As a lettering enthusiast, I’ve branched into all sorts of different crafting territories–from embossing to watercolor to woodburning (seriously, does anyone else have crafting ADD like I do? It’s so hard to not want to try ALL THE THINGS). The next logical step for me is sublimation.
My venture into sublimation has been motivated two-fold: (1) I was making custom hand-lettered coffee mugs that were very popular (but not dishwasher safe, etc.) & I wanted to step up my game professionally if I was planning to continue selling them & (2) after diving into the endless world of possibilities that come with a Silhouette Cameo, I was enlightened about heat presses & all the different types of projects that are possible… with some limitations (most typically, colors).
Now don’t get me wrong, I have a friend who is still using the oil-based marker mug I made her years ago with no issue. And there’s tons of different colors of vinyl, printable vinyls, etc. that allow you to do the things I want to do. There’s plenty of workarounds possible & sublimation definitely isn’t necessary. That being said, I did a lot of research into sublimation & learned quite a few of the perks. Here are a few of them:
- Sublimated products (shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) are permanent & can be washed/microwaved/etc. according to the manufacturer.
- Sublimation transfers are printed from a computer, so the color possibilities are near endless & much easier to refine.
- Sublimation just requires a printer, press & blank products, so there’s no need to organize & store lots of additional crafting supplies such as vinyl.
- Sublimated products, if done correctly, look very professional.
As with anything, there’s also cons that may deter someone from getting into sublimation. Here’s a few that I came across:
- Start-up costs for sublimation can be expensive. Equipment for sublimation varies from cheap to very expensive, and there’s a lot of pros & cons associated with each different one.
- Also, some of the equipment requires very special care to ensure it works properly & may be time consuming.
- Only certain materials can be sublimated on–specially coated blanks for coffee mugs, plates, beer steins, etc. & high polyester, light color fabric for clothing, towels, etc.
Ultimately, I decided to delve into the world of sublimation to take my custom coffee mug services to the next level. In addition, it provides me with an opportunity to start offering other products such as water bottles & clothing/towels/etc. with doodles & coloring on them.
After researching a lot of the equipment, I decided to purchase a Sawgrass SG400 Sublimation Printer to print transfers on. In addition, I purchased a Heat Press Nation Automated Mug Press that presses both 11 oz and 15 oz coffee mugs with additional attachments available for purchase as necessary & a Heat Press Nation Craft Pro 13×13″ heat press (& seriously, the magic of a heat press is REAL compared to pressing with an iron).
I decided on the Sawgrass Printer after extensive research into converting an Epson printer into a sublimation printer. Any printer that is used for printing sublimation transfers has to be a dedicated printer; however, there are specific Epson printer models that can be converted to sublimation printers with the appropriate ink. I decided not to go this route, although it is cheaper, due to the amount of maintenance and possible upkeep required for the printers. Epson printer heads tend to get clogged with ink when not routinely used (several times per week was the general consensus I got from my research). As someone who has a full time job & will be doing this more or less as a hobby/on the side, I may have entire weeks that I’m not printing a transfer & don’t want to feel the need to print something just to keep my printer heads clean.
Ultimately, I have loved delving into sublimation & am looking forward to making ALL THE THINGS! Stay tuned for all the tips & tricks I learn (with plenty of trial & error).