What Can You Print??
We get a ton of questions about what kind of items can be printed at The Peridot Pig. The possibilities are endless but there are a few constraints depending on what kind of "blank" is being used. A "blank" is the shirt, mug, tote, etc. that is prepared for printing. Certain printing technologies drive you to choose specific blanks, e.g. sublimation printing works best on polyester and can't be used on 100% cotton. Another example is rayon. Vinyl doesn't stick well to some synthetics so using traditional HTV (heat transfer vinyl) is not ideal. But don't think that you'll be limited in your choices! We'll be glad to help you design around these considerations to create a fabulous product for you or your clients.
Our favorite items
The Peridot Pig keeps the following items in stock and ready to print at the drop of an order. We're not limited to this list. Check out the flipbook below for other products that we can easily order for your print job. Some items may require a minimum quantity to purchase or a 50% deposit.
- T-Shirts - Crew and V-neck
- Tank Tops
- Hoodies
- Quarter-Zip Long Sleeve Shirts
- Gators
- Masks
- Bandanas
- Canvas Prints
- Glass Cutting Boards
- Hard Bound Journals
- Spiral Bound Journals
- Fleece Beanies
- Coasters in Several Shapes
- Wine Glass Caddies
- Wine Gift Boxes
- 500ml Sports Canteens
- 11.5 x 8" Puzzles
- Stainless Steel White Water Bottles
- Stainless Steel Pink Glitter Water Bottles
- Stainless Steel Sea Foam Glitter Water Bottles
- 11 oz White Ceramic Mugs
- 11 oz Green Interior and Handle Ceramic Mugs
- 11 oz Thank You Ceramic Mugs
- 11 oz Mother's Day Ceramic Mugs
- 12 oz White Latte Mugs
- 17 oz White Latte Mugs
- 16 oz Frosted Glass Steins
- Round 7.75" Mouse Pads
- Neoprene Wine Bottle Bags
- Linen Tote Bags
Want to look at more product ideas? Check out this flipbook for sublimation product ideas. If you find something you like, we'll be glad to walk through designs and tailor them for a great print. There's no charge to review your designs or do minor modifications to your existing logo to make it print ready.
About Printing Technologies
The Peridot Pig utilizes various print technologies to come up with gorgeous products for you. In house, we have heat press and sublimation equipment and we rely on a 3rd party print-on-demand service for Direct to Garment (DTG) printing. Here's a brief explanation on where each type of printing is best.
DTG (Direct to Garment)
DTG printing is best suited for 100% cotton garments. It delivers the most opaque results due to the tight weave of the fabric. DTG also allows you to print with white ink on dark fabric. In most cases, it's pretty solid. Cotton fabrics that are really thick or poly blends/tri blends, will allow the ink to absorb a bit more. So white ink on a black shirt will have a bit of a faded look with the fabric showing through the print a bit. DTG is not ideal for shadows or gradients in your design. We partner with Printful as our print-on-demand provider with thousands of products to choose from!
Heat Press
A heat press allows you to go into regions that a regular iron won't go. Many transfer materials like HTV (heat transfer vinyl) or sublimation require temperatures above 300F and need pressure to help make a secure bond. HTV comes in all kinds of colors and finishes including neon colors, metallics and hologram styles. In addition, there are glitter and rhinestone varieties too. Siser is our go to HTV supplier and they have an amazing array of selections.
Sublimation
We like to call sublimation printing a "special" process. It requires a special ink onto a special transfer paper or vinyl and then onto a special "blank" product. Sublimation allows for printing on 100% polyester fabrics and specially made aluminum, hardboard or glass surfaces. You can get vivid, high definition prints but there is no white ink so a white on a dark background doesn't work. There are vinyls that use a combination of HTV with a sublimation print to bring you a bit of both technologies.
Why use sublimation? It produces a smooth, soft and detailed print that literally becomes one with the surface. It won't fade over time if cared for properly. Instead of traditional printing like screen prints, DTG or Heat press, where the ink/vinyl is on top of the substrate you're printing, sublimation ink actually bonds and becomes part of the substrate. When you apply heat to the ink, it sublimates directly from a solid to a gas. When combined with pressure, the heat opens up the pores of the material allowing the gaseous ink to bond. Remove the heat and pressure, the surface cools and the ink returns to a solid form permanently imbedded into the material you are pressing. The limitation is that a polyester fabric or polymer coating is required to allow the bonding. BELLA+CANVAS wrote a great article showing how the fabrics can affect the printing style.
Shirts
Shirts are another area where there are a -ton- of selections out there! We've listed our favorite types below but let us know if you have something else in mind. We're building out a list of our favorites and we keep this updated as styles change often. We'll be glad to see if we can help! Each type/color of shirt is best suited to a specific type of printing:
Our Favorite Shirts
100% Polyester - We're not talking your mother's polyester here! I still shudder at the thought of those double-knit polyester suits of the 70's. Modern polyester is a wonderful fabric to print on and comes in many options. You'll often see it as "performance wear" or "dry wicking" to keep you cooler than cotton shirts. It's normally thin and soft as well as silky to the touch. It can vary from a natural "cotton" feel all the way to slick sports jersey texture. 100% poly shirts are the best, best, best for sublimation printing. You get vivid color with a permanent print that is bonded to the fiber of the shirt. It won't fade over time. Since there is no vinyl involved, you don't need to worry about ironing or cracking of the print.
Blends - 50/50 Cotton/poly and Heather CVC shirts are made with a blend of polyester and cotton for super soft and flowy shirts. Heather CVS shirts are normally made of ~52% combed and ring-spun cotton and ~48% polyester. They work well with vinyl and DTG printing. If the polyester count is at least 50%, we can print with sublimation but the printing might fade a bit over time for a more "vintage" look. These shirts take vinyl well and HTV is ideal. If you need a photo quality print in your design, we can use a combination of vinyl and sublimation to get the effect you need!
Tri-blends - Tri-blends are the ultimate combination of cotton, polyester and normally rayon (or viscose). This fabric makes the shirt soft, breathable and normally a flowing, flattering finish. It often has a "heather" finish that isn't a solid color. Similar to 50/50 blends, if the polyester count is at least 50%, we can use sublimation for a "vintage" effect or HTV for a more crisp design.
100% Cotton - We prefer a shirt that is 100% combed and ring-spun cotton meaning that is the highest quality thread with the least amount of impurities. They make an ideal printing surface for everything but sublimation (but we can even work around that). This fabric can do pretty much anything which is why it's such a favorite among decorators and designers. Sometimes we have to be careful about deep, dark colors (green, blue, purple), neons or saftey greens as you can get some dye transfer. On cotton shirts, we use either a DTG print or HTV to achieve your design needs.
Specialty - Many other types of fabrics can take printing and vinyl transfers! These include leather, denim, nylon, bamboo, hemp, velour, fleece, linen and burlap. We can even bond specialty fabrics to other fabrics using a heat bonded adhesive. With the new vinyl material out there, we can make decals for walls, windows, signs….you name it! The pressure sensitive adhesive vinyls can be cut for either removable or permanent use.
Looking for something else? Need help setting up swag or merchandise for your business? Contact us for more information!