Sublimation coating formulas

A. Hi cousin Bharatbhai. That question has been answered on this thread already -- many materials can be used including epoxies & two-part polyesters. Automotive clear coats have been reported to work well. Please try to frame your question in terms of what has been said or in what way you find it incomplete or unsatisfactory.

Luck & Regards,

A. Try Using Epoxy Resin

A. Hi, folks. Mukeeth may be correct, but I think that the important part may be that the coating to use is probably more a question of the other properties you require from the coating.

According to coating consultant Carl Izzo writing in Products Finishing, Nov. 2005, a two-component polyester coating is suggested. For small scale work, polyester casting and coating resins are available from craft stores. For larger projects, you can use a two-head spray gun or mix the components and use a conventional spray gun, in the latter case remembering to use it quickly and clean the guns because it will cure fast. My knowledge is only book knowledge, no personal experience.

Regards,

A. You can get sublimation coatings from:
www.sublimationcoating.org
www.goosehanger.com
Bess Dizon
- Philippines
July 18, 2008

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Ed. note Feb. '13: these URLs appear to no longer be functional. Be very careful trying to follow broken links: well publicized links are valuable to malware dealers and they try to buy them ... one reason we no longer publicly post sourcing Q&A's (huh? why?)

A. What is "dye sublimation"?

How does sublimation apply to ceramics?

Tell me more about the ceramic coating

A. Hey, don't go out and buy the expensive sublimation coatings. I've been doing months worth of research. You really aren't going to believe this but go purchase Rave 4X hairspray ⇨

..(yeah, I'm serious). I've successfully used it on porcelain tiles, wood and most recently a 100% cotton T-shirt. When I used the T-shirt I washed it three times in cold water (didn't use hot) and dried it. NO COLOR FADE. The reason I did this research is because it takes me a week to get the coating in and as a business just starting out I couldn't afford to have a lot of it in stock.

A. Dye Sublimation Coating Solution
PU Clear Coat
Try It...
But Hardener Volume +

A. I have been searching and trying different materials for the past year to reduce the cost of sublimation heat transfer work. In particular the coatings have been a major part of the search due to the need to use custom shapes on finished products. Aerosol products sold specifically for sublimation work have been the mainstay thus far but at $25.00 per can they tend to ratchet up the cost per piece of material coated. Currently I have no solution other than these commercial products created for the Sublimation work that provides acceptable results.

Even the commercial coatings have been a trial and error process. Maintaining a bright white color during the oven curing of the finish has been unsuccessful to date. The white color shifts to a slightly yellow tint. Reducing the temperature to decrease the color shift fails to adequately cure the coating and the transfer paper sticks during the sublimation transfer when lower curing temperatures have been used.

I have tried using "High Temperature Automotive" finishes intended for use on automotive exhaust systems which initially showed promise as they showed less color shift during a curing phase. They also were about $7.00 (US) per can vs the $25.00 (US) per can of sublimation coatings marketed specifically for the process. When attempting the heat transfer the inks failed to penetrate leaving a faded image behind suggesting that the coating used did not develop the necessary crevices for the ink to deposit. The problem of the transfer paper sticking to the coated object was a major issue additionally.

I would strongly suggest examining the product specs of polyurethane coatings sold by different manufacturers with the initial survey examining the temperature limits of the product. You might also expand the search to two part urethane coatings again looking for products which will withstand the high temperature exposure. If those show promise then you can try it using empirical techniques to ascertain if will hold up.

One product which is still expensive in my opinion but shows promise is the Rowmark Mates films. It is available in clear and white and runs a nominal $2.50 (US) per 8.5" X 11" sheet, being sold in 10 sheet packs. As a side note it has been my experience it takes intense pressure as well as the 400 degree F heat to obtain good transfers. I also try to keep the transfers down to sizes less than 100 mm by 100 mm as larger sizes seem to be affected more by the pressure issue. I hand cut the sheets to reduce waste given the relative expense. (Inadequate pressure in my experience manifests as unexpected patterns appearing in the graphics with sudden changes in color intensity from the unexpected pattern to the intended pattern.) I obtain about a 50% acceptable yield in heat transfers but some say I am to persnickety about the result.

My attempts to use larger sizes have been successful about 25% of the time and even then I lift my 113 KG body off the floor when depressing the heat transfer press lever. Any less pressure and the acceptable yield declines.

I have wondered if the films used for Overhead Projection Systems sold for use with Laser Printers might work in the sublimation business. The typical laser printer drum gets pretty hot and the film may or may not survive the heat transfer in the sublimation process.

