Why Is My Sublimation Print Faded After Washing (4 Ways)

The sublimation process is very famous in the printing of T-shirts. Many business owners use this method because sublimated dyes survive on the shirts for a long time. But when we put a sublimated shirt into another environment, the colours start fading. Although no one can deny the importance of sublimation.

But in this critical situation, sublimation makes people uncomfortable. And they ask one by one why my sublimation print faded after washing. While this perfect article will disappear the hesitation of people about the fading. So let’s give it a chance to us and continue reading till the end.

4 Major Reasons for Sublimation Fading

Generally, sublimated dyes stand on the shirt for many years. But due to issues, such dyes start removing. In this way, we lose the wonderful printing on our shirts. So here I will discuss the major reasons for sublimation fading. After it, we will move toward the issues that are caused by the sublimation printing. So just take your eyes below where the major reasons are described in detail:

Washing

The NO.1 reason for sublimation printing is the washing. And everyone is troubled by this issue. When a sublimation lover washes his shirt, the dyes start removing and the shirts become clean. This is because people use hot water which completely converts the dyes into vapours.

You May Also Check it: Can I Use a Sublimation Printer for a Regular Printing

These vapours began to remove from the t-shirt. If you want to overcome this problem, then use cold water instead of hot water. And easily protects your shirts from sublimation fading. Don’t forget to read sublimation washing instructions, before performing this process.

Sun Ultraviolet Discoloration

Many people want to learn how long to wait to wash after sublimation. But they don’t perform the sublimation rightly. Sublimation is the conversion of dyes into vapours. When people put their clothes in the sunshine, these dyes again convert into vapours.

The reason is the coming of cancerous causing ultraviolet radiation. When such rays fall on the shirt, the bond of dyes and the shirt becomes very weak. Never consider that you can not do sublimation in the mid of the day. You can do it, but make sure that the ultraviolet radiation does not access the shirt.

Polymer Coating

One of the main reasons for sublimation fading is the use of polymer coating. Although this coating is mostly used by newcomers they don’t have a complete sense of it. They don’t know that polymer coating also contains many hard substances.

This fault doesn’t affect the quality of the t-shirt too much. But when they add a second layer of polymer coating, the dyes lose all of their strength. This results in the fading of the sublimation. So avoid polymer coating for Washing and drying sublimation.

Inferior Quality Material

Mostly sublimation fading occurs due to environmental issues. But sometimes, sublimation fading appears with the use of inferior quality materials. The people that don’t afford the expensive items, purchase cheap items.

They use low-quality paper, ink, printer and many more things. Due to this, the sublimation is not done correctly. And the dyes start fading from the shirt. So here saying the sublimation comes off from the shirts will be not wrong.

How To Keep Sublimation Ink From Fading?

We finalize that people want to learn the methods for keeping the sublimation ink with the shirts. Therefore, I am here for disconnecting your tensions. So first of all, wash the shirt before sublimation. Then turn it into the cold water for 10-15 minutes. Use cold water and medium washing frequency. At last, for drying put your shirt into the shade of the tree. And below some fading issues are described in full detail.

Why aren’t my transfers coming out vibrant?

If your transfer paper is not becoming vibrant then you should do the following tasks. Sublimation paper has two sides, one is bright white while the other is off-white. So print on the bright white side of the sublimation paper. In the case of, Sawgrass Virtuoso the bright side will move down the tray. Then make sure that your printing is of the right colours.

Why Is My Image Ghosting?

You must take an overview of the term ghosting. So Ghosting is a phenomenon that appears on the shifting of sublimation paper. It also appears with the opening and closing of the heat press. Your image becomes like a ghost due to the shift of the sublimation paper. If you want to stop ghosting, then make sure that the sublimation transfer paper is not in motion.

Why is my substrate not accepting sublimation ink?

Sometimes, products, as well as substrates, do not accept the sublimation ink. So don’t panic and use white polyester. Here, you should know if the will sublimation washes out of cotton. So sublimation on pure cotton is very hard. If you perform sublimation on pure cotton, then all the sublimation colours will vanish. After it, you should perform the sublimation on the polyesters.

Why are my transfers blurry?

If the transfer paper is off, then blurring will appear in the images. Sometimes, the transfer paper absorbs a very high range of heat quickly. This high absorbance causes bleeding out of the image. So your image becomes blurry and you don’t feel OK.

Let’s reduce the heat of the transfer paper. After the removal of heat, your image will become normal. Then you will never ask why my sublimation print faded after washing.

Why are my images coming out faded?

The fading of images is due to the high rate of temperature, pressure, and time. So move towards the settings and check the sublimation blanks. Remember that different heat press has a different amount of energy.

Again check the temperature of the above plate to ensure that you are at a suitable temperature. And if you want to get the idea of dye sublimation fade keycaps then utilize the heat strips.

Final Thoughts

Before fading, the colours on the shirts look very pretty and vibrant. But when fading appears, it destroys the colours. And the printing designs also disappear from the shirt. In this condition, saying why is my sublimation print faded after washing Is your right.

Must Read It: How to Reset Canon Printer

Dear! Fading occurs due to the disturbance of some factors. If you want to protect your shirts from fading then use a low frequency of washing. And don’t use the washing machine, because it is also a major reason for the fading of colours.