3 Mistakes that Ruin Sublimation Tumblers Every Time

If your sublimation tumblers keep coming out faded, dull, or just not right - it's typically due to one of three main reasons or a combination of them all.

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Most of the time, the problem isn't your printer or your ink. It's one of three mistakes happening at the press. It's an issue with heat, pressure, or press time that causes dull prints, partial transfers, ghosting or some other issue.

Read on for how to avoid common mistakes when sublimation tumblers.

Sublimation Mistake 1: The wrong temperature

The most common sublimation tumbler mistake starts with the temp of the heat press or the tumbler press. Sublimation needs heat in a specific range to actually convert the ink from solid to gas and bond it permanently to the polyester coating.

If the press is too cool the ink never fully transfers, which gives you washed-out colors. If the press temperature is too hot and you scorch the coating, which leaves yellow patches on white tumblers or burns visible around your design.

Different substrates require different temperatures so it's really important that you check the specific temperature recommendation that should come with your tumblers.

As a general rule, most sublimation tumblers need the temperature between 380 and 400°F. (Keep in mind the temperature on a tumbler press typically drops during the press time.) The specific temp depends on the blank you're using. Generic settings from another brand's tumbler won't always work, especially for skinny tumblers, glass cans, and stainless variants where the polyester coating thickness can vary.

Pro Tip: If you're getting inconsistent results across batches when using a sublimation convection oven, the temperature inside the oven probably isn't matching what the dial says. Use an oven thermometer in for one bake to verify the actual temperature.

Mistake 2: The wrong time

Even at the right temperature, the wrong amount of time will ruin the transfer. Pressing time depends on what you're using to apply heat. A tumbler press runs in the 60 to 90 second range (and sometimes you need to rotate half way through). A convection oven runs 200 to 240 seconds. A mug press can range anywhere from 60 to 180 seconds depending on the model.

Under-pressing leaves you with pale colors because the ink hasn't had time to fully gas off and saturate the coating. Over-pressing causes its own set of problems - yellowing on white tumblers, color bleed, and an increased chance of the paper shifting and creating a shadow effect next to your design.

The type of tumbler also matters - glass takes a different amount of time than stainless steel tumblers, for example. Again - it's best to follow the recommended time for sublimating based on your specific blank.

Mistake 3: The wrong pressure

Pressure is the variable most people don't think about, and it's the one that causes the most frustrating failures. Sublimation needs firm, even contact between your printed paper and the tumbler surface.

Any gap and the ink can't transfer cleanly to that spot, which leaves you with a print that looks fine in some areas and faded or missing entirely in others. That's why the top and bottom of your tumblers are often faded or feathered while the middle looks perfect.

For a tumbler press, this means making sure the pressure knobs are even so that the heat plate is evenly and fully pressed against the tumbler.

For convection oven sublimation, this means using a tight, even shrink wrap with no slack or wrinkles anywhere across the design.

Inconsistent pressure also creates one of the most common sublimation failures - a ghosted or shadow image right next to your design.

Bonus mistake: ghosting

Ghosting is when a faint, blurry version of your design shows up beside the main print, like a shadow. It almost always happens because the paper shifted slightly during the press, even by just a millimeter or two.

This is not a sublimation issue that's exclusive to tumblers either. It can happen with any sublimation projects - but the result is always the same. The project is ruined.

Ghosting is harder to troubleshoot than temp, time, and pressure because the shift can happen at multiple points in the process: when you first wrap the paper, when you lift the press, or when you remove the tumbler.

This new video on Silhouette U walks through exactly how to prevent ghosting on sublimation blanks (including tumblers). You can preview the video for free before joining, or jump in for full access alongside 700+ other tutorials covering sublimation, Silhouette, xTool, Roland and more, plus same-day support when you hit a problem the video doesn't cover.

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