I just started printing mugs and mouse pads. Currently I have been using Accuplot EPQ sublimation paper. I use an Epson Stylus Photo R200 (6 color) with China Sublimation Inks. At first I was having issues getting the colors working right. I adjusted the colors my self and got them looking "ok". Then thanks to a suggestion I read on this forum I e-mailed the person I bought the inks from in China and they sent me the Color Profiles (ICM) for their inks. Now everything prints awesome, kind of. It will print very good and even black things will print black. Shadows will usually print correctly. But certain areas the print will appear like a blotch reddish color. And this tipically happens in darker or black areas. Hard to explain but I just did a mug of a person and it happened on the person's skin, it wasn't a black area just a tad bit darker and it put the red blotches. Any help would be great! This is my apsolute first time making mugs and mousepads. Should I try a different paper? I should mention I bought 2 cases of mugs from Bestblanks 1 case of white 11oz and 1 case of color changing 11oz. Thanks for any suggestioins.
Ok I got the printing profiles for the inks from my supplier. Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the better paper AccuPlot EPQ or TexPrint XP? Also occasionally depending on the colors certain areas will look too saturated and red color. Any suggestions? Thanks.
A "hard surface" paper like Accuplot should work better on a hard surface like mugs and tiles. TextPrint XP is great for fabric (mouse pads) as it tends to release more ink. As to blotching try printing on a mug from another vendor make sure it is a "hard coated" mug and see if the mugs you bought have coating quality issue. See if the "blotches" you are getting appear on different products using the same image. When your new to sublimation experimenting is the best way to learn. Everyone has their own technique. If you have to do color adjustments all the time to get your products to work, I would switch to the only U.S. ink supplier. Saving money on ink but loosing time and product is not really saving anything.
For hard surfaces go with a general purpose sublimation paper.We use Conde general purpose paper for hard surfaces and works great.Sid is right on with what he said about textprint and other high release papers,great for soft substrates but you dont need as much toner released on hard goods.Also black takes a little longer to fully sublimate so you might want to up your press time just a little when doing transfers that have big areas of black.
I wanted to follow up with what I have found and learned so far and also possibly get a little more advice. I have determined that most of my problem comes from the mugs I bought at BestBlanks. First off I bought 2 cases and 11 were broken. I am guessing that it is common to have a few broken mugs but that many? They have "Orca Coating" and it does NOT state that they are hard coated. The coating seems to be inconsistent on the top and bottoms of the mugs and I get fade spots when I sublimate in those areas. I had an order for 6 mugs this week. Well 1 mugs was so badly faded in the top and bottom sections that I had to trash that mug. Then as I was putting another mug in the press the darn mug handle fell right off! Well anyways I got 3 of them made perfectly. I went to put in the 4th mug went to close the press and it didn't put and pressure on the mug. Well I pulled out my trusty ruler and found that quite a few mugs in the cases I bought are slightly different diameters! To make a long story short I made the 6 mugs.
I am thinking about buying my blank mugs from Conde from now on. Anyone have any comments on their quality? Their prices are better and they say "Hard Coated".
Last but not least. I am using a Stahl's Mighty Mug Press. I also bought a used QLT JW-600 Full Wrap Mug Press. But the heat settings on that press (QLT JW-600) only goes to a maximum of 325 degrees F. It has 2 heat settings "A & B" but both only go a max of 325. Seeing that it is a Mug Press, how long should I sublimate a mug with such a low heat setting? Also should I run the press at it's maximum setting of 325 continuously? I should mention I haven't read the press instructions yet.
Thank you for all the help you folks in this forum have been giving me. It has been a great help!
Since QLT now sells the GeoKnight mug presses I am guessing you bought yours used. QLT also sells a glazer for glazing over a laser transfer so I would guess that your press was for doing the laser transfers onto mugs. The heat for a laser transfer is lower than for dublimation. Some people are doing the laser transfers now using papers like VersaTrans for hardgoods which will transfer with the lower heat, but you will need to post bake them.
For sublimation the 325 is low, but you may be able to extend the time out and get it to transfer but it probably wouldn't stand up to a dishwasher very well.
We are in canada and just got a case of the Orca mugs from supplier in canada.Now i dont think i have a problem with a mug in many months.First mug cracked,second and third mugs the ink looked faded in spots near the top and success with the fourth.Really not impressed with these mugs and will not get again.On the plus side for these mugs is that they are the whitest mugs i have seen.In the roughly 20 cases of mugs i have had shipped a we have not had a broken mug in the box so i would say that 11 is very high.Even being in Canada we sometimes order from Conde and they sell good quality product.Casper you should get some mug wraps and a small convection oven.
Glad I read this. I am ordering mugs and was going to try out Best Blanks but I think I will try a different supplier. This will be my first try at sublimation and the last thing I need is unnecessary issues to overcome like defective mugs.
yes i too have purchased mugs from bestblanks (orka) they were terrible where can I find mugs bestblank used to sell made in thailand?
anyone know
thanks
I get mine from Johnson Plastics and I have never had any issues. I believe they are Rhinocoat out of Thailand and I use Tex-Print Sublimation paper. They come out very nice.
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AccuPlot EPQ or TexPrint XP for Mugs? 
Re: AccuPlot EPQ or TexPrint XP for Mugs? 
