Moderator: Welcome to tonight's special event:
"Different Items For Sublimation" with Cherie Derrick
Alan: Welcome to tonight's special event
Alan: this is part three of a four part series on sublimation
Alan: Tonight we are going to talk about
Alan: "Different Items for Sublimation"
Alan: Our guest is Cherie Derrick
Alan: with Encompass Technologies
Alan: Welcome back Cherie!
Cherie: Hi Alan and all :)
Alan: You ready this evening to continue to educate us embroiderers
Cherie: yes
Cherie: here we go
Alan: I will open the first URL slide
Cherie: Like Alan said this week the presentation will be about the different items available for sublimaiton.
http://www.dyesub.org/articles/Latte/LatteOutlinewk3.jpg
Cherie: When I started 11 years ago the availability of items was very limited. All I was able to find was 3 sizes of mugs, 1 size of tiles, 2 kinds of shirts, 1 size of mouse pad, mouse pad coasters, some aluminum for plaques, a brass badge (maybe
Cherie: 2), a brass luggage tag and FRP plastic about the size of a credit card and a FRP license plate. That was it! Not only that but there were only 2 distributors that I knew of to buy these types of things from. Thank goodness, today we have
Cherie: a much wider variety of items to choose from, a much wider variety of suppliers and the list is growing daily.
Cherie: Ceramics & Porcelain
Cherie: Last weeks discussion talked about how to make ceramics so several ceramic items were mentioned with the specifics of the coatings that are used. There is a wide variety of actual items that are available in ceramics and porcelain that
Cherie: are pre-coated. Some of these items are: 11 oz. mugs, 15 oz. mugs, 18 oz. steins, 22 oz. steins, tiles in many sizes from about 1" x 1" to 12" x 12" and come in oval, round and rectangle (I believe you can even get octagon tiles), plates,
Cherie: jars, Christmas ornaments, pitcher, vase, bank, candle holder, dog dish, boxes, coasters, light switch plates and jewelry inserts.
Cherie: Fabric
Cherie: As discussed in the first chat, dye sublimation molecules bond with polymers so most anything that has polymers in it (like polyester fabrics) the dyes will work with. The higher the poly content the more vibrant the image.
Cherie: Some of the items available in the way of fabric are:
Cherie: -Soft L'ink t-shirts by Hanes. This is a fabric formulated specifically for dye sublimation printing. The fabric is woven so that it is polyester on the outside and cotton on the inside. It is a nice opaque, heavyweight t-shirt.
Cherie: -Moisture wicking fabrics AKA "performance fabrics". These fabrics have been developed for the sports industry and help keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter and usually come in t-shirts, polo shirts and sports uniforms.
Cherie: Some brand names are CoolMax by Dupont (fabricated by many manufacturers), EvapR8 by Brookline Inc. (also have pillow cases), Dri-Fit by Nike, Intera DryForce by Crystal Springs, WICKid, and Akwatec. Most of these are 100%
Cherie: polyester or high polyester content with some Spandex or other polymer based material and dyes very well but tend to be a little more on the thin side (less opaque than the Soft L'ink).
Cherie: -Polyester satin that is used in most baseball style jackets. These produce vibrant images. One thing to be very careful of is that usually the lining of these jackets are also a polyester flannel type of material that also accepts the dyes
Cherie: from what we call a "blow through" so when you dye sublimate the shell the lining gets an image too. When you hold the jacket up you will see both images because they never hang exactly in the same place. To dye sublimate these
Cherie: without getting the blow through on the lining see the "Sublimating on a Nylon Jacket" under the Articles - Tips & Tricks section at www.dyesub.org
Cherie: -Microfiber which is being used for many products like jackets, windshirts, towels and hats.
Cherie: -Micromesh which is being used for hats, visors and sport uniforms (shirts/shorts).
Cherie: -Foam front baseball hats and visors.
Cherie: -Polyester canvas materials that are made into totebags, book covers, etc.
Cherie: -Neoprene which is usually used for mousepads.
Cherie: -Nylon is dye sublimatable but because of the translucency of some nylon and some water repellants that are added to the fabrics that are used for nylon jackets some nylon does not produce as vibrant of an image as other nylons.
Cherie: The Denier Nylon used in tote bags and wallets dyes very well.
Cherie: There are many other polyester based materials that you can buy and have made into things like banners, pillow tops, flags, etc. One of the best ways to get started with practicing is to go to your local fabric store and buy a yard or two of a
Cherie: polyester material. This is much better than wasting shirts when checking color or practicing your pressing methods.
Cherie: Metals
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Cherie: Sheet metals are usually used for trophies and plaques. Some of the other items made from metal are light switch plates, tin boxes, thermometer plates,
Cherie: bookmarks, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, clocks, inserts for pewter gifts, stainless steel travel mugs and license plates.
Cherie: Some of the suppliers have pre-cut sheet metal sizes for plaques/trophies and some will custom cut the metal to your specifications. Most of the sheet metal being sold in the industry is not specifically coated for dye sublimation but will
Cherie: work. Aluminum and brass have been coated with a polymer coating for years to keep the shine and to inhibit tarnishing. Some of the metals these companies
Cherie: are selling will work fine and some don't. Unfortunately there is no way to tell what will and what won't until you get some and try it.
