How to Sublimate Large Designs: Let’s Make Custom Doormats!

Instructions

STEP 1: GET OR PREPARE A SUBLIMATION DESIGN

You can use any of my Sublimation Doormat design files from my resource library, Design #442. You can also make your own design.

Download the files and pick your design. There are three designs.

The Family home wreath design

The Flower border design

The Gnome for the Holidays design

Today, I’m going to make the wreath design and press it on a 30 x 18" rubber backed sublimation doormat, but you can use these steps for any of the options in the collection.

PERSONALIZATION

If you would like to personalize one of the blank doormat designs follow these steps.

Open Google Drive and in the upper left corner click on New, go to More and select Google drawings.

Once Google Drawings is open, select Page Setup under the File menu. In the Page Setup dialog box, select custom and input your mat dimensions. My mat is 24 x 18", click Apply.

Next, under the Insert menu, select Image and Upload from computer. Find your file and click Open.

Here's what my image looks like in Google Drawings. You can move the image anywhere on the page. I will center my image. A thin red line appears when your image is centered.

Now we need to add text. Go to the Insert menu and select Text Box. Draw a rectangle over the wreath.

Type in your family name and select/highlight the text. You can now change the size and font. In the toolbar, look for the Font box, it should say Arial. You can use any of the typefaces listed or select More Fonts and browse Google's collection - these are all free to use. I will select Style Script.

The box just to the right is the Font Size, I found that 200 was a good size for my name, you may find you like yours bigger or smaller.

You can also center the text by using Align found in the toolbar.

Move the text and position the text to your liking.

To save the file to your computer, go to the File menu and select Download. Be sure to download the file as a PDF.

STEP 2: PRINT YOUR SUBLIMATION DESIGN

Download the free version on Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Open the sublimate-large-designs-on-doormat-wreath-jennifermaker-PDF.pdf.

Select print from the file menu. In the print dialog box select Poster, set the Overlap to 0.2, and check the Cut Marks box. Using the Poster setting will print multiple 8 1/2 x 11" sheets of paper, for this design it will print out four sheets of paper.

Next, click the Printer button in the lower left corner. This lets you set up for sublimation printing. Under Layout make sure Flip Horizontally is checked. For Colormatching, click ColorSync and select your ICC profile. And lastly for Print Settings select Presentation Paper Matte and High Quality.

Make sure you have sublimation paper loaded correctly into your printer and click Print.

STEP 3: PREPARE YOUR PRINT FOR SUBLIMATION

Tiling your pages

Let's first layout out the pages and take a look at them. You should notice the Cut Marks, they look like two corners with a straight line in the middle. We are going to trim on the middle straight line, but not all the pages. If we start with the upper left page tile we're going to number our pages 1 - 4 going clockwise.

Take panel 1 and trim both the long and short edge of the paper. Panel 2 trim just the long edge. Do not trim the short edge of panel 2, we need to be able to overlap the short side of panel 1 to match the design shapes. Lastly, trim the short edge of panel 4.

Using heat resistant tape, place panel 1 on top of panel 2 lining up the design. This takes some patience so take your time! Be careful not to tape over any sublimation ink.

Do the same for panels 3 and 4 by placing panel 4 on top of panel 3.

Next tape the top to the bottom. Again, use patience when lining everything up.

Trim the excess paper. This will make it easier to place on the doormat as well as get rid of the cut marks - we don't want to sublimate those!

NOTE: Be careful not to tape over any sublimation ink. If you have a full coverage design, you can add small amounts of tape to the back to keep it together without shifting, but be aware that it adds another layer and sometimes leaves an impression mark, so avoid it if possible or only use a little bit. Try to tape in non-ink areas only if possible.

STEP 4: PRESS YOUR SUBLIMATION PRINT

Before you start, open a window or set up a fan to improve your ventilation. Since we’re heating up rubber and sublimation dye, you don’t want to breathe in any of the fumes!

