Sublimation Blanks

Sublimation Blanks for Metal, Aluminum, Drinkware and Apparel

Sublimation blanks are substrates coated or constructed so dye can bond into them: polyester fabric, and hard goods with a polymer coating that accepts the dye under heat. Sublimation turns solid dye into gas under heat so it bonds into those surfaces, leaving a print you cannot feel and that will not crack or peel. This category supplies the working end of that process — blanks for sublimation, transfer paper, ink and toner, and the specialty media that gets sublimation onto surfaces it normally cannot reach. If you still need the machine that prints the transfer, that is one collection over in sublimation printers. This page is written for shops already running sublimation, or deciding whether it belongs alongside HTV and DTF.

Metal and Aluminum Sublimation Blanks

Coated metal is the substrate sublimation does best, and the flat metal sublimation blanks in this collection are the Duraluxe Aluminum Sublimation Panels, $25.50–$35.06 depending on the size you pick. The dye moves into the panel's coating rather than being printed onto the surface, so the finished image sits inside the panel and is flat to the touch. Because aluminum panels are rigid, press them on a swing-away: it brings pressure straight down and holds it even from edge to edge, which is harder to get from a clamshell on a stiff panel. Duraluxe panels suit outdoor use, so they are the substrate to reach for when the finished piece has to live outside rather than on a desk or a wall indoors.

The rest of the aluminum sublimation blanks here are drinkware, and they are the least expensive items in the collection. HTX Sublimation Blank Aluminum Sports Water Bottles are $3.99 in metallic silver and $4.49 in gloss white, which makes them the cheapest way to prove out artwork and press settings before you commit to a job. HTX Sublimation Blank Stainless Steel 14oz Travel Mugs are $6.49 in satin silver and $6.87 in gloss white, and satin silver comes in a case of 48 for $289 if you are buying metal sublimation blanks wholesale for an event, a team order or a corporate run.

Buy metal by finish as much as by size. A gloss white surface puts a white ground under the dye, so color reads closest to what is on your screen. Metallic and satin silver let the metal show through anywhere your artwork is light, which changes how the file needs to be built — knock out fewer highlights and let the substrate do that work. Order one of each finish and press the same file on both before you buy a quantity, because they will not look alike. Bottles and travel mugs need a wrap-style mug press; the panels press on a flat platen.

How to Choose Blanks for Sublimation

• Substrate chemistry. Sublimation bonds only to polyester or a polymer coating. A blank has to be sold as sublimation-ready; an uncoated mug or a cotton tee will not hold the dye.
• Polyester content. On apparel, more polyester means stronger color. Blends fade proportionally, and cotton needs a different approach entirely.
• Paper and ink pairing. Release rates are matched to ink chemistry, so keep sublimation paper and sublimation ink to a consistent pairing.
• Press geometry. Aluminum panels are thick and rigid, and a swing-away press applies even pressure across a panel better than a clamshell.
• Cotton and darks. Use Siser EasySubli or another sublimation-printable HTV that carries the image on a film you press onto any fabric color.

Apparel Blanks, Mouse Pads and Consumables

Apparel is the other half of this collection. The Jerzees Dri-Power Unisex 100% Polyester T-Shirt is $9.95–$11.95 and is the straightforward sublimation tee, since polyester content is what holds the dye. Bella + Canvas jersey tees are stocked here as well — the Unisex Short Sleeve Jersey Tee 3001 at $8.25–$9.49 and the Women's Deep V-Neck Jersey Tee 6035 at $7.00–$8.49 — along with Hanes Beefy T-Shirts #5180 in white, $299.95 for 72 in large. Check the fabric content of any tee before you sublimate it, and reach for EasySubli or SubliDARK on anything cotton or dark.

