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Printing on to dye sublimation rock slate can be a little tricky. But once you have mastered it, the results are fantastic!
Our handy how to press video can be viewed below-
How To Sublimate Rock Slates
What will you need?
A sublimation converted inkjet printer
Sublimation paper
Heat resistant tape
Mug heat press
Craft Blade / Scissors
1) Design Process
You will need to create the artwork for you mug design on your computer.
Ideally use a good piece of photo editing software.
Popular software choices are Adobe Photoshop, Coral Draw, Serif Affinity Photo or Designer.
We tend to print our design slightly larger than rock slate to allow the image to fully cover the surface.
2) Preparing your rock slate
It is advised to preheat your blank sublimation rock slate to ensure cold spots are heated well.
Why is preheating the rock slate important?
- Preheating rock slate helps to improve the reaction and transfer of ink yielding a better quality and more consistent transfer when heat pressed.
- Preheating also decreases the risk of fading which can be caused by cold spots in the rock slate.
- Preheating also avoid a sudden change in temperature when the rock slate is placed into the heat press. Sudden temperature change can result in the rock slate cracking.
How to preheat your rock slate?
- Prepress / preheat in your heat press – the blank rock slate can be placed under your heat press for around 30 seconds at 200c.
3) Preparing your printed design
Take your printed paper transfer and trim tall edges of the design to ensure the edges of your paper are clean and free of unwanted ink.
Place your printed design on a table or flat surface.
Place the rock slate face down onto the printing design.
Wrap the paper around the sides and secure to the rear of the rock slate using heat tape.
4) Pressing your rock slate
10/11oz sublimation mugs are usually pressed at a firm pressure for 180 seconds (3 minutes) at 180c / 355F.
This can differ from mug to mug and it is always advised to check with the manufacturer or supplier of your sublimation mugs first.
For our example we have used a set of our own 11oz sublimation mugs. We recommend these are pressed at:
Temperature: 200c
Time: 480 seconds (+ additional 15-30 seconds*)
Pressure: Medium
* We advise to press rock slate face down for 480 seconds at 200c. We then turn the rock slate face up and press for a further 15-30 seconds at 200c.
Step by step method
Generally we find the following process works well;
Turn on your heat press.
Set the temperature and time.
Allow the heat press to come up to temperature.
When the heat press is at the correct temperature place your blank rock slate into the press to preheat it – we advise preheating for 30 seconds at 200c.
- Preheat your rock slate as advised in ‘Preparing your rock slate’
- Place your rock slate into the press face down.
- Close the heat press clamp and start the timer.
- Press for 480 seconds.
- When the timer expires open the heat press and turn the rock slate over so it is face up.
- Press again for a further 15-30 seconds.
- When the time expires open the heat press.
- Remove the rock slate and allow it to cool.
- Remove the paper transfer.
Tips and tricks
Try to keep your design away from the edges (top, bottom and handle) of the mug.
We try to keep 5-10mm away from all edges of the mug.
This is because the mugs generally have a very slight taper at the top and bottom, so pressure from the heat press is uneven on these areas.
Furthermore the heating element of the heat press is generally weaker at the edges.
As a result you tend to find a poorer image transfer in these areas.
Mugs can be preheated in a number of ways we use the following methods depending on the particular job we are undertaking-
- Prepress / preheat in your mug press – the blank mug can be placed into the heat press for 30-40 seconds. The mug should warm / slightly hot to the touch but not too hot to handle.
- Fill the mug with boiling water and leave for 1-2 minutes. Again the mug should be warm / slightly hot when handling.
- Soak mugs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes – this method is ideal for large print runs or bulk orders. Mugs should be removed and dried before pressing.