EASY PRESS METHOD

Place a heat resistant mat on a flat surface.  I used two Cricut Heat resistant mats next to one another to provide an even surface.

Place your doormat or other large mat on top of the heat resistant mat and lint roll to remove any tiny bits that might be left behind.

Place your design face down, and secure it with tape.  In the case of larger projects, you want to use more tape than normal to ensure that your design does not lift during the heating process anymore than necessary.

Once your design is secure, cover the entire design and mat with butcher paper.

Heat your press to 390°.

Referring to how we tiled out design together, we are going to iron in a similar fashion.  Starting with the top left corner, place your Cricut Easy Press on top of the design for 70 seconds.

When the timer goes off, lift the heat press straight up and place down on the top right corner and press for another 70 seconds. Repeat this process with the lower right corner, then the lower left corner. After the four corners have been pressed, place the Easy Press in the top center of the doormat and press for 70 seconds. Do it again for the lower center as well.

You will have pressed the mat six times in total.

Once the last section has been pressed, let the it cool before removing the paper. You want to make sure the sublimation process has completed.

AUTOPRESS METHOD
Since the doormat and print are so large, I recommend finding a thin piece of plywood or sturdy cardboard to place the doormat on. This will make pressing your print a lot easier and reduces the risk of the print shifting when you move the doormat.

Since we’re heating up rubber and sublimation dye, open a window or set up a fan to improve your ventilation. You don’t want to breathe in the fumes!

Heat your press to 390°.

Lint roll the doormat to remove any debris.

Pre-heat the doormat to remove any moisture. I'm using my Cricut Autopress and found that I needed to move the doormat and pre-heat it in sections.

Using a measuring tape find the center of your doormat and the center of your print.

Place the print face down on the doormat and secure with heat resistant tape.

We will need to press the doormat in sections. It is a little tricky but not as hard as you think. Starting at the top left of the design, position the doormat on the press base trying to get as much of the design as you can under the heating element. You might want to feel underneath the press base with one hand while keeping the other hand on the design to get a feel of where your design is positioned.

Place a clean sheet of butcher paper over the design and press for 70 seconds at 390°.

When the first press is completed, shift the design to the left and overlap the design slightly to make sure you do not miss pressing every part of the design.

Repeat shifting the doormat until the entire design has been pressed.

VARIATIONS

I tried a variety of different mats and some are made just for sublimation.

White Sublimation Doormat

The white sublimation mat is one the best options that I tried. The fuzziness and slight squishiness seem to be more forgiving if you are trying to do a design that covers the entire mat.

Heat your press to 375°.

Use a lint roller to remove any debris and preheat the mat for 10 seconds to remove any moisture.

Secure your print with heat resistant tape and press each section for 35 seconds.

Rubber Backed Doormat

This doormat is very popular to sublimate on! I tried sublimating on a Home Depot mat as well as a similar looking mat made for sublimation. They look very similar to each other.

Heat your press to 390°.

Use a lint roller to remove any debris and preheat the mat for 10 seconds to remove any moisture.

Secure your print with heat resistant tape and press each section for 70 seconds.
Here's the Home Depot mat

And here's the result of the sublimation mat. I found that the results are very similar.

Etsy Mat with Insert

Another option is this cute doormat that comes with changeable inserts.

Heat your press to 380°.

Use a lint roller to remove any debris and preheat the mat for 10 seconds to remove any moisture.

Secure your print with heat resistant tape and press each section for 70 seconds.

Entryway Doormat

Lastly, I tried a polyester entryway doormat. These doormats are a little darker than the other mats, so choose your designs carefully. A design that has lighter, pastel colors might not show up as well on these mats.

Heat your press to 380°.

Use a lint roller to remove any debris and preheat the mat for 10 seconds to remove any moisture.

Secure your print with heat resistant tape and press each section for 70 seconds.

STEP 5: SHOW IT OFF!

I'll report back on how each doormat holds up!