Can Sublimation Be Removed or is it Permanent? Tumbler Fabric Mug

Someone should seriously work on inventing something that removes unwanted sublimation ink. Because the person who figures out that technique is bound to take over the world.

Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but wouldn’t we all like to have the option of removing sublimation ink? I know we sure would! Whether or not sublimation is permanent or temporary completely depends on your substrate as follows:

Sublimation cannot be removed if it was pressed onto polyester or polymers. Even bleach will not remove the sublimation. On cotton, sublimation ink can eventually be removed after several washes. On hard substrates, such as poly-coated coffee mugs, sublimation can be lightened with high heat, but it can only be totally removed by sanding the coating, down to the actual ceramic.

Because sublimation ink is impossible to remove on poly based blanks, it’s a great idea to test new ideas and new designs on random, scrap pieces of polyester. This will allow you see any design flaws, color problems, and even sizing issues, before wasting a precious, often expensive, sublimation blank.

That being said, no matter how experienced you become, mistakes happen and everyone I know has tried just about everything imaginable to remove sublimation ink….with no success.

Let’s get into sublimation mistakes and also talk about the differences when sublimating on cotton vs. polyesters vs. poly coated mugs and tumblers.

Why Is Sublimation Printing Permanent on Polyester but Not Cotton?

First, let’s understand what is happening during the sublimation process. Essentially, you’re trying to keep all the vapor from escaping your object.

During the heating process, The gas or wet vapor transfers directly on top of the T-shirt and thus, transfers the image.

Cotton vs. Polyester for Sublimation

The reason Sublimation printing is permanent on polyester but not on cotton is because the gas, vapor created by the heat press only attaches to polys. Sublimation ink vapor does cling to natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, burlap, or even paper, but “cling” is not the same as forming a permanent bond.

If sublimation ink DID permanently bond to natural fibers, it would never even leave the sublimation paper.

That is exactly why sublimation ink can eventually be removed from cotton items, but not polyester. Yes, the ink will transfer to cotton, but it doesn’t create a permanent bond.

This can be compared to spilling ink from a writing pen onto your skin. The pen ink will stain for a few days, but eventually, the ink will be gone. That’s because there is no real bond, just temporary clinging.

So, when you press sublimation ink onto cotton, you are simply staining the material, temporarily.

What Can You Do About A Sublimation Mistake?

Since mistakes happen in sublimation, here is a basic overview of how we handle stray blotches, unexpected lines, etc.,

Mistakes On Polyester: Because you cannot remove a sublimation mistake, we’ve learned how to cover the flaw, usually with swirls, circles, hearts, flowers, etc., Kind of like how a bad tattoo will get covered up instead of removed. Think about the design and choose any complimentary coverup.

For instance, if you experience stray ink on a custom coaster featuring a dog image, you could add a paw print coverup Or, a shirt with a cowboy boot design could use a lasso or flower cover up. Just think about it, an often times you’ll create something even better than the original.

Mistakes On a Coffee Mug: We also do our best to cover up using applicable images. But most mistakes with a coffee mug are lines at the top, bottom or sides. For this, we may try to add hard borders all the way around. However, if the mistake is too large, many people sand down the coffee mug and turn it into an epoxy mug project. There is actually a market for these and epoxy crafters will buy your sublimation duds.

Mistakes On a Stainless Tumbler: These can be moody when reheating, but it’s not impossible to do a cover up. Just be sure you wrap it extra tight and use a mug press or small easy press and press only the area you are trying to fix.

Did you know: You can significantly fade sublimation ink on a tumbler by re-baking in a dedicated convection oven at 390° for about an hour. You’ll never remove the sublimation completely, but if the original design was light to begin with, it might be enough to apply a darker design right over the old, faded mistake.

Sometimes, the effect can be even better than the original! Otherwise, sell your mistake tumblers to other crafters who paint, epoxy or do fabric covered tumblers.

How Long does Sublimation Printing Last on Tshirts or Cups?

In our experience, using a good quality sublimation ink, good quality paper and the right transfer process, most sublimated items will last longer than expected. Here is what we’ve found over the many years we’ve been doing this:

On a 100% polyester shirt, sublimation should last the lifetime of the shirt.
On a 65% poly, 35% cotton shirt, sublimation will be slightly less vibrant, but should still last the lifetime of the shirt.
On 100% cotton, sublimated transfers will fade each wash
On Sublimation Blank Coffee Mugs, sublimation ink should last the lifetime of the mug if hand washing
Sublimated Coffee Mugs that go through the dishwasher can fade significantly, especially with high heat models
Stainless Tumblers does come down to the quality of the tumbler. They should last a lifetime with hand washing, but many fade even in hot cars because mass production has resulted in some poor quality poly coating.

How to Stop Sublimation Printing from Fading in the Wash

First, use polyester shirts with a minimum of 65% poly. That’s the best way to keep sublimated prints looking bright and lively.

Let’s face it, some customers will insist on a cotton shirt and that’s okay. We even make them for ourselves once in a while. What isn’t okay is not informing your customer that these shirts sublimated onto cotton, will have a limited shelf life.

But with the right conversation, many people will accept the one day wearable because usually they only need the shirt for a special event.

In these situations, we always have our customer sign a disclosure stating the design on their shirt may not last through washing cycles and may run and bleed if they get wet while wearing.

Now that we’ve covered our bases, we have learned that you can do certain things to keep the sublimation ink on the cotton shirt for as long as possible. Here are some tips:

Wash in cold water
Turn the shirt inside out
Use delicate cycle
Forget the fabric Softener
Use a Sensitive Skin or Baby Laundry Detergent
Skip the Dryer and Line Dry on a Rack instead

As for polymer sprays whether they are DIY or purchased as such, we don’t use them. We know many people do, but we don’t want the added responsibility of chemical disclosures etc., Plus, the idea of chemical polymer laying against a woman’s chest for hours, is not something we’re willing to put out there….we simply don’t know enough about how that exposure might seep into the skin.

That’s us, and we are happy with our decision not to use unknown, sprays & chemicals on t-shirts.

Aside from that, you can read our article here (link) where we go over using vinyl and sublimation together on cotton.

Now let’s move onto our final topic – sublimation fading in the sun.

Can I Prevent a Sublimated Print from Fading in the Sun?

We love, love, love garden flags and doormats. But, they do absolutely fade if left in direct sun, especially in the sunbelt states.

To slow the fading process, definitely use UV rated sublimation ink. We have 2 dedicated printers with UV rated sublimation ink and the difference is notable, especially if you’re going to go after the outdoor market.

However, UV rated inks does not mean it will last forever. It simply means it will last longer and that’s why we always suggest to our customers to only buy our doormats for covered porches and to install garden flags in shaded areas.

If they comply, the UV rated sublimation inks can last at least 4 years (and counting) without fading – that’s based on personal experience of our own items for our own homes.

It’s also worth recommending an annual spritz of a protective water repellent with a UV protection. These are cheap ways to extend the life of outdoor items and most people have something like this spray laying around the house for their outdoor furniture or sneakers.

Conclusion

Hopefully you have learned the scenarios when sublimation is removable and when it is not. At the end of the day, it’s like anything else…

When we want it gone; it stays. And when we wish it would remain, it washes away.

Isn’t that life?

Happy Sublimating!