I keep trying things and if they prove to work I will pop in and publish results. Good luck to all.

A. To the gentleman from india who wanted to know how transfer paper was made, I'm still working on it. Haven't completely perfected it yet. Essentially it is paper coated with a waterproofing spray such as silicon spray (wax didn't work -- I tried) then coated with a thin layer of dextrin. Dextrin is simply cornflour baked in the oven for 2 hours till light tan, then a few spoonsful is boiled in water for about 5 mins stirring out all lumps to make a thin glue, which is then rolled thinly onto the silicon coated paper and left to dry.
Theoretically this is exactly what we are buying when we're paying heaps for heat transfer paper -- but all it's succeeded in doing so far is destroying my print heads (grin). However, the one copy I did get through before my printheads died worked great. For the exact recipe, Google the words 'homemade dextrin paper recipe' and it will give you more detailed instructions than I have. P.S., NEVER use it in a laser printer; it will wreck the printer.

A. Hi David. According to www.trademarkia.com/orca-coatings-77384565.html, "Orca Coatings" is a trademark of Photo U.S.A. Corporation.
Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Hi Yaseen. That has been the topic of this thread for over a decade. Please try to phrase your question in terms of the on-going discussion :-)
Thanks and Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Sajal. I am just the forum curator. I don't know anything about sublimation except what I read here; but several readers have offered great answers.

The same 2-component paints -- probably simple 2K automotive clearcoat -- that work elsewhere should be fine for aluminum, the only difference being that aluminum may require proper priming for the clearcoat to adhere well. Chromate conversion coatings are ideal, but if that is not practical or is too potentially toxic for your application, then phosphatizing can work, and if that's still too big a deal perhaps an aluminum primer ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] will do. Good luck.

Regards,

A. I asked a printer manufacturer the same question.

What is the coating formula to coat regular polyester to use in my direct to fabric sublimation printer.

They gave me this:

Coating formula for disperse ink：

carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) 1.0%
polyethylene oxide (PEO) 1.0%
defoaming agent (TEGO Airex 904 W) 1.0%
silicon dioxide 2.0 %
sunlight fastness agent 5.0%
water 90.0%
total 100.0%

Treatment process:
(1) pretreatment: dip fabric in the sizing agent 30 minutes (The liquor ratio for sizing agent and fabric is 50:1, then drying.
(2) color fixation: Put the fabric which already finished printing to steam 8min under 180℃. Or under 180-200℃ condition heat treatment 1-2min to complete fixation；
3) washing (after color fixation,drip washing fabric 5min by cold water soaping(40℃，1 g/liquid soap，liquor ratio of liquid soap and fabric is 50:1) reduction clearing（50℃,1-2g/L sodium hydrosulfite ⇦this on eBay or Amazon zincaffil links] ，1-2g/L 30% caustic soda ⇦liquid caustic soda in bulk on Amazon [affil link] ) washing（temperature of water rise gradually from 50℃to 70℃) hot water /cold water drip washing

90% of the formula I have in stock, just need the other 10%...

A. I have made some trials about the product -- the idea is easy, sublimation is related to polyester, so I tried several surfaces like wood, aluminium, iron etc. I put or coat it with polyester (I buy it in local market), and the result is perfect, so that my conclusion is everything can be transferred into sublimation as long as the product is heat proof.

A. Hi Mithu. Buy a good brand of sublimation coating first to find out whether your skills along the way or the formula is the issue; once you know you're good at sublimation with the right formula, please try automotive clear coat and let us know how it worked for you. Then maybe we can make some progress. Good luck!

Regards,

A. Sublimation coatings are polyester coatings with special additives and adhesion promotors. They when mixed with hardener get activated, as hardener works as a catalyst for chemical reaction called polymerization. The polymerisation or hardening process starts once the hardener is mixed in the given ratio. Then comes the curing process where the coated substrate is heated to 160 °C for 30-40 minutes. Thanks.

Sublimation Coatings are simple. They are just polyester coatings with special additives in it, for digital Printing. They can be two pack or single pack formula. Single pack is activated by temperature once it's heated and two pack needs a hardener to act as catalyst for polymerization process. The material can sprayed or dipped for sublimation. The coating is resin based. Many sublimation products sellers and sublimation solutions sellers in Noida UP, India sell it at very low rates. It can be done on Ceramics, Glass, Metals and any white hard surface which can resist heat of 180 °C. More questions are welcome.