I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that each year, tens of thousands of people try their hand at sublimating. Sadly, most fail or end up with sub-par results and can’t make any money.
Unfortunately, many failures in sublimation could have been prevented with just a little bit of knowledge before getting started.
A good way to ensure you succeed at sublimation instead of becoming another statistic, is to take a few minutes and understand what sublimation is and how it pertains to clothing, dyeing and printing.
This article will give you the edge! Not only will you fully understand the meaning of sublimation…you may just decide to sublimate something yourself.
Let’s dive in with the basics:
What is Sublimation
Sublimation occurs when something solid, transitions into a gas without entering the liquid stage. Dry ice is a good example of sublimation most are familiar with.
It is a solid, and as it disappears into nothingness, it goes directly from solid to a gas. You can leave a piece of dry ice on your counter and it will disappear without leaving a puddle.
Here is a quick video that shows what is meant by sublimation:
Now that you get the idea of what sublimation is, let’s talk about what sublimation means when it comes to printing and dyeing clothing. Which is the kind of sublimation you can make money with!
What is Sublimation Printing & Dye Sublimating Meaning
True sublimation in printing is accomplished with special inks called sublimation ink dye. Simply print an image or pattern to a special printer that is filled with these sublimation dye inks.
After the image or print is finished printing on the paper, that piece of paper is now called a sublimation transfer. That’s because it can now be “transferred” (aka: sublimated) onto an object, such as t-shirt or coffee mug.
The process that will take place in order to make that happen is, you guessed it: DYE SUBLIMATION!
Dye Sublimation: What it is and How it Works
Dye Sublimation is the process of applying sublimation ink transfers to objects like clothing or cups. When done properly, this dye transfer is permanent.
This longevity makes it incredibly popular with huge manufacturers, small business, all the way down to individual crafters, artists, and hobbyists.
Now in order to make the sublimation dye process work, you’ll need 3 more things in addition to the printed transfer. Those 3 things are:
- high heat
- pressure
- the right material
What is the right material for sublimation?
Soft items such as t-shirts, blankets, garden flags; the material must have at least 65% polyester with 100% giving the clearest, brightest results. Also, the remaining material cannot be one that scorches in high heat such as silk or satin.
Hard objects like mugs and signs, need to have a polymer coating. It often looks shiny or glossy like polyurethane. However, it can also be matte as long as the matte finish contains polymers.
For instance, certain powder coat applications are both matte and polymer based.
The key is to use items that are labeled for sublimation purposes. You can find a complete list of sublimatable items in our article: what can I sublimate on.
Heating & Pressure Needed for Sublimation
The equipment that gives you both high heat and pressure is called a heat press. So when you hear the term “sublimation heat press” it simply means a piece of machinery that heats up to at least 400° F and tightly closes.
The term “tightly closes” is critical when it comes to quality sublimation. As we’ve just learned, sublimation produces a gas. That gas cannot escape during the heating process, or else it will not transfer to your object.
In fact, poor pressure is probably the biggest reason many people do not get quality results and end up quitting the sublimation practice.
But now that you understand sublimation, it should be easier to understand how important it is to trap the gas in order to MAKE it penetrate the object.
Let’s move onto ways to get started and what you’ll need to begin.
How to Do Sublimation Printing
There are several different ways to get started doing sublimation. If you’re notorious for starting hobbies and then dropping them like a hot potato, you may want to start doing sublimating for as little money as possible. And…it’s possible to get into the sublimation printing business dirt cheap.
For just a dollar or two per print, you can order ready to press prints. Then, all you need is just a small amount of funds for a Cricut Easy Press or other small, inexpensive press.
The good thing about starting off this way is you’ll have a much smaller up front investment. The downside is that you’ll be waiting for images to arrive in the mail and so it really wouldn’t be ideal for regular use or if you are looking at beginning a business.
The last thing you want when starting a sublimation business it to miss commitments and delivery times to any potential customers. So I would only go this route if I was truly just curious about the process and had very little expectations, other than hobby sublimation.
What You All Need to Start Sublimating at Home or in Business
In order to start sublimating at home, whether it’s for hobby or business purposes, you will need the following items:
- A Printer Capable of Sublimation
- Sublimation Ink
- Sublimation Paper
- A Heat Press or Mug Press
- Merchandise to Sublimate On
- Designs or images
- A computer or Laptop
Printers – There are several options and various price ranges, but thankfully the choices are not too overwhelming. Here are some links to get you starting on your sublimation printer research
Compare Epson Sublimation Printers
Best Sub Printer Bundles Under $500 or Newbies
Sub Equipment Bundles Under $500
Sublimation Ink and Paper – We have multiple setups between our home studios and office location. So, we have used many brands of ink and paper. Here are ink and paper links to help you decide. You should also read this article about paper gram weights.
Heat Press or Mug Press – You’ll get to do many more things with a garment heat press than a mug press. But if you are only interested in mugs, then a regular t-shirt or garment press will do you no good.
For garment heat press tips, start with our heat press heating times guide and if you want to start with mugs or drinkware only, we highly recommend this video we did comparing mug presses we personally own:
Is Starting a Sublimation Business Profitable?
