Our Process

We primarily print via dye sublimation, but also do regular ink jet printing of cards, bookmarks, prints and posters.

What is Dye Sublimation?

Sublimation means to pass from a solid to a gas, skipping the liquid stage (think dry ice).

Dye sublimation is a two part process where the design is printed mirrored using special inks onto special paper and then transferred using heat and pressure onto the product. Heat turns the ink into a gas and then pressure forces that gas to be absorbed immediately into the substrate.

Each substrate may have independent time, temperature and pressure settings for ideal image reproduction and durability.

Advantages

On textile products the ink is actually absorbed into the fabric, rather than sitting on top, so will not peel, scratch or wash out like screen printing and direct to garment prints.

There is no additional layer sitting on the fabric, so it retains its feel and flexibility.

There is a wide variety of products available to suit this process, though many are primarily aimed at the promotional products industry (think dull corporate merch). But there are many high quality products to be found as well, these are the ones you will find in our store!

Using ready made products allows us to print as many or as few of each design as required. We can (and do) have hundreds of designs over dozens of products, gaining the buy in bulk discounts for the blank instead of having to store hundreds of shirts in a single design...

We have more control of the process and can ensure the quality of the image reproduction. We are also proud to keep as much production local as we can manage.

Drawbacks

Rigid products like mugs and bottle openers have a coating which absorbs the ink, while this coating is quite hardy, it may eventually show signs of scratching or cracking. While they will last for hundreds of washes in the dishwasher, they will last almost forever if hand washed with a soft cloth.

Due to the construction of some ready made products, there may be small quirks (imperfections if you insist) in the printing of that product, some examples would be in the seams and underarms of our t-shirts, where the shirt cannot be laid completely flat without some overlap, so will remain white. Single oven mitts sometimes have a small crease between the thumb and forefinger, for example.

Conclusion

We acknowledge that some people may not be thrilled with white armpits (though many would never have noticed) and that's ok.

We have made the conscious decision to accept these small trade offs in exchange for the ability to offer the maximum number of designs on the maximum number of products for the shortest turn around time, while being able to keep a minimum of stock on hand and maintain the most control in the process.

Our way of seeing it, is that, these aren't imperfections or flaws, these are quirks that make each and every product we sell unique.

We hope you see that too.