There are two main types of sublimation papers on the market today, "quick dry" and "sticky" sublimation papers. The corresponding needs and functions of these two types of sublimation paper are different.
You can find a lot of descriptions and instructions for quick-drying sublimation paper, but sticky sublimation paper, you can only find results where it is used to prevent transfer ghosting, especially for elastic (stretch) textiles. Since there is so little information you can find, some customers are confused when choosing between quick-drying sublimation transfer paper or sticky paper.
Today we are going to talk thoroughly about sticky sublimation paper and the ghosting problem caused by sublimation, I hope this article will help you understand its advantages and disadvantages.
1. What is thermal transfer ghosting?
Ghosting is a double image in sublimation transfer. After the sublimation transfer is done, if you see light shadows in the result, it's ghosting.
How did ghosting come about? There are mainly three ways:
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You are printing something similar to a tile, where the sublimation transfer paper is slightly overhanging the object. When pressed, the ink in the overhang is transferred to the upper or lower platen, depending on how you press the item. Now you put a shirt or whatever under the press and it comes in contact with the ink transferred from the previous press and it will ghost on the new item.
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You place the dye sublimation paper on the preheated item. Once the sublimation transfer paper is warm from the preheated item, it begins to transfer. If you put the sublimation paper down and then move it to adjust the position, it will ghost.
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The third reason for ghosting is that the upper press is too fast, and the image falls down again. When we lift the press it creates some vacuum and then puts the image back, and when that happens it moves the media causing the ink to transfer to another area.
The first two kinds of ghosting are easy to solve, put a piece of Teflon oil paper during the transfer process, or after preheating the T-shirt, wait until the shirt cools before starting the transfer process. But for the third one, it is not so easy to solve.
2. What is sticky sublimation paper?
Sticky sublimation paper with a special Sticky coating that can be activated by heat. This tacky product is perfect for apparel such as sportswear and swimwear. If the fabric is elastic, it may misalign and shift the image during transfer calendering. When heat is activated during the transfer process, the product will adhere to garments cut in a flat or flip heat press, which will help you reduce production by eliminating ghosting or loss of detail due to movement during the transfer process bugs and improve quality.
Sticky paper is mostly used for stretch materials such as Lycra, which are elastic and easier to move during the transfer process. But even if you are using stretch material it doesn't mean you still need our sticky sublimation paper, it depends on the heat press.
3. When do you need sticky sublimation paper?
The level of tack usually depends on the amount of dark color or the type of fabric. The Sticky coating is designed to react differently depending on the shade of color. The viscosity of the light ink decreases and the viscosity of the dark ink increases.
Light colored design with light stickiness for easy removal. You may find that the paper doesn't seem to stick to the smooth fabric after it's pressed out. However, the tack is enough to eliminate ghosting or printing errors during hot pressing.
Darker colors require more adhesion during transfer.
In other words, for the same sheet of paper, adhesion will vary depending on the design and the amount of ink loaded.
So for dark colors with heavy ink volume, high viscosity sublimation paper will be the best choice, medium heavy ink volume, use medium viscosity, low ink volume, low viscosity. Light-colored images don't require strong adhesion and can hurt productivity.
But some customers use a calendar, rotary heat press (roll to roll), this heat press is doing roll sublimation paper to roll textile transfer, the whole process is automatic, you just need to set the sublimation paper and textile at the beginning, Then ignore it for sublimation transfer. During the entire heat-pressing process, the reel machine exerts a great deal of control over the paper and fabric, and the paper and fabric are firmly bonded from start to finish, making it impossible to separate during the process. So ghosting is unlikely. In this case, normal sublimation paper will do the job just fine, even if the textile is elastic, no sticky sublimation paper is needed.
So sticky sublimation paper is only used in:
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You are using a flat heat press
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Textiles are stretchy materials, or move easily.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that sticky sublimation paper will be of great help in sublimating your designs. However, compared with fast-drying sublimation paper, its sublimation speed is slow, and for batch processing, it may be detrimental to your business. So you can test whether the quick-drying sublimation paper can transfer your design perfectly, and if successful, it will save your business a lot of time cost.
If you have any questions about sublimation paper, please contact us.