We think so! Sublimation business can be extremely profitable because there are so many different paths you can take which increases the likelihood that you’ll find something you’re passionate about.
You can get into design, printing transfers, helping others, strictly baby, business deals only….there really is no end. Check out our sublimation terminology page to get acquainted with the industry words.
Whichever way you go, do know that real businesses need really good receipt tracking in order to take full advantage of all the benefits. We did a video and wrote about the changes to goods and services income Visit this page here for more info: 1099K, reporting
How Long Does Sublimation Printing Last?
Theoretically, the sublimation bond is permanent. But it must have bonded with with polyester or polymers. So if you’re wondering why sublimation doesn’t last on bare wood or cotton, it’s because those are not polymers.
Still, fading can happen even on a polymer. Here are the usual suspects where fading has been reported:
What causes sublimation fading
- Using fabric less than 65% polyester
- Using objects not rated for sublimation
- Direct or prolonged sun exposure
- High heat dishwashers
- Extremely hot cars
- Porous poly coatings
- Worn down poly coatings
Sublimation prints have good longevity. You can read more here: How long Will Sublimation Prints Last and we also wrote an article that talks about ways to prolong the life of items that will be permanently out in the sun.
Finally, let’s put an end to the confusion regarding other types of image transfer techniques and how they compare to sublimation.
What is the Difference Between Sublimation and Heat Transfer
While both processes are capable of transferring a printed image to an object, such as a t-shirt, the tools, requirements, longevity, texture, and types of products you can make are completely different. Let’s touch briefly on the differences between Heat Transfer and Sublimation:
Product Line Comparison
| Heat Transfer Products | Sublimation Products |
| Soft Substrates Involving Fabic/Material | Soft Substrates (Fabric, Material), Hard Poly Coated materials such as: Metal, ceramic, polymer, plastic, mdf, wood, aluminum, glass, rock More things to sub on here |
Longevity – Sublimation vs. Heat Transfer
Heat transfer is more likely to wash out after about 20-50 washes or even if it doesn’t totally wash out, it could become too faded or “cracked” and doesn’t take long to look “vintage.”
With Sublimation, a permanent bond is formed. That means polyester material will be permanently changed in color. Remember, it has to be polyester because sublimation permanently bonds to polymers when done properly.
Different Textures
Heat transfer is going to feel a bit like a plastic decal, and sublimation will feel exactly like the material. If you close your eyes, and feel a sublimated t-shirt or mug, you would never be able to tell the difference between the object and the image.
With heat transfer crafting, you buy special “heat transfer paper” that can be used in your regular, office printer. If you have a laser printer, you buy laser transfer paper and you buy inkjet paper for an inkjet printer.
What’s the difference between Screen print and Sublimation?
At the most basic level of explanation, screen printing uses a series of screens, paints, squeegees and dryers and sublimation uses printers, ink, paper and heat presses. From there, sublimation vs. screen prints are different in the transfer process, drying process and stretchability as follows:
Color Transfer Process
Screen printers transfer images to substrates one color at time. Sublimation differs from screen printing in that sublimation will transfer just about every color of the rainbow from an image, onto a substrate all at once.
Drying Time
With screen prints, each color requires plenty of drying time in between layers. The drying time is called “cure” time. So if you want a 2 colored shirt, you squeegee on the first color, dry (cure) it, then squeegee on the 2nd.
As for drying sublimation, you set it by using a heat press, not dryers like in screen printing. After the shirt cools which normally takes about 5 minutes…it’s set for good.
NOTE: you can order screen print transfers from companies and just press them onto shirts. So you don’t necessarily need the screens and plastisol. Same with sublimation prints. You don’t need the inks and printer as there are plenty of companies who will print and mail you a ready to press sublimation design.
Stretchability
Sublimation ink penetrates fabrics and permanently changes its color. In contrast, screen print lays on top of a garment, kind of like if you were to paint a t-shirt. As it cures it may penetrate deeper into the fabric.
While it’s a great, durable process, a screen printed shirt is susceptible to image failure if the shirt or fabric get’s stretched or begins to shrink.
However, a sublimated shirt can stretch every which way and the image will not break or peel.
What is Sublimation Vinyl?
There is regular heat transfer vinyl (HTV) and then there is Sublimation Vinyl For the most part, regular vinyl transfer involves a machine that cuts images out from vinyl sheets. Then, you peel (weed) the cut image out of the vinyl and transfer it to a t-shirt or mug using a heat press.
Sublimation vinyl is the process of sublimating an image onto a white or light piece of vinyl and then pressing the image, vinyl and all onto a shirt or other substrate.
Why would anyone do this? Good question! This is often done so that sublimation images can stick to dark substrates or items that are not polyester or poly coated.
Wrap Up & Further Reading
Now that you understand the basic meaning of sublimation, you should be ready to take on the challenges of sublimating clothing or other merchandise.
Hopefully, one of the most important things you learned is that sublimation produces a gas. And, you have to prevent the gas from escaping during the image transfer process.
Refer to this page as needed. You can also visit our troubleshooting guide and youtube channel for further learning.