Finding quality hoodies nowadays is a bit difficult. Most of the hoodies change their size or the material gets rough after washing it. I have tried different types of hoodies but none of them seems to be good for sublimation printing. I was wondering if you to collect random hoody but this guide will allow you to choose best according to your need.
You can choose any hoodie from the market after reading it but for professionals and if you are seriously into a hoodie sublimation, you don’t wanna do testing. So for helping you out, I have listed the best hoodies for dye sublimation. In addition, I also explained the requirements of hoodie sublimation and a complete process.
In sublimation ink gets infused within the fabric. Polyester is the best material for sublimation and hoodies made up of polyester give the best and most vibrant results. Alongside using polyester hoodie makes your print more permanent on it. No matter how many washes you wash your hoodie, the print is permanent and won’t fade away. Exactly on the other hand, if the hoodie is having 60% polyester and 40% cotton, there is a high chance that with the passage of time the print and ink will fade away.
7 Best Hoodies For Sublimation
There are many materials that are being used in hoodies, but we recommend that hoodies should be made up of at least 50%. In general, the more polyester the hoodie or apparel has, the better the results and colors vibrancy will be.
Based on many noticeable things, we have listed the top 7 best hoodies for sublimation. You can use any of these according to your need and can achieve great results.
- Hanes Pullover Ecosmart Hoodie – #1 Recommended Overall
- Hanes Ecosmart Pullover Hoodie – Best Budget Hoodie
- Gildan Fleece Hooded Sweat Shirt
- Champion Powerblend Fleece Hoodie – Best Runner-Up Hoodie
- Jerzees Fleece Pullover Hoodie
- Hanes Fleece Pullover Hoodie
- Toloer Casual Pullover Hoodie
1. Hanes Pullover Ecosmart Hoodie – #1 Recommended Overall
With the soft and durable feel of the hoodie. This hanes hoodie comes with a double-needle cover-seamed neck and armholes.
The 50% polyester and 50% cotton hoodie has available in different sizes and colors. In addition, the machine washes capable hoodie is also pill-resistant.
The presence of 50% polyester makes this hoodies sublimation friendly. Alongside sublimating this hoodie, you can also achieve more durability, softness, and comfortability if you do the sublimation process correctly.
After results of sublimation on this hoodie will be good. But you have to be sure about the temperature, pressure, and heat of the heat press.
2. Hanes Ecosmart Pullover Hoodie
Hanes ecosmart pullover hoodie can be a great choice for those looking for a hoodie that can be sublimated as well as looks cool in any casual gatherings, playing field, or even at some kinda a work area.
The great stitching with double-needle makes this hoodie strong. The neck and armholes are being stitched greatly as well.
You can also wash it in the machine again and again without any fear of getting your material or size damaged because it is pill-resistant.
Sublimation is doable on this hoodie and the edge of having this hoodie is its washability. The print of sublimation is itself permanent but when any apparel has cotton in it, it may decrease the life span of the print. But this hoodie is pill-resistant which adds an extra layer to its washability life.
3. Gildan Fleece Hooded Sweat Shirt – Best Budget Hoodie
Gildan is popular for its products specifically in the men’s industry. The shirts and other apparel by Gildan have a great fit and most of them are also machine washable as well. This fleece hoodie is also machine washable.
This Gildan fleece hoodie is made up of 50% polyester and 50% cotton. Which still is a decent number. You can achieve good sublimation results on this hoodie.
With featuring double-needle stitched shoulders, armholes, neck, ribbed cuff, and waistband, this hoodie is long-lasting, durable, and comfortable at very affordable prices.
This Gildan fleece hooded sweatshirt is also available in multiple light colours and sizes. Light colors are sublimation friendly too.
4. Champion Powerblend Fleece Hoodie – Best Runner-Up Hoodie
Blended cotton and polyester hoodie by champion are one of those hoodies that can be washed in the machine, have a longer length for better coverage and triple stitching reinforces seams for durability.
Besides this, this hoodie is made up of 50% cotton and 50% polyester. Having super soft, comfy, and warm material this hoodie features multiple sizes and colors.
Tiny details of this hoodie are great too, such as metal end for the drawstring and stitching on the middle of the hood to prevent the drawstring from being pulled out.
Even after the wash, the quality of the champion power blend fleece sublimatable hoodie is the same as before. Sublimation can be done on this hoodie. Results will be great as well if you follow the right process.
5. Jerzees Fleece Pullover Hoodie
Having the presence of a great number of colours and a large number of sizes, this jerzees pullover hoodie has great stitching.