Cherie: The ones I know work very well (equate that also to, most expensive) are:
Cherie: -Unisub white metal by Universal Woods. This is specifically made/coated for dye sublimation and in my opinion is about the best white metal on the market today. You can purchase this in two thicknesses and pre-cut for license plates
Cherie: and bookmarks. They also have a diamond edge cut that they use for aluminum jewelry and Christmas ornaments. This coating has UV inhibitors.
Cherie: -DuraSub aluminum by Laser Reproductions. This metal is also specifically coated for dye sublimation and comes in brushed silver, brushed gold and white. This coating has UV inhibitors.
Cherie: A couple of metals I have tried and liked at about ½ the cost of the above metals can be purchased from ACP and Nova Chrome USA. NovaChrome UK also has a good coating on their metal. Main Trophy, Xpres Corp (recently purchased by
Cherie: Johnson Plastics so may be changing their name) and ID Products all have very nice dye sublimatable brass. Bur-Lane has a nice nickel plated aluminum that also sublimates very well. I do not believe that any of these metals have UV
Cherie: inhibitors in them so be sure to let your customers know they should not be displayed where they will receive direct sun.
Cherie: Plastics (FRP)
Cherie: The main plastic used in dye sublimation is called FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic). This plastic is specially designed so that it will not melt under the high temperatures, pressure and time needed for the sublimation process. The
Cherie: material is what it sounds like, it has fiberglass strands in the plastic that not only helps with making it hold up to temperatures but also makes it very ridged and strong. Some of the main uses for this plastic are: name badges, luggage tags,
Cherie: Christmas ornaments, door hangers, coasters, key chains, license plates, hitch cover inserts, murals, signage, etc.. There are a few places that you can get
Cherie: custom cut FRP so if you have a specific project with a special shape, that shouldn't be a problem.
Cherie: There are two manufacturers that cater to the dye sublimation industry for plastic, Universal Woods who makes Unisub branded FRP (there are a couple of companies that re-brand Unisub products) and Fibergrafx.
Cherie: -Unisub has a very smooth finish, comes in a gloss or matte finish, one or two sided and comes in a large variety of the above mentioned pre-cut shapes/products. Unisub FRP has UV inhibitors in their coating.
Cherie: -Fibergrafx material has a slight texture form the fiberglass showing through, it comes in a gloss finish only, is one sided and comes in a couple of pre-cut
Cherie: shapes. The Fibergrafx material is about ½ the cost of Unisub. I do not believe Fibergrafx FRP has UV inhibitors.
Cherie: Hardboard & Fiberboard
Cherie: These pre-made items are unique to Universal Woods and labeled usually as Unisub products although a couple of companies have re-labeled Unisub products. These substrates are the same high quality coating as their FRP and
Cherie: white aluminum product. They make products out of these such as: coasters, plaques, name plates, office signs, clocks, clip boards, basket ball goals, tiles, paper weights, bottle stoppers, sheet stock, serving trays, gift boxes, etc.
Cherie: Some people have talked about sublimating shower board that they purchased at Home Depot. I have not yet tried this but I would assume it is somewhat like the Universal Woods products although I doubt that it will produce as nice of image.
Cherie: Glass
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Cherie: Since the dyes used for sublimation are translucent it is best if the glass products have either a frosted finish or a white finish to make the dyes more vibrant. There are a few glass products currently being coated for sublimation and a few
Cherie: more that will be coming onto the market soon that do have a clear finish that supposedly produces a vibrant image.
Cherie: FYI: Be careful with the glass items since most are not tempered glass they can easily break if heated or cooled too quickly.
Cherie: -Beveled glass for plaques from Gold Coast Graphics.
Cherie: -Glass beer mugs from Photo USA and Laser Reproductions. The glass mugs has had improvements in more recent years by etching the inside of the glass and coating the outside. In the past these were done by using a frosted coating.
Cherie: -Shot glasses is a new item being offered exclusively by Laser Reproductions.
Cherie: -Glass cutting boards that have a white backing you dye sublimate through or have a white backing that can be added after you dye the coating.
Cherie: -Glass tiles are fast becoming a favorite with dye sublimation since the image is printed on the back away from the possibility of being scratched once mounted on a wall, floor, in a gift box or frame. Two coating companies are offering glass
Cherie: tiles. Premier Finishing & Coating tiles have a white back that you dye sublimate through and Bison Coating & Supply has a clear coating that you can paint after
Cherie: dying or by using their recommended adhesive is a bright white color and is used for attaching these to a wall or floor.
Cherie: Stone
Cherie: Armor Coating, Premier Finishing & Coating, Laser Reproductions are all coating tumbled stone tiles. I believe most of these are marble.
Cherie: Synthetic Ivory
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Cherie: Exclusive to TR Distributors is their dye sublimatable synthetic ivory products. They are offering this for several gift items including: lighters, pocket knives, gift
Cherie: boxes, business card holders, money clip, key chain, pocket watch and plan on adding more in the near future.
