Dye Sublimation at Home, what is Dye Sub?

What is Dye Sublimation?

"Dye sublimation is a digital printing technology that uses heat transfer to apply an image to the intended substrate. ... Print graphics onto special transfer paper using sublimation inks. Use a heat press to transfer the ink-on-paper to the substrate"

So why am I interested in this? I wanted to find a way to make fursuit eyes and a few other things permanent. For example when painting eyes depending on the materials the eyes can either crack, fade, chip  or bleed. So I wanted to come up with a way that it was bound to the material in a way that would remain more "permanent"

For example, take a look at your ID/Drivers license or a credit card with an image on it, or a hard plastic registration badge from a con. These are all dye sub materials which last a long time, use after use and eventually get scratched up but meant to last and that is straight on smooth plastic. Dye sub sticks really well to non organic/not natural materials which works for me, so for example eye mesh is made from polyester or plastic/vinyl mesh.

I had looked at Latex printing but all the printers for that are extremely expensive and huge. When I started looking at latex printers I wanted printers that could print directly to a banner/vinyl but found that this was way out of my price point. So I wanted to tackle this in a completely different manner, so why not find a way to get the ink embedded into the material itself with heat?.

So we all know about iron on's and how they are not very durable plus not breathable at all. So meaning I could not use an iron on for what I wanted to do. But it got me thinking what about dye sub on different materials and using transfer paper to pass the material over via heat. But which printer? and was the idea even affordable or doable?

Thanks to the internet and the amazing DIY community people found ways to make epson eco tank printers very usable for dye sub printing. The start up cost is very reasonable and if my tests work this is going to open a lot of doors to create my own fabrics as well (for example custom minky patterned fabric or spandex, lots of options).

Going to link a few videos to show how to do this at home with an epson printer that has an eco tank (these videos show how to do this and the results you get)

Printer and inks i'm using https://youtu.be/OPXmVV2lnD0 

Intro to sublimation (explains a bit what it is) https://youtu.be/Ns7macGAKwQ 

Sublimate a shirt (shows how easy the process is with a heat press) https://youtu.be/o7vSoC2w_A0 

Another epson printer but she shows everything even how the app works and using the easy press which I have as a heat press

https://youtu.be/-f4oH2x-Nu0 

I was looking at staying within a budget so I went with an older printer since I did not need anything fancy specially starting this. I knew I needed an ecotank based printer to do this and epson has a few that all do the same thing but different price ranges. These are the items I bought to get started. Linking amazon.

Printer:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074V4TTY2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would personally price shop for this printer as the prices seem to change a lot on amazon. When I purchased it the printer was just above $200 so you might have a better time looking for it outside of amazon or even with epson directly as a refurb since you can find them for around $150. Either way do not fixate on it being this specific model just look for an Epson ecotank for this to work. Once the printer has dye sub inks it will only be a dye sub printer, just keep that in mind, you need special inks not the ones that come with the printer.

Inks

https://cosmos-ink.com/collections/sublimation-ink/products/epson-ecotank-sublimation-ink-refills-4-color-cmyk-epson-printers-cosmos-ink 

This page also lists every eco tank printer that will work as a dye sub printer. It helps when you are price shopping for the correct printer within your budget.

Easy press matt (helps get better transfers plus you won't burn the table)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FWTLH61/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Butcher paper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V3MSH2J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Thermal tape (to secure the design)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8TZZ4N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Sublimation Paper

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074FXL9KD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Easy press 2 (the big boi) It does come in a few sizes

https://www.amazon.com/Cricut-EasyPress-2-12x10-Inches/dp/B07G51DZ45/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=easy+press+2&qid=1614271286&sr=8-2 

Once I start doing test this weekend I will be posting my results and taking videos and photos of everything. If you have any questions be sure to ask.