Dye sublimation has taken the textile world by storm, but as it has increased in popularity, the demand for non-fabric applications also has increased.

Dye sublimation uses the same process for textiles, metal, wood, stone, ceramics and other materials. Using heat and pressure, it transfers rich, full-color designs onto the chosen substrate. That could be mugs, mouse pads, coasters, placemats, glass, cutting boards or point of purchase displays.

Tommy Martin, manager, textile and apparel business development at Mimaki USA, says that some of the biggest trends he is seeing in dye sublimation include pre-coated applications, like pre-coated metal, bamboo and stone pre-coated with the polyester needed for dye-sub printing.

Mimaki has fielded more and more inquiries about using dye sublimation for different, nontraditional applications, such as ceramics, metals, wood and glass. In doing research on using harder substrates for dye sublimation, Martin says he realized that “a lot of the Mimaki products have been pigeonholed for textiles when there are further applications that are (in demand) nowadays.”

There are many different suppliers of products that can be used in dye-sublimation. The only real difference is how susceptible the substrate is to heat, he says.

“The heat may increase or decrease or the time to sublimate may increase or decrease,” Martin says. Most vendors will include instructions for product sublimation.

“The only real big difference that I can see is the paper. There are different types of paper for different applications and the actual color profile. If you start doing a profile made for fabric, it will lay down too much ink for, say, coated metal,” he adds.

Items, like mugs, that are not flat, need to be run through a conveyor oven or infrared heat exchange. There are small heat presses that will do one mug at a time.

So why would customers choose dye sublimation over other print methods?

“The process is permanent,” Martin says. “It is not going to come off.”

Sublimation allows the design to bond to ceramics at the molecular level, he says. “So these products are not going to fade out. They are not going to crack or chip off like a screen print while running through the wash and dry cycle in your washer. Those are going to eventually crack or change colors. Sublimation will not.”

David Gross, president of Conde Systems, Inc., in Mobile, Alabama, and La Mirada, California, says it is that consistency that has fueled the demand for dye sublimated products, which now number in the thousands.

“There is no squelching the hunger for more products,” he says. Companies are using it for fabric backdrops, women’s dresses, ceiling tiles, glass boards, Christmas ornaments, new flooring products and everything from license plate covers and luggage tags to coasters and metal wall art.

“It continues to grow exponentially to the point where sublimation in many industries is taken for granted,” Gross says. “It’s been very exciting in that for essentially an investment of $1,200 to $3,000 you can buy a professional sublimation system and you’re in business. It doesn’t matter how much you spend or how little, the quality is the same. It is very affordable.”

Conde has two goals when it comes to sublimation: help people be successful with sublimation and bring new substrates to market. The company tries to source the majority of its substrates in the U.S. and applies the polyester coating necessary to make them work with sublimation.

One of the most popular base substrates is called fiberglass-reinforced plastic, or FRP. It is coated and cut into many different products, including license plates and luggage tags. Another product, hardboard or Masonite, can be cut into numerous items, including drink coasters. Medium density fiber board is made into plaques and things that you put on the wall, and metal is a great substrate for dye sublimation, Gross says.

There’s been a “viral trend toward metal art, putting art or photographs on metal and hanging them on that wall,” Gross says. “That has taken on a life all its own, and it absolutely looks beautiful.”

Chromaluxe is one of the products that Conde sells. It was developed by Conde’s partner Universal Woods and is an extra thick metal coating that glows, Gross says. “It has a 3D appearance to it because of the thickness of it. It has beautiful bright colors because of the sublimation process.”

It comes in many sizes from small name badges to large 4' by 8' prints.

“We have just barely touched the surface of things we can do with sublimation,” he adds. “It’s our job, from a substrate point of view, to come up with new base substrates. And our job is to take those substrates and turn them into something useful or valuable to you.”

Gross adds that “sublimation is an easy business for most people. It is a very easy add-on business. And if you don’t have a business, you could open an Etsy store.”

Shops that want to be successful with sublimation need to be innovative. Gross recommends that shop owners pursue something they are passionate about and sell into that market. If they love pets, make products that appeal to the pet industry.

Every product a shop makes should say who made it somewhere, he adds. Put referral information somewhere on the product to help with reorders.

Sublimation is great for trophies and awards, anything that requires different names in one job run, Martin says. Those types of jobs are hard for screen printers to accomplish but they are perfect for dye sublimation because the printer is cutting the individual designs out of paper and transferring them as a group.

“It is a lot more efficient so your costs are very reasonable when you look at the overall cost and capabilities of what you are trying to achieve,” Martin says.

High school clubs, sports teams and corporate awards are good markets for dye sublimation. There have also been a lot of interior design applications, like inlay flooring applications.

One of Mimaki’s customers printed a design on tile that looked like hand cut tin.

“You had to touch it and look closely at it to see it is not tin. The nice thing about it is that it is going to last longer than a piece of hand cut tin would ever last and yet they were able to give the customer what they wanted for a more affordable price and it is easier to clean and is more durable,” Martin says.

Companies also seem willing to pay extra to have their corporate logos sublimated onto tiles for their office foyers. Companies that remodel homes are using sublimation to put murals in bathroom shower stalls and on kitchen walls.

There are many industrial applications for dye sublimation. Car companies are using it to add logos to seats and dashboards.

Martin agrees that companies can get into dye sublimation for under $5,000 or between $20,000 and $30,000, depending on their target market.

“It really depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want to do keychains or little awards, you can get in fairly inexpensively,” he says. When done right, these types of items can be very profitable.