Hi,
I'll introduce myself properly later in the appropiate forum but with regards to your problem with the blue speckling on the shirt.
I had similar problems using Tshirts brought from Xpres, and have the
following solution.
The blue specks on the T-shirts can be eliminated by
going over the area to be printed with a lint roller before pressing. The shirts have shown up in the UK over the last few months despite it being a known problem in the US where they originate. ( Hanes Soft-link)
There's an article at the following link that explains it alot better and in more detail than I possibly could.
http://www.sublimationchannel.com/Articles/Article10.htm
The most relevant part is:
It’s true, beginning a couple of months ago, the relatively new Hanes Soft L’ink shirts began producing little blue specks for no apparent reason. Sublimators who witnessed this phenomena called their distributors, who in turn, called Hanes. At first, the answer seemed obvious – “operator error”.
It sure seemed logical that the only way little blue specks could possibly ever get onto a printed shirt was because, somehow, the imprinter put them there – especially since the only place they showed up was where the shirt was placed in the heat press. It would only seem logical that the culprit was a dirty heat platen or something left on the Teflon sheet from a previous job.
But no, it was beginning to show up all over the country, and there was no way so many experienced sublimators could be making the same exact mistake. What could it be? It was truly a mystery that even the Hardy Boys would have had trouble solving.
Solve it they did, however. After some weeks of testing, questioning, searching (and a little praying, I expect), they found the most unlikely of answers. Somewhere, somehow, there is an airborne contaminant that attaches itself to the polyester fibers in the shirt. Although it is completely invisible (and harmless) until heated, it just lays there, waiting like a patient crocodile, for some unsuspecting sublimator to put the shirt in a heat press.
When that happens, voila, blue dots! Like to know what the contaminant was? Well, you know those fuzzy chenille sweaters that are so popular? According to Hanes, they have been BANNED from the manufacturing facility! This just reinforces the common-sense practice of keeping all textile inventory in plastic bags, boxes, or at least covered to prevent anything floating in the air from getting on the products.
Hanes assures me, the contaminant does not pose a health risk of any kind. They are invisible and harmless and would otherwise go forever unnoticed – except for the fact the sublimation process calls for heating the shirt to 400oF. When that occurs, the little buggers turn blue!
The specks only show up in the area that is exposed to heat and will not wash out, nor can they be removed in any other way once the shirt has been pressed. The problem can easily be avoided altogether by rolling a lint remover over the shirt before pressing ..........
Take Care Sue