# Dye Mug Sublimation Printing Help!!!



## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

Hello from Scotland,

I have been having problems with my mug pressing. I am using a Senko heat press. I have had disastrous results. The first was a bit okay but faded and didnt transfer completely. I used 180 degrees and 60seconds.

The second I used 204 degrees and 180 seconds, the results where a disaster ! The transfer paper burned, the mug completely messed up. 

The third one I used 180 degrees at 90 seconds, the images didn't transfer okay.

I didn't want to continue with the costly trial so I decided to come on here and ask, the last time I got good help here with the tshirt transfers.

I have 18 mugs i have to finish before Monday morning! Please help!


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Could be the paper...or ink..are you using sawgrass or Chinese? And you are using polymer coated mugs?....not mugs from a local store.. I press for 200-204 Celsius for 4-5 minutes.


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## Joto Paper (Feb 12, 2007)

A photo of the result would be nice.


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

Here are the images:

for the 1st trial :


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

for the second trial :


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

for the last trial:


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

i am using dye sublimation transfer paper and i am using white coated mugs i bought on ebay found here: eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Thank you for your help and time, my deadline is coming near, i do not want to fail to deliver to this client.


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## bern (Feb 14, 2007)

What ink are you using ?


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

I am using dye sublimation ink on an Epson s22 printer.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

If this is your first time using mugs from this supplier and other objects work ok, I would suspect the mugs


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## coolbeansgifts (May 24, 2010)

I'm with charles... it very well could be your mugs you got form ebay. There looks to be a finger print above the green head on one mug,That may not be the case;however if you are using true sublimation ink and transfer paper. It seems the sublimation ink not staying on the mug well.

good luck


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

The thing that looks like a finger print , I just noticed that the mug was not sitting well in the heat press, I have done another mug with the height at full bleed and reduced the width of the image as I have noticed that pressure was not distributing equally towards the handle on both sides.

Please see the images below, my only concern now Is the clarity of the prints :


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Your mugs are to curved at the top/bottom to get _consistent_ full bleed. Wraps are better in this respect as they are more flexible. You have exceeded the point where your mug press can work well with that particular vendors mug.


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## scotiaprinting (Aug 7, 2011)

@ mgparish, thanks for the heads up. When you say wraps what are those? I am lost


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

scotiaprinting said:


> @ mgparish, thanks for the heads up. When you say wraps what are those? I am lost


Wraps are for sublimating in a small oven.

Dye Sublimation Products, Blank Imprintables and Accessories - Paramount Services

I have a NovaChrome mugpress which was the highest rated one in the market when I bought it, even with that there are some mug applications I still need to "wrap" to get the best results going "full bleed".

An oven is a slower cook and allows the mug to have a more even temperature distribution. A press will give you a faster press, but at the expense of some heat irregularity. The wrap "conforms" better to the mug geometry than a stiffer mugpress platen will.

If your oven is of sufficient size, and you have additional wraps, you can do more than one mug at a time and can compensate for the longer cook.

If you are doing an event or live retail then a good press is faster for "one-ups", just know your mug limitations up front before you go "live".

When heat pressing it is best to test your limits and expect some mug waste in your learning process.

The various mug coatings, sizes, and shapes all effect how the mug will "characterize" in your press.

Take notes and write down your settings and keep for future reference as you do different mug types. 

When using a mug press a hot plate used to preheat the mug (with the transfer taped onto) can improve the uneven heat distribution of the mug press. But you must experiment if using a hot plate as to optimize preheat temp and time, along with your mug press settings.

A Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer such as 
the Ryobi IR001 can be useful for "characterizing".

Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer-IR001 at The Home Depot

The accuracy of these vary, as with most things are related to cost. But even a cheap one like the Ryobi can show variation across the substrate easily. 

You can get a cheap but very accurate contact thermometer as well and use to to figure the non-contact thermometer offset (error) and then you can use that to "calibrate" the cheap non-contact thermometer. This will allow accuracy and convenience as the non-contact thermometer gives it's results faster than the contact type thermometer.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

I note you are in the UK so you should be able to find such things locally as well.


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