How can I ensure consistent results when sublimating?

In sublimation, for consistent results, you need consistent processes. I often hear people say that they can’t get consistent results with sublimation, and that statement just is not true. If you sublimate a product the same exact way each time, you will get the same results. However, differences in time and temperature will be your undoing, and most often it is the differences in temperature.

For example, many people, when starting to press many items, will start pressing them without pre-heating the bottom platen of their press. If you don’t pre-heat it, the bottom platen has a lot of mass and can sump out a bunch of heat from the top heating element, which causes a lower overall pressing heat through your first couple press cycles. That means that if you don’t pre-heat it, and just start pressing products, your first couple cycles will probably be lighter color than subsequent cycles and not consistent.

Keep your sublimation processes consistent, and your results will be consistent.

-Kevin Lumberg, Duraluxe