Sublimation Made Simple For Cricut Crafters - Well Crafted Studio

What is Sublimation?

Basically, for our purposes, it’s a chemical process where the liquid ink goes from a solid state to a gaseous state when it’s heated at high temperatures. The magic happens when it’s pressed against an object with a special coating as it’s heated- the sublimation dye goes into the surface of the object.

However, not every surface will accept the ink. That’s where knowing more about what can and cannot be sublimated comes in (see list below).

Why is Sublimation Suddenly So Popular?

Interest in sublimation has been simmering in the craft world even BEFORE Cricut introduced its Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets and markers. But with the advent of the Cricut EasyPress, Mug Press, Hat Press, and AutoPress, this interest has skyrocketed.

Now you can combine your cricut crafts with sublimation crafts and get incredible vibrant colors on your mugs, keychains, hats, tee shirts, tote bags, and more. 

One of my biggest frustrations with using iron-on vinyl (htv) is that it can peel off over time, which gives anything I make with it a shelf-life of sorts. Cricut’s Infusible Ink does not sit on top of whatever item you have it on, but the dye actually goes into the material, “infusing” it with ink. 

As a crafter, think about it as dyeing a shirt vs. using an iron-on transfer. 

It makes your image dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe, and laundry-safe. No wonder Sublimation is so popular, right???

This ability for the ink to go into the object’s surface makes Infusible Ink and Sublimation great solutions to the problem of your vinyl peeling off over time as you wash it.

Another limitation of heat transfer vinyl is that you’re limited to the colors that the vinyl comes in, and the colors need to be layered. With sublimation, you can get full-color design. And because you’re not using vinyl, you don’t need to use your cutting machine to cut it into shapes before you apply it. 

DIY Sublimation vs. Cricut Infusible Ink

Here’s the main difference between Cricut’s Infusible Ink sheets and printing your own sublimation designs.

Infusible Ink transfer sheets have the dye pre-printed onto the sheets.

Sublimation printers let you take this a step further and print your own designs for the sublimation transfers.

With a Sublimation printer and sublimation ink, you can print any design you want. In any colors you want. Boom, mike drop right?

This means you aren’t limited to the colors and patterns that Cricut manufactures their Infusible Ink sheets in.

You also aren’t limited to using basic cut or draw designs and can use any image from photos to artwork.

How Hard is it to Learn How to Sublimate?

Not hard at all! You just need the right tools and materials and a basic understanding of how dye sublimation works.

Taking the time to really learn about how sublimation works helped me, so I wanted to help you wrap your head around it too. So the rest of this article will go on to explain more about what you need to sublimate, the designs you use, and how to actually sublimate.

Although sublimation may sound scary, it really isn’t. Remember, if you’ve used Cricut’s Infusible Inks, you’ve already sublimated!