Sublimation printing can be a fun and profitable activity. Who wouldn’t enjoy seeing sublimation designs they made on a computer wind up on a t shirt? Finding out the t shirt you selected doesn’t work with sublimation ink isn’t fun.
Not all items you get from stores work with sublimation ink in my experience. You don’t want to waste ink or ruin items that aren’t suitable for sublimation. Whether it’s for your custom printing business or just doing sublimation crafts you’ll get the best results when you use the correct blanks.
The best blanks for sublimation need to be made of polyester fabric or have a polymer coating.
Since you can get polyester fabrics from most apparel stores, many printing supply companies can’t compete with items such as t shirts. Companies seem to be split along t shirts and everything else from what I’ve seen.
The best place to get different types of sublimation blanks is a printing supply company. Most printing supply companies carry coffee mugs, key chains, tumblers, skinny tumblers, decorations, and other rigid items for blanks. If they carry t shirts at all it’s sparingly. Other companies which carry mostly t shirts sometimes have a few rigid items for sublimation.
Here’s a list of places you can get sublimation blanks:
All American Print Supply Co
If you’re looking for sublimation blanks All American Print Supply Co is a great place to start. They have t shirts as well as sublimation tumblers. You can buy in bulk or individual supplies. The only drawback is they don’t have much variety of blanks.
What they do have is a large selection of printing supplies. If you’re looking for a sublimation paper, ink, HTV or other media they are a great place to shop.
They also sell printers and heat presses. While most of their equipment is for professional use, a sublimation printer such as the Epson Surecolor F170 is terrific for home use.
They have different materials for heat transfer as well. Such as several types of HTV.
While they are geared more toward print shops or professional printers. You can get some good blanks for crafts, gifts, or resale.
Heat Press Nation
If you want a variety Heat Press Nation has a great selection of wholesale sublimation blanks. If you want ideas for projects this is the place to browse. While they don’t carry t shirts they do have a broad array of ceramic mugs and sublimation tumblers.
If you like to buy in bulk then Heat Press Nation is a good option. You can buy some items individually but many items come in cases. Depending on the item a case can have from 12 to 100 items.
Their blanks are made specifically for sublimation so you won’t have to worry about any of the blanks you choose. Each blank includes time, temperature, and pressure recommendations. They have good resources for beginners and excellent customer support.
Like other printing supply companies they also have heat presses, sublimation printers, ink, and paper. HeatPress Nation is a good source of sublimation blanks whether you’re a print shop or crafter at home.
Heat Transfer Warehouse
Another place with a variety of sublimation blanks is Heat Transfer Warehouse. They have a good mixture of blanks specifically for sublimation to choose from. While they carry a lot of clothing for transfers, only a few are suitable for sublimation. T shirts with 100% polyester make the best sublimation blanks.
You can find other apparel sublimation blanks such as baby onesies, baby bibs, towels, bags, or masks. Most of their blanks come individually but some items come in bulk.
In addition to an array of sublimation blanks, they also have heat presses, other supplies for sublimation. Like HeatPress Nation, Heat Transfer Warehouse has excellent resources for beginners. They also have guides regarding the time and temperature for their blanks.
Whether you’re a print shop or crafter, Heat Transfer Warehouse is another good source of sublimation blanks.
Shirt Space
If you need t shirts for sublimation then Shirt Space is an excellent choice. They offer a few items for sublimation other than t shirts. But all of their blanks are polyester or polyester blend fabrics.
If you want to sublimate a lot of t shirts, shirt space is a good place to get blanks. They have good quality items and excellent customer support.
If you want white t shirt blanks for sublimation they have a separate category for those. Otherwise you can sort items by polyester count. You shouldn’t use less than 65% polyester blended fabric for sublimation.
Shirt Space has a variety of colors, unique styles, and different sizes. You should use mostly black or darker colored designs when sublimating on colored t shirts.
They also offer apparel for DTG, screen printing, HTV, and embroidery. However, Shirt space doesn’t sell printers or printing supplies.
If you’re looking for apparel to sublimate on Shirt Space is a terrific place to get blanks.
Amazon
Of course Amazon is an option for sublimation blanks. They carry popular products related to the process of sublimation. You can get sublimation blanks, printing supplies, heat presses, and printers.
Amazon has many items for sublimation such as t shirts, tumblers, and mugs. They have an assortment of decorations, keepsakes, and mementos. As well as practical items such as keychains, bottle openers, and coasters.
They also carry special items for sublimation such as license plates, mousepads, etc.
While Amazon doesn’t directly provide how to’s or support for sublimation, each item generally comes with time and temperature information. Amazon customer support is still good.at resolving issues.
If you want a one stop shop for sublimation supplies Amazon should have everything you need.
Summary
When choosing sublimation blanks, be sure they are suitable for sublimation. Items need to be made of polyester or have a polymer coating.
Printing supply companies are your best bet for getting suitable blanks. You can get items from other stores but be sure they are polyester, have a polymer coating, or can accept a polymer coating.
While there are items from Dollar Tree that are suitable for sublimation, hardly any are marked as such. It requires a lot of trial and error. Once you’ve worked with blanks made for sublimation, you can better identify suitable items from other stores.
FAQ
You can use a polymer coating for certain items.
Polyester or polyester blend fabrics. Rigid items require a polymer coating.
T shirts, mugs, and tumblers.
Dye sublimation ink only works to darken a shirt, it can’t lighten it. Therefore if you want to sublimate on dark shirts you need to use colors darker than the shirt itself. Black designs are best. You can get by with dark purple or deep blues depending on your design. If you’re creative with negative spaces or relief your designs may work on darker colored blanks as well.
The Copier Guy, aka Dave. I’ve worked on scanners, printers, copiers, and faxes over 23 years. When I’m not fixing them I’m writing about them. Although, I’m probably better at fixing them. I’ve worked with every major brand. As well as several types of processes. If it uses paper I’ve probably worked on one.
