Sublimation Socks Guide: What You Need To Sublimate Socks

Sublimation socks – vibrant, colorful, memorable!

Whether you are thinking of sublimating socks for your business to sell, or you’ve got a sublimation printer already set up, and you just want to give socks a go, we’ve got all the info you need.

How To Make Sublimation Socks

For those just researching, dye sublimation is garment decoration process where inks are transferred onto polyester fabrics when applied with heat.

In a nut shell, here’s how it works:

1. Print design with sublimation ink onto sublimation paper
2. Place a sublimation sock onto a jig
3. Wrap the sock in the design
4. Press in a heat press

When the sublimation inks are applied with the pressure and heat of a heat press machine, they actually turn into a gas, and then bond with the polyester garment.

When done correctly, sublimated socks are a fun, attention grabbing product. We’ve seen so many people wowed by them, and they are a popular product to offer your customers.

You can see how easy it is to sublimate socks in this video, and how good the results are.

Sublimation socks make great gifts for friends and family, and are fun to make as a side hobby, but they are even better to sell. We’ve seen business selling socks on Facebook and appearing to get very good engagement.

Sublimation printing isn’t totally the best idea for the crafter because the sublimation printer needs to be dedicated to printing with sublimation ink. You can’t switch inks around and then use it as an ordinary inkjet printer.

The other thing is that a sublimation printer needs to be used regularly (at least once a week), or the print heads will dry out.

What You Need To Sublimate Socks

Besides a heat press and sublimation printer, ink, and paper, you will also need:

• Adhesive spray for sublimation
• Blank socks
• Sock jig

Heat Press Nation is our preferred supplied of all things Heat Press and Sublimation.

Sublimation Sock Jig

How To Sublimate Socks

Here are some sock sublimation tips:

• Make your own cardboard inserts
• Test print first using cheap socks
• Best results with socks 90%+ poly
• Use a lint roller to remove any debris
• Trim excess white area from designs

Please leave any thoughts or questions in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

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