Best Practices for Decorating

Burnout Shirts
Use these simple embellishing techniques to
create unqiue, fashion-forward garments.
By Greg Gaardbo, Contributing Writer

D
espite the ongoing popularity of
burnout apparel, there seems to
be a certain degree of trepidation
among decorators regarding how to
decorate it. Burnout apparel is made
out of the same blend as a T-shirt: 50%
cotton/50% polyester. The only difference
is that its treated with a chemical that
Next Level Apparels Burnout Ombre Deep V (style 6542)
eats the cotton. and Burnout Ombre Razor Tank (style 6532) are made of
30 Singles (125 grams, 3.7 ounces) 65% polyester/35%
When the entire shirt is treated, it creates cotton preshrunk fabric. These fashionable burnout styles are
a mottled or splotchy look with randomly extremely soft, comfortable and stretchy. They are available in
seven colors in sizes S-2XL.
scattered see-through streaks. This makes it
lightweight and soft two qualities in great
demand by consumers.

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like a name, animal head or logo on the front chest. It offers a lot of versatility for creating unique new looks.

Id estimate that about 80% of the burnout shirt jobs I do are for females. The biggest markets have been retail,
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crew-neck style, demand has since resulted in a wider array of silhouettes, such as V-necks, long-sleeve tops, tank
tops, dresses and more. The sample used for the step-by-step portion of this newsletter, Next Level Apparels Burnout
Ombre Deep V (style 6542), is an excellent example of a fashion garment that offers endless decorating options.

As far as decorating on burnouts, the truth is that while the lightweight, web-like qualities of this shirt need to be taken
into consideration, its not any harder to decorate than a regular T-shirt. Ive had great success using plastisol and
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SCREEN PRINTING CONSIDERATIONS

Both light and dark burnout shirts can be screen printed. However, because of the light weight of the fabric, it is not
practical to lay down an underbase. Discharge inks
work well, as long as you keep in mind that discharge
works only on cotton, so its going to only discharge
the cotton portions. But I have found this creates a
cool, vintage look.

With only half the shirt discharging, its not possible

to get really bright colors. Make sure customers
understand that color is going to be subdued, which
actually adds to the appealing retro or vintage look of
the shirt.

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not want to put down a heavy layer of ink, so I dont
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through the shirt, so plan on wiping off the platen more
frequently than usual. The degree of bleeding will vary
depending on the ink type, pressure and the shirt. Not
all burnout shirts will print the same; some will bleed more
white burnout shirt with a bright yellow ombre bottom,
than others. Also, be aware that water-based ink bleeds
sublimation was the ideal choice. We were able to
less than plastisol.
incorporate the existing sublimated yellow portion into the
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Dryer speed is the third factor that will vary from printing
a traditional T-shirt. I recommend doing a few test runs
Sublimation works on only light-colored garments,
to determine the belt speed that works best. In general,
however, because the dyes turn into a gas when being
however, you will have to speed up the belt to avoid
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not show up on a dark-colored shirt. There also is literally
dryer too long because it will either come out in a ball or
no hand. With burnout being popular for its soft, lightweight
extremely wrinkled. Dye migration also can be an issue,
feel, sublimation is a great way to decorate without adding
and this can be controlled via the dryer temperature and
any weight or a discernable hand to the shirt.
belt speed.
Another advantage to sublimation is that it doesnt limit
In addition to screen printing, foil is another great alternative
the number of colors you can use. The production costs
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for one or 10 colors are exactly the same, so you can
combination with screen printing for excellent results. A foil
offer customers beautiful four-color process looks without
adhesive is printed onto the shirt. The adhesive is dried and
a bunch of screen set-up charges.
then the shirt is placed on a heat press. A sheet of foil is
placed over the design and heat applied. The good news is,
Sublimation transfers must be heat applied. However, if
once the adhesive has been dried, you can stack the shirts.
you have a semi-automatic heat press, even high-volume
So its possible to apply adhesive to the entire order and
production is feasible using this technique.
then heat-seal the shirts later.
One tip when heat-sealing a decoration to a burnout shirt
Rhinestone, studs and sequins are other great
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embellishments that can be added to a burnout shirt.
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These are created as a transfer and applied in the
may bleed through the top of the shirt and stick the top
traditional manner. These embellishments really add to
and bottom together.
the fashion appeal of the garment.
No matter which decorating process you choose, I
SUBLIMATION recommend showing a customer a sample with the
One of my favorite methods of decorating burnout shirts chosen decoration type on it. This way, you avoid any
is to use sublimation transfers. Since the Next Level misconceptions about the results, and you also can
Apparel style that was selected for our purposes was a discuss any issues that may arise.
CREATING THE ARTWORK
Meghan Bartz, art director, Shockwaves Promotional
Apparel, worked with me to create the artwork. Looking
at the bright yellow bottom of the shirt, it was hard
not to think of lemonade. So we decided to create a
lemonade design with a Cracker Barrel restaurant, old-
timey kind of feel. We wanted something that was cute,
light and summery.
Once the theme was decided, the dimensions of the shirt
were measured to create a rectangular box in Adobe
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a sample of the shirt handy while designing, its also
easier to visualize where different parts of the design will
fall on the shirt.
STEP-BY-STEP
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design in high resolution, the resulting artwork always
looks better.
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Once the sublimation transfer is created, its an easy
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sheet inside, lay the heat transfer print side down on the
shirt and heat press it. For added dazzle, we added a few
rhinestones in selected places and also heat-sealed them.
ST E P
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7
1 design was to measure the shirt and then
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design area in Adobe Photoshop. All photos
courtesy of Shockwaves, Des Plaines, Ill.
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1
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added to make it look more realistic. Then,
some lemons were added and the yellow
was adjusted to contrast with the yellow on
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away from the design of the shirt; you want
the design and the shirt to work together.
ST E P
Next, the straw was added. This was intended to be
3 the biggest design element. The red was chosen
because it was bright and would not fade into the
background. It also was a nice contrast to the lemons
in the design and the yellow of the shirt.
 ST E P
For a little bit of texture and
4 movement, bubbles were added
to make it look like a glass of
lemonade.
ST E P
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3
7 inside a burnout shirt. Otherwise,
the transfer or rhinestone glue will
go through all the way to the
bottom layer. The shirt likely will
stick to itself and be ruined.
ST E P
The shirt should be pressed at
10 347F using medium pressure for
30 seconds. If the temperature is
too high, it will cause problems.
Greg Gaardbo is president of Shockwaves Promotional Apparel in Des Plaines, Ill. He has been a speaker at the Imprinted
Sportswear Shows and a contributor to Impressions magazine. His company specializes in a la carte special effects. For more
information or to comment on this article, email Greg at greg@shockwavesapparel.com or visit shockwavesapparel.com.
ST E P ST E P
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2
The shirt is positioned on the
5 was saved in .tiff format (they print
faster) and sent to the Mutoh
6 press. This design will bleed off
the bottom and sides of the shirt,
sublimation printer. This printer can but it is not an allover print.
print two transfers at a time.
ST E P ST E P
The transfer is placed on top of
When the shirt is ready to be
8 the shirt and is now ready for
heat pressing.
9 pressed, completely cover it with
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protects it from scorching or
getting damaged from anything
that may be on the upper platen.
ST E P ST E P
Here, some rhinestones +HUHLVWKHQLVKHGVKLUW
11 were placed inside some
of the bubbles.
12