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Kelleybell123

Are All Plates Able To Be Sublimated

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Forgive me,I don't know a thing about sublimation,but I am curious. If I go buy a plate at say Wally World can it be sublimated? Does it have to be a "blank" from one of the sublimation places I see on the net? Thanks in advance:)

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yes it has to have a special coating on it to be sublimated! and i don't think you can buy them at the stores!

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Sublimation relies on a coating called polyester. The ink turns into gas at 380 and 400 degrees then attaches to the polyester coating. So in short you can not just press any plate it has to be coated. Unfortunately you do have to buy from an online sublimation blank company online.

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and not all coated items are the same  - an even coating is essential for it to look good.

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It doesn't necessarily have to "coated" - if it's 100% polyester, then you can sublimate it.  Most blank license plates are NOT 100% polyester, though.

 

For example, I bought a few yards of plain, white 100% polyester fabric and was able to sublimate successfully on to it for a friend who wanted to sew some custom juggling balls.

 

The blanks that you buy from Conde, Coastal Business Supplies, Laser Reproductions Inc., Johnson Plastics, Chewbarka, Cobra Ink,  etc. have been designed specifically for sublimation and tend to have very smooth surfaces for even, consistent sublimation.  

 

You can buy sublimation coating and coat  your own items, but I understand that getting a smooth, even coating is extraordinarily difficult for your average person to achieve, so I would stick to buying blanks from the vendors who know what they're doing.

 

Another option, is that you can buy sublimatable adhesive vinyl and sublimate a design onto that and then cut and apply that to a Wal-Mart license plate blank...  Personally, I'd just print the design onto aqueous vinyl with one of my pigment ink printers, laminate and cut it, rather than deal with the added step of heat pressing it onto vinyl, but that's just me - pigment ink and aqueous printable vinyl are cheaper than Sublical and high temp inks... and I am a cheapskate...

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