Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Sublimation Coating Formula
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I read all of this thread and found it very interesting as well as helpful as I am just about to embark on starting to work with sublimation. I appreciate all of the comments and will continue to watch this site for more helpful information as I go along.
- Woodstock,NB Canada
November 4, 2016
A. Hi all. First off I read the posts form all around globe, I found a place to get a 2 part gloss, semi gloss and fabric coat and all are water clean up and thinning.
These people say they ship all over world. Just google Dyepress.
- Moreno Valley California USA
May 16, 2017
A. Try pva glue and water.
yun sy- china
May 11, 2017
A. You can get single part (no mixing) water and solvent based Sublimation Coating in india which is similar to dyepress coating. You can contact NR Printz (Mysore).
Nithin rathod- Mysore, Karnataka, India
May 31, 2017
A. I have tried the polyurethane clear gloss but after a few washes it faded. After looking at some reviews and redoing my process this is what I came up with:
Spray two coats of polyurethane (let them fully dry between coats -- about 30 min). After 2nd coat let it sit for 48 hours, then wipe down with rubbing alcohol. I set my heat press to 300 for 130 seconds. Remove and let fully cool down. I sprayed automotive clear coat twice, again letting dry between coats. Let sit for 48 hours and love results. Also for those items to eat and drink from, instead of automotive clear coat I sprayed on "mod podge" dishwasher safe for ceramics (use a ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] to avoid streaks). Hope this helps.
Ivonne GuevaraIvonne's hobbies - Imperial Beach, California
A. Ricky Collin,
Dyepress can be tried on other substrates, but not mugs, they have no SDS/MSDS.
- San Francisco, California, USA
Q. We are looking for a way to coat the very popular double wall insulated stainless steel cups. After reading through this thread, I am thinking that we could possibly spray the cup with some of these suggestions and then use the mug press to put the design on. At least I THINK that's what I got out of these questions. I am a bit confused as to if I would need to put the cups in the oven to cure before trying to sublimate. ANY help is appreciated.
Sunny HazlettBunny's Emporium - Lake Wales, Florida USA
June 24, 2017
A. Sunny,
Have you considered the poison, chemical and heavy metal problem? Please do not do it in that way, you might hurt people.
- San Francisco, California, USA
July 10, 2017
Q. Hi. I did research on the net and found one or two products.
First one is Sublicoat A+B from MANOUKIAN, (www.eptanova.com/en/series-product/sublicoat-ab)
When I did search in the German language the results said as long as the coating is Polyester based (at least 80%) it will work perfectly. It needs to be 2-component system. I know it is quite the opposite of what the gentleman from Latin America said. I want to coat Aluminium sheets and on metals, polyester seems a better choice than urethane.
- Antalya Turkey
July 4, 2017
A. My personal opinion is: For a good sublimation result, using good sublimated ink, paper and printer is essential. Marketable sublimation blanks might be expensive, I strongly believe that the results are better than homemade ones, because we lack all necessary equipment.
I did try to sublimate coat by myself with two component chemicals brought from the market by spraying, it worked, but, it is hard to make a completely smooth surface. To me, for business point of view, the customer will not like it, Recently, I tried with screen printing with 120 grit, the coating is not thick enough.
So, my opinion is, if you want to be in sublimation business, use the proper equipment. You can see our products we printed for demonstration at www.memories1314.com; these are all real printed products.
- San Francisco, California, USA
July 10, 2017
A. I have been dye sublimating images and pictures on all kinds of substrates including metal and wood for years. A manufacturer of sublimation coatings for industry is RN Coatings. Rich Neely is (was) the owner and chemist that developed the formula. His coating is used on ceramic mugs produced in china and elsewhere. They have (had) several coating plants in the US including Phoenix. I believe his coatings are 2 part polyester and you can add matte flakes to change to a satin finish if desired. A google search will yield his contact information.
Michael Gault- Richmond, Texas, USA
August 11, 2017
Sublimation coatings on wood
August 22, 2017Hello,
I'm experimenting a new product, SUBLIMATION ON WOOD.
I have tons of questions on my mind to get clarified.
