Sublimation is the in thing right now, its such an awesome craft to do. And also a very good business idea! Move over Frank Green and Yeti – Although I do love a Yeti! But I also love having a personalised tumbler that I can express my personality through!
Tumblers make great gifts for any celebration and changes it up from gifting personalised glassware. This is a great alternative!
I want to show you how to make this gorgeous butterfly tumbler.
Follow along and sublimate a 20oz tumbler with me.
–Disclaimer: This blog post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase through them I do receive a small commission, but this is at no extra cost to you.–
What you will need;
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07/24/2024 08:39 pm GMT -
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Method
Now you don’t have to use the same design as I have used. But if you do click the download now button below and it will take you straight to the butterfly one I used. I actually brought it in a bundle so there is a few for you to choose from.
This is the link to buy the PNG I used to make the Butterfly Stained Window Tumbler. Make sure to use high quality images to get the best sublimation application.
The PNG here has the brightest of colour!!
Once downloaded, use Canva to size it to your tumbler.
If you want to look for your own design, click HERE and it will take you to a heap of different kinds. One thing I will say though, is stay away from any licensed prints. Always, always read the product description. Even more so if you want to sell your designs once you have mastered how to sublimate!
Once you have chosen your design, download it to your computer. You may download it in a Zip file so make sure you extract it.
I use Canva to resize our designs. To do this measure the height of your tumbler as well as the width and make your image this size in Canva. I have been caught out in the past when ordering tumblers from different suppliers and wondering why the picture wouldn’t go all the way around. And that was because the measurements vary from tumbler maker to tumbler maker.
Load your converted sublimation printer, (unless you are a lucky SAWGRASS owner 😉 ) with your A-Sub Sublimation Paper. And print, this takes a few minutes.
Need help converting you Epson Eco-Tank to a Sublimation printer? We have written a full tutorial. Click HERE and it will take you directly to our tutorial.
In the meantime, unpack a tumbler and make sure it is free from debris. A lint roller works perfectly. You don’t want anything getting in-between the print and the tumbler or it will be wrecked! Remove the plastic lid and anything that is inside the tumbler.
Please remember, your print is going to look really dull when its printed. That is totally normal!
When the printer is finished, using a guillotine, cut the white space off from around the print. Do not leave visible white parts from the left or right sides. It is ok if you leave white at the top and bottom.
Wrap the print around the tumbler blank with the print facing inwards. It is very important that you wrap it tightly, no oxygen is to be allowed to get in between the wrap and the tumbler blank. This will cause ghosting, it is where you print will look like its faded. We don’t want that at all. Heat resistant tape will be your best friend. More is more in this case as we want to make sure that it is secured tightly. Remember we only get one go at this! Some tumbler blanks may come with a shrink wrap sleeve. It’s a white piece of plastic sleeve. What this does is shrink around your tumbler and act as another barrier against the oxygen getting in-between the blank and your print. Holding your print secure and tightly.
Switch on your tumbler heat press (if that is your heat source) and use the heat settings written on your sublimation paper box. Even have a look at the website that you have brought the tumblers from and follow their directions. I always ending up using different times and temps. Its a lot of trial and error.
Once the press has alerted you that it has reached the set temperature, pop your tumbler in and away you go. Be sure to rotate the tumbler and press so all of the tumbler is getting similar heat and pressure.
Put your heat gloves on!
Before you remove your tumbler, it is going to be VERY hot. I recommend waiting a minute or two before unwrapping the shrink wrap.
Following the perforated line, peel away the shrink wrap, although I am yet to have one that peels away perfectly!! Then using a vinyl weeding tool, lift up the edges of the tape and remove them.
Right, this is the most satisfying part, opening the sublimation paper to reveal the stunning colours of your sublimation artwork. It gets me every single time, I have to show my husband straight away!
Look how gorgeous it is!
And that is how you sublimate a 20oz tumbler!