Creative Inkers

Introduction
For creative inkers, sourcing sublimation shirts (blank garments suitable for sublimation printing) is just as important as creating great designs. A low-quality shirt can ruin your print. In this post, we’ll explore the best places to buy sublimation shirts, how they integrate with print on demand, and considerations related to sublimation design and dtf transfers.

1. What makes a good sublimation shirt?

• Polyester content: 100% or blends (e.g. 65% poly / 35% cotton) — higher polyester gives better color vibrancy and durability.

• Compatible fabric weight and stretch: too heavy or too thick can reduce sublimation penetration.

• Pre-treated surface or coating (for some prints)

• Whiteness & base color: white or light color ensures your design shows correctly

• Quality of seams, stitching, shrinkage: poor blanks lead to distortions or warping

2. Buying direct from blank garment suppliers

Some inker-shops prefer to purchase blanks in bulk:

• Apparel wholesalers: many wholesale clothing suppliers offer sublimation-friendly blanks.

• Specialty sublimation blank vendors: companies that specialize in “sublimation blanks” (sportswear, performance tees, custom blanks).

• OEM / factory direct in Asia: often cheaper per unit, though shipping and minimums matter.

Pros: lower cost per unit, more control, better margins
Cons: inventory risk, storage, logistics

3. Print-on-demand providers with built-in sublimation shirts

This is ideal when you want to avoid inventory. Providers that support sublimation or all-over print clothing blanks let you “buy” sublimation shirts on demand:

• Printful — offers all-over print and sublimation printing for many garment types. Printful

• Printify — multiple suppliers that support sublimation or all-over print. Printify

• Subliminator — POD service specialized in all-over sublimation apparel. subliminator.com

• LA Sublimation — premium sublimation apparel POD provider. LA Sublimation

These suppliers allow you to upload your design, choose the sublimation shirt, and they handle printing & shipping.

4. Comparison: direct blank purchase vs POD sublimation shirts

5. How to choose the right provider

• Check print quality reviews (color bleed, seam alignment)

• Confirm blank garment spec sheet (poly %, weight, color)

• Evaluate fulfillment locations (closer to your market = lower shipping)

• Review return / quality guarantee policies

• Ask for samples before scaling

6. Integrating with your designs and DTF workflow

Even though you’re buying sublimation shirts, your workflow may include sublimation design files and possibly dtf transfers for other garments (e.g. cotton). You need to ensure:

• Consistency in your design dimensions and DPI

• Proper “safe area” margins to fit shirt cuts

• Color management across different printing techniques

If you also sell dtf transfers, cross-promote these as alternative products in your catalog.

7. Case examples / success stories

• A creative inker launches a sports shirt line using sublimation blanks from a direct supplier, while also offering matching cotton shirts with DTF transfers.

• Another seller uses Printful’s all-over print sublimation shirts and markets them globally without inventory.

• A niche brand sources blanks from Asia for local printing and uses POD for international fulfillment.

8. Tips & pitfalls

• Always order test samples before placing large orders

• Check wash durability — poor blanks or coating fail after wash

• Don’t forget color calibration — the blank shirt white point matters

• Watch minimum order quantities (MOQs)

• Scale gradually — start small

Conclusion
Buying good sublimation shirts is a blend of art and logistics. For many inkers, POD platforms that support sublimation are ideal for starting up with lower risk. As your brand scales, mixing blank garment sourcing with POD can yield higher margins and brand control. Focus on quality, consistency, and supplier reliability to make your sublimation shirt offerings shine.

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