Coating:
1. To get coated, what kind of hardwood is preferable(Low Cost)?
2. Does thickness of the wood matter?
3. How long do we have to wait to get the substrate cured? [I bought all types Dyepress (natural + Gloss + satin + White) Material]
4. Does the coated wood need to get preheated in a convection oven, before heat pressing?
5.Why preheat the coated wood?
6.What's the Best practice to place the wood in the Heat Press? (Coated wood, transfer Paper, Teflon sheet, Hard Sponge)
7. After inserting in Heat Press, How could we match Pressure, Temperature and press Time? Does it differ for each type of wood, color ?
Respond even you know any one of the above questions or all (I appreciate). That helps me and many others here.
- Many Thanks in Advance
- Telangana, India
A. Hi, Naveen
1/ The wood they use is MDF;
2/ I think thickness does matter;
3/ You must experiment on your own;
4/ I do preheat the wood;
5/ to prevent vapor evaporation;
6/ try and error, no one will tell you the answer, we all spend a lot of money to get the answer;
7/ same as 6
- San Francisco, California, USA
A. Try SubTHAT!, a film that is transferred to a surface to make it dye sublimatable.
KENNETH HEGMANIKONICS Corporation - DULUTH, Michigan, USA
November 2, 2017
A. SubThat works great but it is too expensive. When one 14x17 sheet is $2 and under they will make a killing. Until then I stick with Chromoluxe Natural Wood and chromoluxe alum and hardboard. Already coated. By the way Dyepress works okay, just read instructions to the tee. Doesn't compare with chromoluxe though. Bottom line with any of these chemicals etc. people are talking about is pay more attention to moisture. Heat the substrate to get rid of moisture, use a nomax pad underneath to absorb moisture. Cure the paper transfer for 10 seconds under the heat press to remove moisture. It is the single most important steps when sublimating and is usually the cause of most problems.
Bob BridgeGraphtec Press - Ruffsdale, Pennsylvania USA
May 15, 2018
Thanks Ken! Thanks Bob!
Hi all. The general policy of this website is that we don't post either slams or praise of specific brand names or proprietary products (why?).
However, our focus is metal finishing and we don't know much about sublimation -- so we've been loathe to censor the generous offerings of experience from the responders. But we now ask the readers to try their best to not promote proprietaries.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
May 2018
Q. I want to know how can we remove fresh sublimation coating from ceramic mugs?
vasu manvar- Gujarat, India
November 3, 2017
A. Hi, Vasu. Use N. C. Thinner and 600 sandpaper.
Ajay kumar- Delhi, India
December 10, 2017
Hello, has anyone tried Yun Sy's suggestion for using a PVA glue/water mix as a surface coating? It was so subtle that I don't think anyone even noticed since there were no responses.
I'm a skateboarder (of 30+ years) now and I create graphics for skateboard decks of my own brand. I'm strictly DIY and my method for applying graphics to skateboards is done by way of waterslide decal paper. It's tedious, not very efficient and very time consuming but I'm a small outfit and I can do what I want and I can change designs in an instant. This is not the industry standard way of doing it but I don't want to have to rely on secret societies of an industry to accomplish a goal plus you can't really notice a difference in the final product. There are limitations however, I'm limited to the size graphic I can print so I have to design around that.
I considered hydrographics as well as sublimation since both mediums can be purchased in roll fashion. In the skate industry, graphics are printed onto a transfer/carrier film sheets and during the application of graphic to board they are paired together and fed through a heated roller and the carrier, after adhesion is complete, is discarded. That process seems to be more along the lines of a heat transfer but I've also seen methods that hinted at the use of sublimation. There is no hand to the graphic, like it was printed direct to board. I saw a "How it's Made" episode about skateboards and I remember the narrator stating during the final step of applying the graphic to the deck the bottom of deck was sprayed with a so-called "special" glue. The graphic is printed onto a transfer film/sheet and in some instances a white layer is applied over the graphic (if white is present in image). I can't remember if the deck they showed had a white or clear basecoating or if the transfer had white ink incorporated but Yun's blunt comment of trying pva glue/water solution made me think … then smile, it couldn't be that simple … or could it? Perhaps I need to give it a go.
