Interior Decoration

Digitally printed textiles are vibrant, densely coloured and wonderfully soft. Who wouldn’t want them in their home or corporate environment? Especially if they are unique designs! Discover the colourful world of dye-sublimation for interior décor.

The Science

Digital dye sublimation printing is a two-stage process, but this doesn’t make it tricky or slow!  In brief, your chosen design is reverse printed on to dye-sublimation paper using heat reactive, water-based inks. In turn, the printed design is then put in to a heat press (or calendar) along with the chosen textile. The heat opens the pores of the textile and transfers the heated ink. The ink permeates the fabric and on cooling, the pores close. This locks in the ink for lasting, vibrant colour and a soft, comfortable feel to the end product. 

How You Can Benefit

There are both business and operational benefits to dye-sublimation printing:

Business

• Growth market for on-demand rapid customisation

• Premium product business, high margins

• Multiple applications

• Straightforward operation

Customisation is king! The last 5 years have seen this market expand hugely in all areas using varying technologies. Customisation in interior design is still a growing market and it’s easy to be part of that growth with dye sublimation printing.  It gives you the flexibility to produce one-off prototypes for designers (or sampling) to full production runs. Size is no issue! And you can produce quickly with digital technology and retain the high margins this premium product business model affords. 

But your markets are not limited to the home – hotels, for instance, are the perfect market for bespoke designs with branding across a whole chain. From the window coverings in public areas to cushions, rugs and carpets. In fact every corporate environment can be targeted with corporate branded textile furnishings – offices, receptions, hospitals, retail and leisure.    

Operational

• Perfect for sampling, one-offs or short to long production runs

• Vibrant colour, no fade

• Extremely fine details retained

• Multiple applications

• Cost-effective substrates and inks

• Easy colour management

One of the biggest advantages of dye-sublimation for textiles is its colour vibrancy because the colourants are dyes as opposed to pigments. They are locked into the polyester. The vibrancy is maximal after sublimation. There is no fading caused by washing or rubbing.  UV fading, however, is fast. The results are truly eye-catching!  The technology also affords the minutest details and absolute clarity so no matter how small your designers pattern, it will always be as perfectly clear as the original.

Your costs are kept low with transfer paper and inexpensive water-based inks and very little requirement for colour management as you’ll always be printing on to the same paper. It all adds up and it all helps retain your margins.