate a cotton t shirt: White Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl
Another way to sublimate on cotton or sublimate on dark colors is to use white glitter HTV - check out this tutorial here.
Print the sublimation design (mirrored) onto sublimation paper with your sublimation printer. Cut the design (mirrored) into white glitter heat transfer vinyl.
Press the white glitter onto the cotton or dark t shirt, then press the sublimation transfer onto the white glitter HTV.
So, can you use cotton shirts for sublimation? Absolutely! Besides the minor differences in how to apply these technqiues, one of the biggest differences is the feel of the shirts. Glitter HTV is much thicker than the Siser EasySubli Heat Transfer Vinyl. Also, obviously the glitter HTV is sparkley and EasySubli is not.
So, just pick the method that will work best for your project and then you're good to go to sublimate on cotton with Siser EasySubli or sublimate on cotton with white glitter HTV.
Get these same designs used to sublimate on cotton from the Giant Printable and Sublimation Bundle.
