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Sublimation On Acrylic: Very Simple & Easy Steps Guide

Sublimation On Acrylic

Hello my dear,

I hope you are doing well & enjoying the sublimation! Am I right? Well! You know I love the art and the sublimation in my heart. And I try sublimation differently and I love to do that. I believe in learning, trying and doing different things every day. So with that today I introduce you to the sublimation on acrylic. How to do it? What are the different benefits of it to your art and the artistic business? With all the excitement in the heart and too much to share with you in mind, let’s get started.

Gathering of Essential equipment & tools you are in need of:

  • Design/Image:

You want to flaunt your design/ imagination with the help of acrylic sublimation. So it is most important for you to first decide the design you want to flaunt. Okay!

For that choose your design. If you want to edit it then there are so many applications available in the market which you can get help from. And here my best choice is ‘Canva’. It is free and fully customisable.

  • Printer:

As you are going to sublimate. And you are using the special sublimation ink. So here my advice is to use only inkjet printers. Don’t mirror the image while printing.

  • Sublimation Ink & Sublimation Paper:

You know that this is the heart & soul of every sublimation. And if your heart and soul are good then you will be good. Right! So please please always go with the high-quality sublimation ink &  the Sublimation paper. High-quality sublimation ink provides vibrancy to your sublimation and an excellent transfer quality on your acrylic substrate. And for crisp print with high quality which has zero effect of fading and ghosting, the use of high-quality transfer paper is a must.

  • Acrylic Blank:

Substrate/blank is the poly-coated material on which you are going to do the sublimation. Today in our case it is acrylic. Of course, we are going to sublimate the acrylic. But while choosing the acrylic for the sublimation you have to keep a few things in mind.

  • Always go with the cast acrylic. I tried and tested on the many acrylics but cast acrylic is the best. It has a higher thermal threshold before melting. So it gives you a clear and vibrant print.
  • It is best to choose white or light-coloured cast acrylic. 

Before few days I received an email and she asked me that “Can I sublimate on the 100% acrylic?”

And I tried it and I say you ‘Yes’. You can sublimate on the 100% acrylic as it has a high polymer content.

  • Heat Press:

Go with the heat press which feels compatible with the sublimation substrate. And I suggest you hear that first run the test print. Trial and error proves the best. So go with the test print first and adjust your heat press accordingly.

Start the sublimation:

Now you are ready with all the supplies with you. Now it’s high time to start the sublimation.

1. Prepare the acrylic for the sublimation:

Now it’s time to prepare your acrylic for the sublimation. If you are using transparent acrylic then please apply the white spray or the vinyl sheet as the background. Why? It will help you to blow your design on a white background rather than a transparent one.

Removing the protective coating:

It’s time to remove the protective coating from your acrylic. For that;

Just pull off the acrylic blank coating with your nails. And by doing this use the adhesive tape/ tweezers to pull the coating off.

What if the coating is not removed by you using this technique?

Here patience is the key. Don’t hurry or don’t scratch the surface with the nails. Just soak your acrylic into the warm water for nearly 30 minutes. It loses automatically and then you can easily pull it off.

Cleaning the acrylic surface:

Your acrylic came with the coating and you just remove it. Right! But that coating leaves some of its sticky residue on the acrylic. So it is a must to clean the acrylic surface first.

For cleaning the acrylic, you can use the

  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Nail Polish Remover
  • Hand Cream or
  • Any Cooling Oil.

For that, use a lint-free cloth to wipe off the surface. Apply the rubbing alcohol on the surface of the acrylic and wipe off with the lint-free cloth to remove the dust, debris or any unwanted obstacle on the surface.

2. Start the sublimation:

Now, your design/print is ready, your acrylic is ready. So there is nothing to wait for. So let’s dive deep into the sublimation ocean.

 Aligning & Securing the transfer:

Place your acrylic carefully onto the transfer paper/your design.

Align it properly

Now secure this setting with heat-resistant tape to avoid any movement during the sublimation.

You can also use the Sublimation Tack Spray, as while heating acrylic melts. And the tape leaves the residue sometimes. I use heat-resistant tape only.

Set the heat press:

Now it’s time to set your heat press at the temperature of 3850 For 1960C for 60 seconds.

Place the setup(Transfer paper below and an acrylic above the paper facing the design) in the heat press. But before this secure your setup with the butcher paper. It is to avoid spilling ink while pressing and avoid the ghosting effect in future.

 Cooling & Finishing Touches:

Now it’s time to give some more time to cool down the setup. Switch off the heat press and remove the setup. Here I suggest you cool it down under the flat heavy things like a book or mat to avoid the bending effect.

Now remove the transfer paper and flaunt your creativity to the world. But wait this is the sublimation on the acrylic so finishing touches are needed.  Its finishing touches include adding any hardware, or the chains in the keychain like that work.  

What can you do the best with acrylic sublimation?

This is nothing but the finishing touches of necessity. Acrylic sublimation allows you to have a number of possibilities for items. The following are some of the examples you can do with your acrylic sublimation which helps to fly your creativity and art with the sublimation on acrylic. It can be used for yourself, for your loved ones or for your clients and grow your business.

  1. Designing of the acrylic photo panels
  2. Keychains
  3. Earrings, pendants, clips, etc

Conclusion:

So, I hope you understand the process. Right! It is just easy. Just like the other sublimation. Read the above blog properly. Follow each and every step I mentioned properly, carefully and rigorously and do your art fly with acrylic sublimation.

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