Glitter Sublimation Onto Cotton Shirt without HTV

I LOVE glitter sublimation. I hate using HTV. For a solid design it just gives you a thick stiff shirt. I am also a cotton girl. I have been using Subli-fix for awhile now and have loved my results BUT I wanted to move away from the white/super light colors that were needed to make your design show and start using real colored shirts. After a bit of experimenting I came up with a solution! Check out my process video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/qv5Sbn0zFMw

What I used:

Subli-fix (purchased from Etsy; not affiliated haven’t used Poly-T but I would assume you could)

White Acrylic paint (I used cream in the video because I was out of white but using white is highly recommended)

Textile Medium (purchased from Hobby Lobby; Delta Creative brand)

Mini Roller Brush     Small Sponge or other brush     Small paint tray     Disappearing Ink Pen    Bottle with lid

Optional Ad Ins-

Silver Glitter Acrylic paint             Silver Pearl shimmer powder (Amazon)                     

Art’N Glow Neutral White Glow Powder (Amazon)

Glow Acrylic paint in Neutral

How I Did It:

Print your sublimation design and allow to fully dry; cut close around the image

Press your garment to remove moisture and wrinkles

Place a piece of cardboard inside your shirt with a piece of parchment paper over that (keeps solution from going through your shirt and PP keeps the cardboard from sticking to your shirt)

Add acrylic paint to bottle at 2:1 ratio of white to Glow

Optional: add glitter paint, shimmer and glow powder

Add Textile Medium at 2:1 ratio of paint to medium

Close bottle and shake to thoroughly mix.

Add Subli-fix at 2:1 ration of Subli-fix to paint mixture

Close bottle and shake to thoroughly mix.

Place design onto shirt and use pen to mark around the edge. Remove design and use pen to mark approximately ½ inch inside original marks.

Shake bottle and then pour into paint tray. Use roller brush to begin applying solution inside the 2nd set of marks. Apply solution thoroughly and in different directions to ensure all fabric is coated. Keep shirt flat and unwrinkled.

Use small brush and from 1st set of dots brush solution lightly towards the center. Go around design. This is your “fade” area so don’t make it perfect.

Use roller brush to go over center 1 more time.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes

Set heat press at 370 degrees F

Place shirt onto press smoothing any wrinkles (IMPORTANT remove wrinkles before drying) and hover (do not lower press onto garment) the lid over it for approximately 7-10 minutes. After 7 minutes remove from press and let cool slightly. Check for dampness. If any remains put back on press for 3-4 minutes more. Check again.

Once dry let cool, remove the cardboard insert and gently peel the parchment paper from the area. Leave parchment paper in shirt.

Return to press, smooth out any wrinkles, cover with parchment paper and press for 10 seconds to remove any remaining moisture or wrinkles.

Open lid, remove parchment paper and carefully line up your sublimation design.

Cover with parchment paper and press at 370 degrees F for 75 seconds (you may need to adjust these settings depending on your press)

Open press and remove parchment paper. Carefully peel off the sublimation transfer.

Remove from press and lay on a flat surface. Smooth to remove wrinkles. Let cool.

Remove parchment paper from inside shirt.

Your shirt is ready to wear!

Care Instructions:

Wait a minimum of 72 hours to wash (per directions on Textile Medium it says 7 days but I haven’t waited that long)

Wash inside out cool water. NO FABRIC SOFTENER

Dry at low heat or hang dry

You can lightly iron over design covered with parchment paper to remove any wrinkles.

ENJOY!