Joe EastmanVesta! Skateboarding - Norfolk, Virginia - USA
May 26, 2018
Q. I have a similar problem. I can do sublimation in a polyester coating. But I want to stop outgassing which is probably caused by heat/Infrared. How can I stop this this. I have a solution against UV but I m looking for solution against IR/Heat.
Nadeem QasmiMava Foqus B.V. - Utrecht, The Netherlands
June 15, 2018
Q. What not to use to clean a coated mug?
I had a few cases of coated mugs stored in a shed not totally protected for 10 years. They were stained thru the thin plastic wrapped material. How should I clean them without disturbing the coating?
- union city, California, USA
August 16, 2018
A. Hi P. It may or may not be possible to remove the stains. The sublimation absorption coating is designed to grab and hold sublimated gasses, and storage in possibly hot conditions wrapped in a plastic which sublimates could mean that the stains are just as locked in as the patterns you wanted.
Certainly mugs are designed to be washed, so I'd try one in the dishwasher and see what you learn. Beyond that, it's hard to guess what will remove an unknown stain from an unknown sublimation coating without attacking either the ink patterns or the coating. and you may have to experiment with rubbing alcohol, acetone ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] Warning! highly Flammable! , ammonia, vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , bleach ⇦ bleach/sodium hypochlorite in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] (separately! dangerous to mix!) and see what if anything fixes it. Best of luck, and if you learn anything let us know.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2018
Q. I have a "white patches" problem with one of my clients, after sublimation with film.
Product is specially designed polyester and it has been working trouble free ... suddenly client started to face the patches problem, even with the same supplies they have used without trouble.
Can anyone guide what could have gone wrong?
Formulator - Lebanon
November 10, 2018
DIY sublimation coating for steel double wall tumblers
Q. I've read many of the posts regarding experimental coating ... most of these are many years old. Has anyone had success with a do-it-yourself spray or application for sublimating yeti-like cups? The only ones I can find that are actually ready for sublimation are in China and they are $15 apiece which is insane.
Teri TurnerShop owner - United States
January 13, 2019
A. Hi Teri. You started over rather than requesting clarification on something that was said so, sorry, I don't know which threads you've read so it's hard to know quite what to say to "has anyone had any success" :-)
But yes, several people on this thread reported success sublimating onto automotive clear-coat, which sounds completely applicable to steel tumblers. For additional reports of success on that subject, please search the site for "automotive sublimation" (sorry google prohibits us from pre-loading search terms into their search engine). Good luck!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 2019
Q. Hello I am Rebeca and I am looking for something to coat some phone cases after the sublimation process. Has anyone tried any type of spray coat to finish off their product and add gloss?
I need them as my cases come out kind of dull after the sublimation and I really want them to be glossy and nice, I have tried using a clear lacquer I found at a local store but it scratches off really easily.
I was thinking about using the Subliglaze clear spray but the instructions say you have to cure it in the oven for 20 min and that would shrink my cases too much.
I would be really grateful for any recommendations as I don't even know what I could try.
- Barnsley , United Kingdom
May 29, 2019
A. Hi Rebeca, Subliglaze Clear spray also auto cures in 72 hours. So for materials like Wood and acrylic or mobile cases you can directly spray it and keep it for 72 hours before you print.
Akhil Mittal- Hyderabad, Telangana, India
December 21, 2019
A. If you are sublimating on hard surfaces such as wood, tile, canvas panels, etc. Buy full page lamination pockets, tear apart, spray object with a little glue spray, apply to laminate, use Xacto knife to cut around edges of object. Now sublimate the object at 350 °F for 360 seconds. you will love the results
Thomas E Lumbard- Manchester, New Hampshire USA
October 13, 2020
Hi All, it's interesting that you want what I found.
I've been up for hours refusing to go to sleep until I found it.
Go on Etsy.com and type in sublimation coating.
You will be able to even spray the solution on Cotton which is cheaper than poly.
God Bless
- Oak Lawn, Illinois
April 27, 2021
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