Have you ever priced infusible products? They are EXPENSIVE! Now you can take any metal, wood or ceramic surface and treat it. Then use infusible ink on it. The Dollar Store has all sorts of balsa wood and ceramic stuff for $1 and even metal things.
I only have 1 roll of infusible ink right now because stuff to put it on is so expensive so there isn’t a lot of variety in the projects above. But I will get more now! The metal sign was done with scraps. And yes this method works for sublimation stuff you print yourself too!
What you will need
- Infusible ink Pen or Sheet
- Something to put it on
- Easy Press
- Polycrylic
- Foam Paint Brush
Where to Get Materials to Use Infusible Ink on Anything
Firstly Dollar store is a great place to get mugs, wood, metal etc. cheaply. And if you don’t have any polycrylic left over from doing glitter ornaments, you can get it at Walmart. One small can will last you for a really long time, so buy the smallest you can get. Use the cheap foam brushes you can get anywhere. If you use a regular paint brush, you get brush stroke lines.
Pre-Treating the Surface You Want to Use Infusible Ink On
First, make sure the surface is clean and dry. Put down butcher paper on the table to protect it. And I will warn you, polycrylic does not smell pleasant. You might want to be somewhere with good air circulation. Then, with the foam brush, apply a thin coat of the polycrylic. Let it set for about an hour. Then put a second thick coat of polycrylic on the surface. I purposely only put one thin layer on half of this owl. You can see the difference. Then let the object dry for 24 hours.
Heating for Using Infused Ink
I would definitely use a heat press for this. An iron usually doesn’t get hot enough and usually isn’t big enough to cover the whole project.
The heat settings don’t vary by the material you are using but the time does. The temperature is 400 degrees. The time goes up the more heat resistant the material is. So wood and metal only take 45 sec to a minute, but ceramic materials takes at least twice that long.
Make sure the table is protected. The infusible ink will bleed onto the table if it isn’t cut to the exact right size. You don’t have to trim it but the parchment paper on the bottom will get covered in ink. So put a heat shield with a sheet of parchment paper down and then the material. Next the infusible ink. Then put another piece of parchment paper on top.
Heat the sandwich for the appropriate time (see above) and then let the material cool. Be careful because the materials are hot (duh). Yes I burned my finger on the metal. Remove the parchment paper on top and then the infusible ink sheet. If the paper sticks, spray it with water (this happens a lot). You may need to scrub at it to get it off but it will come off. Just use a rag and not a scrubbie.
Conclusion
This method works with infusible markers too. And also with thing printed on a sublimation printer. The sublimation printer paper sticks a little more often but scrubs off easier than infusible ink paper. Probably because it is thinner.
That’s amazing thank you so much I just got my sublimation printer and my ink and I’m hoping to get some kind of heat source lol thanks for doing the work for us appreciate it very much have an amazing week 😊Kerry
I have loaded up on infusible ink rolls and markers recently, and I can’t wait to try this method! Thanks for all your hard work on these tutorials!
This is excellent I can’t wait to try this. It would be useful to have a guide on what hard surfaces this method works on. For instance I would think other types of plastic would melt, but would wood hold up to 400 degrees? Also, I have polycrylic in a spay can, would that work? Thanks for doing this tutorial.
so if paint my non sublimation tumblers with polycrylic first i dan then due sublimation over it is this correct
Yes provided that they can take the heat. (I hear tumbler and picture the plastic Solo cups and they will not take the heat. LOL)