How to Sublimate Koozies
The ultimate guide to sublimation koozies. Sublimation is an easy and fun way to express your personality and creativity when entertaining your significant someone to entertaining a group of friends
These sublimation neoprene koozies fit any regular-size wine glass. This is a fun gift for your favorite wine lover or an inexpensive keepsake for a family event.
If you are new to sublimation, check out my beginner’s guide to sublimation here.
Materials Needed
- Design – I use Creative Fabrica for most of my designs
- Neoprene Wine Koozies, can be found on Amazon or Blessedtocreateblanks.com
- Sublimation Printer, I use a converted Epson 15000, with sublimation ink
- Transfer Paper, I use Crafting Besties 13X19 sublimation printer
- Heat Press, I use the Fancier Studio 16X24
- Regular-size wine glass to display your creation
Measure your sublimation koozies
Measure the widest and tallest points of your koozie. Your image should be smaller than these measurements, but the background should extend beyond them.
Choose Your Design
Create A Template
Template
To help center the design for my koozie, I create a template with a box that is 1/4 inch bigger than its height and width, so it does not get printed on the koozie. Guide marks are added to aid in centering the image.
Choose Image
I chose a wine theme for the wine glass koozie . . . go figure.
Center
Place the template image beneath the center image and align it as desired to be seen on the sublimation wine koozie.
Background
I always have a vibrant background when I’m working with neoprene to conceal the unsightly appearance of the material. I don’t want to wash out the center image, so I set the background opacity to 50%. Play around with the settings until you achieve the desired look.
Align All
Align all layers and then print. You will need two images per each koozie for the front and back.
Print Settings for Epson ET-15000
For the converted Epson 15000, using Cosmos Ink, change your printer settings as follows:
- Click on Print/Printer Icon
- Highlight your printer
- Click on the preferences tab
- Set Paper Source
- Set Document Size (I set this to Super B 13X9)
- Set Paper Type to Premium Presentation Matte
- Set Quality to High
- Select the Options Tab
- Uncheck High Speed
- Check the Mirror Image
- Color Correction, click on Custom, Advanced tab, Color Management, Color Controls, click on Adobe RGB, then set Gamma to 2.2. Click on OK
- Printing Presets, select Add/Remove Presets, Name your settings, select OK, Apply
Prep and Clean the Neoprene Wine Koozie
Clean the Koozie with a Lint Roller
Using a lint roller, roll over the sublimation neoprene wine koozie.
Attach Transfer Paper to Koozie
Attach the transfer paper to the sublimation neoprene wine koozie with heat tape. Take care to center the design using the guide marks.
Heat Press
Set your heat press to 350 degrees F for 60 seconds
The Big Reveal Part I
Using heat gloves, peel off the paper to reveal your creation.
Repeat
Repeat for the opposite side
The Big Reveal Part II
And Voila, enjoy your new sublimation neoprene wine koozies, to enjoy yourself, and gift to your favorite wine lover.
FAQ
What is sublimation printing, and how does it work?
Sublimation printing is a unique and vibrant way to add personality to anything! It captures bright and long-lasting ink, making it the perfect choice for fabric printing. It uses heat to transfer dye onto materials such as polyester or polymer-coated substrates.
Paper forms a part of this process too; a special type of sublimation paper absorbs the ink and then releases it when heated up against the material receiving the design.
Why choose sublimation over other methods?
Sublimation is a great choice if you want to make long-lasting, professional-quality products that stand out. Sublimation offers the benefits of durability, affordability, scratch resistance, vivid colors.
How to get started with sublimation printing?
Check out my Dye Sublimation for beginners blog here.
What materials do you need for sublimation printing, and where can you find them?
Some of my favorite sources
Blanks
Conversion Kits and Ink
Transfer Paper
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