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Sublimation is great for its versatility and vibrant colors. If you have been researching sublimation, you will know that the ink adheres to poly-coating or polyester threads. So does that mean that I can only print on polyester? Well if you want true and vibrant colors yes, but if the garment is a polyester blend the color will only adhere to the polyester threads, giving a vintage look. Also note, that when you press a blend shirt, you will need to wash it first to see how much ink will stay. Often times the ink will transfer to the shirt but since not all of it is polyester, it will wash out of the cotton fibers!
Above is a comparison that Bella Canvas put together of how each print will look based on the polyester content of the garment. I found their blog post to be extremely helpful, check it out.
What about if I want to use a 50% Polyester Shirt but don’t want it to be vintage?
You can coat your shirts with a coating called Dye Press, I have used it a couple of times and will be doing a blog post on it soon!