Why are there white spots on my sublimation printed tumblers?
Uh oh, sublimation printed white spots? Why are they there!?
You’ll see white spots when something blocks the ink from transferring to sublimation printed surface.
Usually lint and dust is the culprit.
To prevent white dots, take these precautions:
- Always keep a clean, dust-free workspace.
- Don’t peel the protective film on the panel until you are ready to sublimate.
- Use a lint roller on tumblers, mugs, and metal sheets like ChromaLuxe.
- Use a compressed air duster to remove any other debris.
Most Common Sublimation Problems, Causes, and Fixes:
- Banding
- Pinwheels on Printed Sublimation Transfers
- Printed transfers are not vibrant
- Pressed sublimation image is different color than the design on the computer
- Design did not transfer to the sublimation blank
- Ghosting and Bleeding
- Blank or Light Areas In The Pressed Sublimation Blank
- Lines Around the Design On Your Sublimated Shirt or Towels
- Sublimation Design is faded on the sublimation shirt
- Blue specks on fabric after sublimating the design
- Not the right material
- Printer not big enough
Banding
When you print your sublimation transfer and you notice a visible line or area that is blank and missing the print, this is called banding. It is caused by a clogged print nozzle so when you print, it doesn’t spit out the ink and causes that band of blank output.
Causes of banding include dried ink in the print head, a clog in the line so the ink does not get to the print head, or a ruined print head.
How to fix banding issues
It’s a good idea to use your printer often so the ink does not dry up on the print head or not completely run out of ink. If you have a Sawgrass Sublimation Printer, it is capable of self-maintenance. They recommend that you leave this printer on at all times.
If you have a printer that is not capable of those self-maintenance cycles, just print a sublimation transfer once in a while. Some people recommend a few times a week. This is sufficient to make sure you don’t dry up your ink on the printhead.
So how do you know that the banding is caused by a print head problem? You simply print a nozzle check and see if the printed pattern is missing any lines. Go to the control panel of your printer and look for the option of printing a nozzle check.
If your nozzle check print is missing any lines, you may have to clean your printhead by printing a full page bleed to unclog the line. Run another nozzle check print again after the full bleed printing to see if that solved the problem. If it is still missing lines, you may have to clean the print head with denatured alcohol. Check this video for a tutorial on how to do that.
If the problem persists, try these steps from Sawgrass (resolve missing lines) or contact Sawgrass Tech Support for assistance. They will give you a step-by-step fix and if they cannot solve your problem, they may replace your printer if it’s still under warranty. My older SG400 had to be replaced due to this very same problem.
Pinwheels And Roller Marks On Printed Sublimation Paper
Pinwheels are also called roller marks and pizza wheel marks. These are the dotted lines that are printed on your sublimation transfers and will also transfer to your sublimation blank if you press it. This is caused by the ink on your paper not drying fast enough so the wet ink is picked up by the roller and prints onto the rest of the paper.
Make sure that you are using the right paper that is recommended by your printer manufacturer as they have been tested to work with them. If you have a converted Epson printer, try a different weight and see if it works better for you. Turning off the high speed print will also slow down your printer to give your ink some time to dry so it doesn’t get on the roller.
Read more about our complete list of Most Common Sublimation Printing Problems And Mistakes.