Cherie: Puzzles
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Cherie: There are a several companies offering jigsaw puzzles made from fabric, vinyl covered magnets and even wood. A new offering exclusively from
Cherie: 2CoolGadgets.com is a "Magic Marbles Puzzle" with the bottom part made out of FRP, both sides are sublimatable.
Cherie: Vinyl
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Cherie: Sublimates (vinyl) for dye sublimation has been around for a few years but initially was not very UV stable. More recently Advertising Ideas and Laser Reproductions have entered the market with their sublimatable vinyls. Both of
Cherie: these are holding up much better than the earlier version of Sublimates and can now be used as bumper stickers and car magnets. You can expect to get about
Cherie: 1 year of usage in the extreme conditions of southern sun (FL, AZ) and longer time the further north you go.
Cherie: Ribbon
Cherie: Some ribbon is also made out of poly satin. Offray has a nice ribbon that you can sometimes pick up at your local craft store if you only need a little, or if you need a lot you can purchase it from a couple of award ribbon suppliers
Cherie: A question relating to sublimatable items that I received from the Embroidery Mall this week was "Are there certain areas of sublimation (i.e certain niches such as doing tiles) that have been particularly successful?"
Cherie: Many people are successful with different areas in sublimation. It really depends on what group you are targeting as to what items will be more successful. If you are targeting the artists/photography industry you will probably have more
Cherie: success with tiles and mugs. If you are targeting sports teams or scout troops it might be shirts and awards, if you are targeting businesses it might be mouse pads, shirts, mugs, name tags and awards. Don't be afraid to find your own
Cherie: niche either. There is one company that specializes in printing 1" squares that are id plates for computer cases. I have sublimated everything from bicycle
Cherie: seats to custom coated 12" round porcelain tiles to silver coins to cross stitch patterns to dive mask straps.
Cherie: There are other products out there that can be sublimated. Some items that you might not be able to find ready for sublimation you can sometimes have specially coated or specially made if you are so inclined.
Cherie: There are many, many suppliers listed at http://www.dyesub.org , I hope you get a chance to stop by and visit a few.
http://www.dyesub.org/
Good luck and happy pressing!

Moderator: Any Questions for Cherie?
Moderator: Audience member says: "Cherie, I have been in and out..sorry...is there a certain type of soapstone to use? "
Cherie: The soapstone coasters are only being coated at this time by Laser Reproductions.
Cherie: Sorry, sandstone... not soap stone.
Moderator: Audience member says: "can you purchase items and have them coated?"
Cherie: yes. Cactus Coatings, Laser Reproductions, Premire Finishing & Coating and Bison Coating all will do custom coated products.
Moderator: Audience member says: "any limitations on what is coated?"
Cherie: Some coaters can only coat up to 8". I have not had anything larger than 12" that needed to be coated so don't know other limitations on that. Just make sure your item will withstand the heat/pressure of your press once you spend the money to get it
Cherie: coated. :)
Moderator: Audience member says: "what is the temperature limit we need to be aware of?"
Cherie: 400 degrees F. under pressure.
Moderator: Audience member says: "is there a difference between 400 degrees and 400 degrees under pressure?"
Cherie: yes. If you have enough pressure you don't need heat :) Pressure has energy and can cause things to happen like stacked hay in a barn when wet will ignite due to the pressure.
Moderator: Audience member says: "what are the biggest trends you see now with sublimation?"
Cherie: hmmm....
Cherie: I don't have an answer for that really.
Cherie: still thinking though
Moderator: Audience member says: "and where do you see the trend(s) heading?"
Cherie: Well, there are a lot more substrates on the market today.
Cherie: I am worried about the future.
Moderator: Audience member says: "what about local trends even applicable only to your business?"
Cherie: let me explain
Cherie: Epson pritners are the ones in use by most of us today. Epson doesn't care about the sublimation industry and continues
Cherie: to make smaller and smaller print nozzles on their printers. Dye particles are solids that are suspended in
Cherie: an ink like substance. As the nozzles get smaller the dye particles will have a harder and harder time
Cherie: to get through them.
Cherie: I really think the future will bring better dye sublimaiton in laser printers and for fabric it will be some type of archival ink or plastisol
Cherie: Now for the "local trends"
Cherie: personalization!!!
Cherie: More and more people are wanting personalization and that's what we do best.
Moderator: Audience member says: "do you see that certain niches prefer certain items?"
Cherie: yes. as I said if you are going for sports teams, they will probably want shirts and awards. If you are going for artists/photographers they will probably want tiles or mugs.
Alan: Well Cherie, another hour has flown by
Alan: What is the topic you are covering next week
Cherie: I don't know. :)
Cherie: I was really hoping for more feedback from the group so that I could talk about something they might want to know.
Alan: Okay... we will see if we can't do some homework.
Alan: Cherie... once again thank you for sharing.
Alan: Good night... and now let's return to Latte's
Cherie: Your welcome. good luck everyone! Alan: Good night... and now let's return to Latte's

Closing Log (March 2, 2004 10:33:14PM)

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