ckarimkhani

HTV with mug press?

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Hello all! New to the forum board (I never knew this existed!) but not new to the vinyl craft. I am, however, new to mug presses! Is there an HTV that works best (or at all?) with a mug press? I've played around with the settings and typically stick with Siser Easy Weed when it comes to garments but am finding the vinyl can be picked off with just my nail. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I have nearly exhausted all of youtube and google trying to find the answer. Talk about falling down a rabbit hole...

Thanks!

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HTV is for fabric.  That said, someone always try the non standard.  These guys did.  https://shopcraftables.com/blog/can-i-iron-htv-on-that/.  Though ceramic isn't on their list, I imagine HTV will stick like their results for glass.  I wouldn't count on HTV on a mug to last one dishwasher cycle, any brand or type of HTV..  HTV is the wrong product for anything but fabric, (maybe leather like stuff also.)

Sublimation is what most go for for mugs, with a mug press.  You need the right kind of mug too for sublimation.  Regular sign vinyl would have a higher chance of making it through a dishwasher.  But I wouldn't count on it lasting forever.  If the mug were hand washed, odds improve.

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Yup. dc is spot on. HTV has a very thin film of adhesive that is specifically designed to adhere to certain types of cloth. There are variations even within the HTV options in order to change the cloth like those made to handle nylon.

Mug presses are built to sublimate up at the 400deg range. It's a fascinating process but nothing like what you are attempting. 

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There are a lot of folks out there who use good ol' 651 sign vinyl on ceramic, plastic, glass and "stainless" tumblers.  As long as the glass is nice and clean and you let the item sit for a few days before throwing it in the dishwasher it holds up really well.  And you don't need a heat press.   It won't hold up as long as sublimation and it can be snagged or scratched off, but it does hold up. 

Back in March I personalized some Dollar Store plastic tumblers for a family get together and figured if they held up through the weekend they had done their job.  My Dad has been drinking coffee out of his everyday since and it still looks like new.  So sign vinyl is great for craft projects or personal items, however I wouldn't offer them to business customers since you can feel the image and they won't last as long as sublimation.

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So for the sake of science, I pressed HTV into the mug at 350 for 120 seconds. It definitely stuck! It looked "pretty" except for (what I am guessing is) the clear adhesive layer on the back of the vinyl oozed out and left an outline around the letters. Just to test (more science, yay!) I put Oracal 651 on the other side and ran it through the dishwasher. Both stuck perfectly and even survived a hot wash/heat dry cycle. I intend on messing around with the heat/time cycles a bit more and will probably run through a few more mugs before I either figure it out or just give up and use Oracal 651.

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my wife added some 651 decals to the dog dishes prior to our last vacation - they survived a few washing before ending up in the bottom of the dishwasher clogging things up and miserable to get out - - - not something I would sell to a customer personally.    she wanted to label them as the food dish had a crack and didn't want our daughter to get them mixed up and end up with a mess

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Good to know! Thanks! I really want to figure out the HTV so I didn't run into any wear issues like you're describing. If I do end up going the 651 route, I'll be sure to specify hand-wash only. Selling mugs with some vinyl just slapped on them seems so basic. I'd love to offer a durable product. If that means I have to save up for sublimation printer, so be it!

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The Sublimation is a little spendy to get set up (especially if you go with the good printers rather than the cheap epson route that I tried) and also pretty technical to learn but the "cool" factor is off the charts. I don't have a good outlet to make it pay off for me so I don't do much anymore but when I was producing sublimated items I did some dog tags, a couple of clipboards, some flip flops and a few light switch covers that all turned out about as cool as you could ask. If I had a brick and mortar store with walk in business I know I could sell that type of thing pretty easy. I do primarily apparel and the sublimated shirts were ok too but being limited to 100% white polyester was just too limited to make it pay off. I did some softball jerseys that were white bodied with red sleeves and the team really liked them. I never did mugs but have seen some really nice looking ones done by members here. 

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Here are pics of the flip flops. Conde Systems sells a lot of sublimatable items. Not cheap but pretty cool. 

flip1.jpg

Flip2.jpg

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16 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

those do have a cool design.  

 

That is MY design that I made up and offset a from center little so they weren't too symmetrical. The feet size are precut so once printed you just push them out and add the rubber toe holders. Nifty and my kids loved them. 

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