Sublimation information

I’ve made a lot of content around sublimation and the equipment needed but I still get a lot of questions around this. So I’ll make this post to tag people in when I’m asked.

First of all, what is sublimation?

This, to cut a long story short is just a way to infuse a design IN TO a product, instead of on top of it like with vinyl, or HTV.

This process once the equipment is purchased, is super cost effective, with ink tanks lasting over a year with heavy usage, and the sheets you print on being around 10p each.

The quality of the work looks professional, it’s dishwasher safe, and is the same process used for supermarket designed mugs.

It can be very intimidating to get into, and there isn’t a lot of information available that’s simple, easy to follow and is straight to the point, so I’ll offer that here.

The very basics you will need to start first of all is a printer.

I get people send me photo’s of inkjet’s and hp printers.

These will not be suitable and you have 2 options depending on budget.

You can buy a ‘ready to go’ sublimation printer like a sawgrass, however these can be around 500 pounds and the genuine ink refill around 200.

Or, you can take the route i have taken, which is to convert a regular printer.

In my case an Epson eco-tank.

(I will link this below) these are less than 200 pounds, ink around 40, and mine with commercial use lasts over a year.

I have a tutorial on converting the printer here, it’s super straight forward https://www.facebook.com/groups/718990299956488/permalink/730186075503577/

The second thing you will need is a heat press.

The type of heat press you will need is dependant on the projects you want to make, for example I have 2.

A clamp press, and a mug press.

In my clamp press I make slates, passport covers, clothes, placemats, luggage tags, jigsaw puzzles, pillow covers.

Anything that has a flat surface, this is great for.

And for my mugs i use the cricut mug press.

The only other things you need are heat tape, sublimation ink, and sublimation paper, everything you need is here:

You can also find lots of tutorials on sublimation in the comments section of this post:

I hope that helps, if you have any questions please let me know x