Yes, it can!
While working at the Artesprix booth at the Namta/Creativation trade show we were approached by a few brands wondering if their product could be sublimated. So I said, why not try? They brought over samples and we gave it a go.
I was familiar with both brands having worked with them in the past, Silver Creek Leather and Grafix.
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So the question was, “Can you sublimate leather, or what treatment does it need to make it work?”
A little google search and we were good to try it with the tanned leather.
See the video for important details:
The next one was Grafix with a polyester-coated clear sheet. What was this material? Duralar. They have it in both clear and matte. We did wonder if the plastic could take the 400-degree heat, but nothing ventured nothing gained.
See the video for important details:
We were also asked quite often if cotton can be sublimated. The answer is typically no but also yes. It works but it is a much less color-intensive outcome and not necessarily recommended.
There was interest in working with the new paints on a Gel Press. It has already been tested so yes it works. But it was fun to see the interest from those that work with collage and journaling. This brought up the question about layering. Again yes, you can apply layers of heat-set sublimation on top of each other. See it in action in the Grafix video above.
The other question most asked was why transfer it? Can’t you just apply the color to the blank? Again, yes you can! But here’s the thing. I was drawn to sublimation because of the ability to work on any paper surface and then transfer the image. Why? Because if you make a mistake or want to start over you haven’t ruined your blank.
So if you want to work with type and not have to deal with reversing it, you can stamp it directly onto your project with sublimation ink and then heat set it.
The new Artesprix paints and colored stamp pads will be available by May 1, 2022, at Artesprix.