Silk screening jerseys

Triathlon Forum
1

Has anyone tried to silk screen tri jerseys? I’m thinking about either making a silk screen or having one made and then customizing some jerseys and shorts for my tri team. Anybody tried this? or have any good advice?

thanks in advance

2

yes this works, only problem is screen tends to peal off/crack rather quick. will work for couple of weeks great though.

m

3

There are a number of techniques for putting art or graphics onto cycling/triathlon clothing. Sublimation is the best but the most expensive. There are also heat appliques and silk screen printing.

Sublimation introduces the graphic into the fiber, as opposed to lying it on top like ink in the silk screening process.

In general, the pro team jersies you see in the Tour de France are made with the sublimation process but the award jersies with the sponsor’s logos quickly applied before the podium ceremony are silkscreened in a trailer behind the podium just before the athlete climbs up on the stage.

Silk screening is less durable but cheaper and much quicker. You must take care to find a screener who will use ink that has stretch characteristics similar to the fabric being printed, or the graphic will crack and tear when the garment is stretched.

For custom team sublimation Voler, Sugoi and Louis Garneau all do excellent work. For screening a local company you can find on line or in your yellow pages should help.

We do a lot of custom clothing thorugh bikesport for athletes, our team and for special promotions- including one off uniforms for specific events or uniforms with a name on them like the ITU uniforms. The names we have done by Shannon Dunworth at Different Strokes Swim Shop her in Michigan. He has the applique equipment to do custom graphics on swimsuits, trisuits, bike clothes, etc.

4

Companies normally use sublimation instead of silk screening these days and unless you want the benefit of the experience, no need to reinvent the wheel. Here is a link for a company that advertises in VeloNews and has pretty good prices and low minimums (6-8 peices): http://www.customsublimation.com

Michael

5

Thanks for all the info—
.

6

i actually have some screen printing experience.

doing it on black lycra shorts aint gonna happen.

if you find an appropriate ink (bring the jersey too a good craft shop and tell them your goals) you might be able to make some cool customizations to your jersey, but practice on cheap t-shirts first.