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You spoke, we listened! Our 40 pack of air fresheners now comes with STRETCHY, Multi-Colored Strings!! Thanks for all your feedback and we couldn’t be happier to bring you this change without raising the price!
If you purchased our Blank Air Fresheners on amazon.com, thank you for your business! If you received one as a free sample, we hope you enjoy these random, little surprises. If you are interested in purchasing our blanks on amazon – click this link or the picture below and you’ll be taken to our product on amazon.
QUICK DETAILS for Experienced Crafters
- Lint Roll
- Pre-Press 385-400F for 10 seconds
- Apply Design – 385-400 F for about 45-55 seconds with medium/firm pressure.
For a single Air Freshener Template, you can download our transparent template, PNG file free of charge. Or just make sure your design measures:
RECTANGLE 2.75″ w x 4.0″ H
ROUND 3.2″ (allows small bleed)
If you’re a beginner, or if you’d like to learn more, please read on for more instructions, advanced information, profit potential, and our tips for perfecting these air fresheners.
Video Demonstration of Sublimation Blank Air Fresheners
About our Sublimation Blank Air Fresheners
Sold in 40 packs, our blank air fresheners are made of 100% compressed polyester and therefore, they are able to accept the ink dye sublimation process. They come in both round and rectangle shapes.
Because of these compressed fibers, there are a few tips we’d like to share before you attempt your first sublimation at home.
Design Tips for Blank Air Fresheners
The most successful sublimators have learned to make their lives easier with thoughtful planning. This includes choosing designs that compliment the nature of the substrate material. So when sublimating onto compressed fibers, such as air fresheners, felt, etc., here are some pro tips that will go a long way in making your products look professional – IE: More sales, more profit!
Designs to Avoid and Why
- Lengthy, Small, Intricate, Frilly Text – It may get lost or appear blurry in the fibers.
- Designs that depend on bright white features – The blanks are more ivory and therefore bright white will not be possible.
- Designs with Borders – You’d think it would help, but they don’t! Outlines and borders can be difficult to line up and may result in your perfectly pressed product looking off center. Beginners should definitely skip designs with border outlines…for now!
Designs that Compliment the Air Freshener Material
- One or Two Words in Big or Thick Letters
- Designs without borders (full color all the way and beyond the edges)
- Designs that use ivory white or cream (this is the natural color of the blank)
- Designs with one focal point or that aren’t too busy with lots of different colors.
Adding Fragrance to Custom Car Air Fresheners
We recommend sublimating your designs onto the air fresheners before adding scents or fragrances because high heat can negatively alter the scent. It should also be noted that you don’t have to apply any scent at all. Sometimes customers like to “add their own” favorite perfume, cologne or essential oils – especially if you market them this way on your packaging.
“Add your own perfume/cologne” is especially popular at Valentine’s Day, where a woman could give a personalized air freshener using her own perfume. Same goes for a man using his own cologne for his Valentine. Do not miss this opportunity!!
Recommendations and other Recipes
If you do want to add fragrance, we recommend placing 1 drop of a quality essential oil on each corner and each side, right before purchase (or mailing). That equates to 8 drops total. Make sure you are using a pure, essential oil and that it is not mixed with a carrier oil. Let it seep into the polyester.
Finally, seal them back in the bag they came in.
Air Freshener DIY Fragrance Recipes
If you want an alternative to pure essential oils, we have tried 2 that work well. We recommend making these recipes in very small batches so that the scent is stronger, longer.
Use a small spray bottle and spritz the air fresheners a few times with the following recipes ( or create your own).
Recipe 1 – Lemon Drop
- 2 Tablespoons Distilled Water
- 1 Tablespoon Plain Witch Hazel
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Extract
Recipe -Flower Power
- 2 Tablespoons Distilled Water
- 1 Tablespoon Rose Scented Witch Hazel (or Plain)
- 20 Drops of Rose, Freesia, or Geranium Essential Oil
If you are new to essential oils, quality matters! Here is one of our favorite brands of floral scented essential oils which you can buy on amazon. Here is a picture and you can click the picture for pricing.
Now let’s continue with our more detailed pressing tips.
Sublimating Your Design onto our Blank Air Fresheners
If you need a Free Design that is Right Sized for the Air Fresheners, check out our FREE Designs Downloads page.
Prep Work – Heat Press Temp to 400 F
- While Press is warming up, Lint Roll – GENTLY and SLOWLY! – We want to keep all the fibers compressed. So, when you roll for lint, do it nice and slow.
- Pre-Press the Air Fresheners at 400 F, for about 10-12 seconds. This will remove moisture and will help flatten and compress fibers even more.
- Lint Roll once again, even more gently right before you apply your design.
Applying Your Design – Heat Press Temp to 400 F
Whether you press one air freshener at a time (highly recommended for beginners), multiple, or even if you use the included framing guide and press 8 at once, we recommend a light (barely there) misting of a high quality, spray adhesive.
Our favorite tack on spray can be found in hobby stores or online: Krylon Repositionable 7020 Easy Tack (affiliate link) to amazon. We like Krylon 7020 because the nozzle doesn’t spit and dribble like others we’ve tried. And spits and dribbles tend to show up after pressing.
Beginners: Press ONE Air Freshener at a time until you are confident in your settings.
- Hold your printed design paper over a lined garbage pal and lightly apply repositionable spray adhesive onto the face side of the design. Lightly means – barely there.
- Move your sprayed paper to a flat work surface.
- Position your blank air freshener onto the tacky design and press gently with your hand. If you don’t have the spray adhesive, secure the blank to the paper with heat tape.
- Lay clean blow out paper(LINK TO GLOSSARY) on your bottom platen and put the air freshener on top of the blow out paper with the design facing down.
- Cover with clean blow out paper. The ready-to-press air freshener should now be sandwiched between 2 pieces of blow out paper.
- Press for 45-55 seconds at medium/firm pressure.
Sneak Peak – How to See if Your Sublimated Air Freshener is Done.
Caution: Only perform a sneak peak if you are using a swing away press AND you used spray adhesive. Do not do sneak peaks with clamshell press or if you used heat tape. The risk of burning your hand is NOT worth it!
To take a sneak peak at your freshly sublimated air freshener, carefully remove the top piece of blowout paper. Wearing a heat resistant glove, place one finger in the center of the air freshener and hold it down firmly.
Carefully begin to peel one of the bottom corners until you can see and verify the design. If it looks good or “good enough” remove the air freshener from the heat press and remove the design from the air freshener..
If the design has not transferred well and doesn’t look good, carefully put the design back down, cover with clean blow out paper and re-press. Timing here is a judgement call based on what your sneak peak revealed.
Final Steps – After Pressing
Pro-Tip: Have a heavy book or smooth board nearby. If the air fresheners curl when cooling, use the heavy book or board to weigh the air freshener down while it cools.
Once the air freshener has cooled, go ahead and attach the stretch string hanger if desired, or you can just let the end customer do it.
Creative String Options
While it’s perfectly normal to use the provided string, you are more than welcome to get creative. Some designers use festive ribbon or twine to make their air fresheners stand out from the crowd. It’s a simple, cheap, way to make your air fresheners look even more special….and of course: CHARGE MORE!
Little things like changing the string can make huge differences. Always think outside the box and give your products a unique quality whenever possible.
For even more tips and tricks that lead to increased sales and profits on air fresheners check out our resource center page: Ideas for Increasing Sales and Profits in Your Sublimation Business (link)
Happy Sublimating!