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New Year, New Drinkware Products: Part Two - Sublimating the Tumbler with Bluetooth Speaker
The Sublimatable Tumbler with Bluetooth Speaker is one of our most popular items and it’s sure to make your customers the life of any party. Here are some tips and tricks on sublimating this piece of drinkware so you can have a design as cool as the tumbler itself!
Download Template
Tech Tips and Templates are available for you to download on the tumblers product page at jpplus.com. The Tech Tips will help you through the sublimation process and give you some tips on how to best sublimate the tumbler. The document was created by our team of experts who have tested the products themselves to get the best results.
The templates are also a great resource to use when creating your design. The template for the tumbler shows you how big your design can be. There are guidelines to show you the print area and how far your design should go if you want a full bleed via convection oven and tumbler wrap. Before you print your transfer, delete or hide the template layer so it doesn’t show up in your design. However, it’s always a good idea to keep the bleed line when printing so you know where you need to cut.
Printers
Before sublimating, you’ll need to print your design onto a transfer with a sublimation printer. If you don’t have a sublimation printer, there’s many choices on jpplus.com, including small and larger format printers. We carry Epson and Sawgrass printers on our website, so you’ll be able to find the printer that’s right for you. Along with a sublimation printer, you’ll also need sublimation ink, sublimation paper, and a drinkware press all of which are available on jpplus.com as well. If you don’t have a drinkware press or you don’t want to purchase one, you can also you a convection oven to transfer your design from the sublimation paper to your tumbler.
Remove speaker from bottom
Before you put your tumbler into the heat press, you’ll want to remove the Bluetooth speaker from the bottom, so it doesn’t get damaged during the process. To remove the speaker, unscrew it from the base of the tumbler. Once your tumbler is personalized and has cooled off, you can reattach the speaker back to the bottom of the cup.
Heat presses
If you’re using the JP700 drinkware press, you’ll need the skinny tumbler attachment for this tumbler. The mug press should be set at 360-370 degrees Fahrenheit with medium to moderate pressure. Because the attachment doesn’t wrap around the whole tumbler, you aren’t able to create a design with bleed. If you want a design that covers the entire tumbler, you’ll have to use shrink wrap and a convection oven.
If you’re using a convection oven you’ll also need shrink wrap and a heat gun to sublimate the tumbler. Preheat your oven to 330-340 degrees Fahrenheit. After you shrink the wrap onto your tumbler using a heat gun, we recommend that you heat the tumbler in the convection oven for 6-7 minutes. After the time is up, you should use heat gloves while taking the tumbler out of the oven to ensure that you don’t burn your hands.
After Pressing
After you press your tumbler, it’s a good idea to drop it into a bucket of room temperature water to speed up the cooling process. This makes it so you can pick up the tumbler quicker and you won’t have to worry about burning yourself. Once the tumbler has been in the water for a couple of seconds, you can pick it up and start taking off the transfer. The transfer paper should come off the substrate easily, but if it starts to stick, use a wet cloth to rub the paper off.
If you’ve submerged the tumbler in water, you’ll want to make sure it’s fully dry before you screw the speaker back onto the bottom. The speakers are water resistant, but you don’t want to risk water being trapped between the tumbler and the speaker if you can help it.
Pairing the Speaker to your Device
More Resources
Now you have a custom piece of drinkware that will be the talking point of any conversation for your customers! If you’re looking for more tips and tricks for this and other drinkware, there are videos and webinars on sublimating drinkware, how to use the mug press, and more available to you FREE on JPPlus.com!
