# Thermal pad vs heat resistant felt for sublimation



## ninja4life (Jul 8, 2009)

I'm adding sublimation to my printshop and I have learned everything I need here except I haven't figured out the exact purpose of heat resistant felt and the thermal pad. I know the pad helps protect fragile items but what is the overall purpose for each of these? Are they used on all items? I want to make sure I have everything I need before trying sublimation for the first time. Thanks!


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## joeshaul (Mar 1, 2008)

Primarily these are used on ceramics such as tile, where the pressure may cause the item to crack, so the felt/rubber acts as a pillow/cushion for the tile to expand/contract upon instead of the flat surface of the top of the press. 

Sounds like you haven't really figured out what you'll be marketing yet, so I probably wouldn't waste the money on it until the need arises. Tiles are just a small portion of the sublimation market, tile murals are really nice though. You can still sublimate tiles without the pads, they just aide in not breaking, so I'd wait until you got an actual order first before spending the money. 

You will however want to ensure you either get a teflon bra for your press or a teflon sheet to lay overtop of items you will be sublimating. I have a sheet, and use it over most anything I toss under my press.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

When sublimating tiles... the felt pad helps curve the image around the sides of the tile. Some tiles do require a green heat conductive pad on the back due to void areas on the back of the tile. For tiles, I recommend placing transfer on press image side face up, turn tile face down and cover the back of tile with a plain white sheet of paper...except for tiles that specifically require a heat conductive pad on the back of the tile.

A heat conductive pad is required for some glass tiles and glass cutting boards. Also, the green heat conductive pad is required for pressing subli slate and some of the sterling silver jewelry.


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## ninja4life (Jul 8, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I have an order for license plate frames, lighters, and clipboards. I guess I'll wait on the pads until I do more ceramic items although I might try it for the lighter so it doesn't get crushed in the press. Is the pad always used on top of the item?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

No. It will depend on the item. Your sublimation supplier should have detailed written instructions for each individual item they sell. The instructions should provide you w/ time, temp, pressure and any additional items you will need to sublimate each item.


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## BigBear (Aug 15, 2007)

ninja4life said:


> ... I haven't figured out the exact purpose of heat resistant felt and the thermal pad. ...!


By thermal pad I think you mean HCR or Heat Conductive Rubber- This goes on top of a ceramic item. It keeps the heater block from coming into direct contact with the item and serves the additional benefit of slightly increasing contact between paper and substrate, if there are slight irregularities.

Heat resistant felt (Nomex®) is put on the bottom of a platen for ceramic and glass sublimation. The sublimation transfer goes on top of that, face up, and then the substrate goes face down.

The Nomex® serves two purposes. First, it produces a nice tight wrap around the curved edges of a tile. This makes sure the colors and shades on the edges are consistent with the flat surface. This is important for fine art murals where the slightest difference is easily seen.

Second, it takes stress off the heat resistant rubber on the bottom platen. After repeated pressings, the rubber can develop enough memory to produce an ever so slight dip (most always do a single tile in the middle of their press) in the rubber. A dip less than the thickness of a piece of paper can give you trouble with things like T-shirts.


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## ninja4life (Jul 8, 2009)

All very helpful information. I'll check the instructions for the items I'm going to be pressing. Thanks.


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## elhines33 (Jan 28, 2011)

I had some trouble when pressing canvas tote bags with ink blow out on the other side of the bag, I unually use plain paper in between fabric layers to prevent this but it wasn't working with the totes so I used the rubber mat inside the bag and they came out flawlessly!


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## HelensHobby (May 3, 2017)

What do other people use instead of Nomex Heat Resistant Felt for sublimating onto Tiles ?


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

an old thread but still relevant. 
We use this stuff https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEATHER-EXECUTIVE-SCRATCH-RESISTANT-PROTECTOR/dp/B00ABLD618
it can be cut up into all sorts of shapes and sizes.
use felt side up to help the transfer bend around the edges of tiles and slates etc.
it also lifts the press area above the seams when pressing left breast logo's (just cut a piece nicely to the shape of the logo and slip inside)


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