# sublimation printing on clear plastic box



## bradley43434 (Jul 12, 2010)

Greetings,
Any advice on sublimation printing on clear boxes that you might buy at a craft store?

Example:
12" x 8" x 2" clear plastic box that you can decorate. I would like to sublimate a print on it. Or.....print on it in some other way if possible, personalize it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Bradley


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

bradley43434 said:


> Greetings,
> Any advice on sublimation printing on clear boxes that you might buy at a craft store?
> 
> Example:
> ...


Your not going to be able to sublimate on the box, most of the plastic boxes are either made of polyethylene or polystyrene, the polyethylene has a lower melting point then dye-sub works at (typically 400 degrees F), polystyrene's melting point is right at the 400 degree range, and both would lack the necessary polymer coating needed to absorb the dye sub ink (gas).

About the only way to decorate them would be vinyl, pad printing, or some type of material like hot stamp.

Info on hot stamping can be found here....Hot stamping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope this helps.


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## bradley43434 (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks for the info!


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Or, you could buy sublimatable fiber reinforced plastic and sublimate that and then glue that to the top. Of course, the top would no longer be clear then.


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## bradley43434 (Jul 12, 2010)

I think I'll just print some clear vinyl and put on top of it. Of course that means I'll have to buy a printer, but hey, I need one anyway !


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## engraver68 (Aug 10, 2009)

How about using this from Johnson Plastics maybe this will help
Johnson Plastics:*ROWMARK MATES CRYSTAL (CLEAR) 10 PACK 8.5X11

It's a clear sticker for sublimation


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## 2 Piece (Mar 29, 2010)

Not sure what you will be printing on clear vinyl. As long as it is dark colors you should be fine, but if you need reds, yellows, orange, greys or light colors you will need to print on white vinyl or get a printer that prints white.


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## bradley43434 (Jul 12, 2010)

Okay, thanks
I'll check into it.


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