The rest of the collection is what you go through on every job. HTX Sublimation Blank White Mouse Pads, 7.75 in x 9.25 in, run $19.95–$185.95 by quantity and make a cheap promotional item and a useful test surface. The collection also includes polyester face-mask blanks — HTX Sublimation Blank Polyester 3-Ply Face Masks are $24.95 for a 10 pack, and the polyester face is what lets them take dye at all. Sublimation Tape is $6.49 and holds a transfer in position so it cannot shift and ghost. Paper is Sawgrass TruePix Classic Dye Sublimation Transfer Paper at $25.95–$50.95 and QC Pro Sublimation Transfer Paper at $61.95–$86.95, and UNINET iColor Subli-Clean is $29.00.

Sublimation Supplies and Current Prices

Printers That Decorate These Blanks

Blanks are half the job; something has to print the transfer, and that end of the shop is covered in sublimation printers. There are three tiers. The clearance Sublime DS170 Sublimation Printer is $399 with one unit in stock, and its replacement maintenance tank is $28.83. The UNINET iColor 350 Digital Laser Dye Sublimation Printer is $1,495, and it is where most shops pressing the blanks on this page will land. For polyester by the roll rather than by the piece, the Mimaki TS330-1600 64 in Sublimation Printer runs $27,494.50–$47,504.60. Financing is available on many machines.

The iColor 350 is worth understanding before you line it up against a desktop inkjet, because it is not one. It is a laser dye-sublimation printer: the dye rides on toner instead of liquid ink, so there is nothing in the machine that can dry out between jobs. That takes away the failure mode that costs desktop sublimation owners the most time — clogged heads after the printer sits through a slow week, and nozzles dropping out in the middle of a run. UNINET states the 350 costs roughly 40 cents per transfer, runs up to 40 times faster than inkjet sublimation printers at up to 50 percent lower operating cost, prints at up to 25 pages per minute, and that sublimated apparel is rated for up to 150 wash cycles. It works on standard copy paper rather than specialty transfer paper, splits and tiles oversize images without extra software, and ships with enough toner for about 1,000 transfers. Dye-sublimation toner cartridges are ordered separately at $279, a waste toner bottle is $39, and UNINET iColor Sublimation Toner Cleaner is $19.00. With ProRIP software the 350 works in CMYK mode only.

Alongside the sublimation line we carry UNINET iColor white-toner systems, and several models in that line have a dye-sublimation toner and drum kit in this catalog, including the iColor 650 at $229. They also run standard white-toner transfers. That second capability is why many shops choose them: one machine decorates cotton, darks and hard goods that sublimation cannot touch.

What Materials Can You Sublimate On?

Polyester fabric and any surface with a polymer coating made for sublimation — coated stainless steel travel mugs, aluminum sports water bottles, mouse pads and Duraluxe aluminum panels. Natural fibers such as cotton have nothing for the dye to bond into. On apparel, higher polyester content produces brighter and more durable color.

Can You Sublimate on Cotton or Dark Shirts?

Not directly. Sublimation dye is transparent and needs a white polyester surface, so it disappears on dark fabric and washes out of cotton. The workaround is a sublimation-printable heat transfer vinyl such as Siser EasySubli or Logical Color SubliDARK: sublimate onto the film, cut it, then press the film onto any fabric color.

Do I Need a Special Heat Press for Sublimation?

A standard heat press works, but a swing-away model is generally preferred because aluminum panels are thick and rigid and need even pressure straight down. Bottles and travel mugs require a wrap-style mug press rather than a flat platen. Both styles are in heat presses.

Do You Sell Sublimation Printers?

Yes. The sublimation printers collection runs from the clearance Sublime DS170 at $399, through the UNINET iColor 350 desktop laser at $1,495, up to the wide-format Mimaki TS330-1600 from $27,494.50. Toner, cleaner and maintenance parts for them are stocked alongside the blanks and paper on this page.

Sublimation, DTF or HTV — Which Should I Use?

Sublimation gives the softest hand and the most durable result, but only on polyester and coated blanks, which is why metal and drinkware are where it earns its keep. DTF prints full color onto any fabric including cotton and darks. HTV is the cheapest entry and best for simple, solid-color designs. Our sublimation printing guide and method comparison lay out the costs.

We have supplied consumables to decorators since 1963, which mostly means the paper, ink and blanks you reorder are the same ones that worked on your last job.