Alongside that, it is made of up comfortable, soft, and durable material with 50% polyester and 50% cotton. It can be washed in a machine as well.
This hoodie also has ribbed collar spandex and front pouch pockets which look really cool. The fitting of the hoodie is great for both males and females.
The after-wash result of the hoodie is decent. The quality of the material will be the same, durability and softness of the hoodie will be great as well. Sublimation can be done on this with great results.
6. Hanes Fleece Pullover Hoodie
Hanes, a well-known brand in the apparel industry. Known for its quality products at affordable prices. People who do sublimation loves hanes a bit extra, the reason is that they made 100% polyester products, such as shirts and hoodies.
The Fleece Pullover Hoodie by hanes is of those hoodies which are 100% polyester and cool comfort fabric. 100% polyester helps the sublimation process and makes the print brighter and vibrant on the hoodie.
It is also available in multiple sizes and colors. For sublimation, the light colour substrate is always recommended. Because sublimation printers can’t print white that’s why if you do sublimation on darker apparel like hoodies then your print might not be as clear as it can be on light color hoodies.
Furthermore, this hanes fleece pullover has roomy front pouch pockets which look really cool. You can also wash these using machines as they are machines friendly as well. The fabric of the hoodie is also soft and comfortable while wearing.
The best hoodie for sublimation. Because of just one highlight-able feature of being 100% polyester material. Sublimation gives great results on 100% polyester.
7. Toloer Casual Pullover Hoodie
One of the most sublimation friendliest and high-quality hoodies blank. This hoodie is made up of 100% polyester yet makes itself the best choice for sublimation. Sublimation works great on polyester and the colors and vibrancy of the prints are astonishing if the substrate is made up of polyester.
This classic heavyweight hoodie in a pill-resistant jersey also has a pull-on closure with a kangaroo pocket in front. It also has a contrasting colour drawstring with a metal end.
The perfect finishing touch to any sporty or casual look, and great for hanging out with friends. In addition to this, the sublimation on it will look astonishing, colors will get more vibrant and enhanced because of the presence of 100% polyester.
Process Of Hoodie Sublimation
Sublimating a hoodie or any apparel is a fun process and at the same time, you can achieve astonishing results out of it if you followed the process correctly.
For sublimation, we recommend some printers from which you can get the best of the best results. We also have an article on it go there and buy best sublimation printers. The process of sublimating a hoodie has a few simple steps, those are underneath.
- Get your design, hoodie(substrate), sublimation printer, heat press machine, heat-resisting tape, adhesive paper, lint roller, and transparent transfer paper.
- Print your design on a transparent sheet of transfer paper and then mary(transfer) that design on the adhesive sheet using a heat press.
- Now place your hoodie on the heat press and clean the area you want to sublimate with a lint roller so any unwanted hair or hoodie particle on the hoodie will go away.
- Place your sheet(design) on a hoodie, place a sheet on top of your sublimation design sheet. We recommend putting butcher paper, this sheet is used because we don’t want to get our sublimation sheet stuck with a heat press. That’s why adding an additional layer between the sheet and the heat press is better.
- Before placing the butcher paper on the sublimation print sheet, put some heat resisting tape on the corners of the design so the sheet will not move or shake anyway.
- Now heat press the hoodie with a heat press machine at 375F – 400F for 140-180 seconds with medium pressure.
- Once heat pressing is done, slowly remove the sheets from the hoodie, and you are done with your hoodie sublimation. Your design is now sublimated on your hoodie.
Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ’s)
The blank having more amount of polyester in it is better. Because sublimation works great on polyester and gives much better and more vibrant results on it.
YES. Printer settings are one of the most important parts of sublimation. You have to make sure that your printer is on high-quality printing mode, turn off any fast printing mode(it affects the quality of the print), and change the paper type setting to any sort of matte paper setting. These 3 settings will help you a lot with your print quality and colors vibrancy.
There can be two reasons, the first one is that you just got the new printer, you have to print 5-6 copies as a sample. This makes the printer smooth and ink gets all over the printer distributed. The second is your settings. Make sure that your time, temperature and pressure settings are all up to the mark and correct.
This is a very common issue, the solution is to use the heat-resisting tape on the corner of your design sheet when you put it on the substrate for heat pressing. It will hold the sheet at his place and not let it move while pressing.
These small dots are because of the moisture. Moisture is the rival of sublimation. The easiest and the best solution is to pre-press your substrate just for a few seconds. The moisture will go away with this pre-heating/pressing.
Most probably you are putting too much time, pressure, and temperature. This makes the prints look faded. But if you do low time, temperature and pressure, it can make images blurry. So you have to find that sweet spot to get optimal results.