Pre-coating for sublimation transfers onto ceramic

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A. Hi, folks. According to coating consultant Carl Izzo, Nov. 2005, in Products Finishing magazine: two-component polyester coatings are suggested. For small jobs, polyester casting and coating resins are available from craft stores. For larger projects, mix the components and use a conventional spray gun (using it up quickly and cleaning the equipment because of the short shelf life) or use a two-head spray gun. I have no personal experience in this though.

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Regards,

A. The answer is simple and it will solve all your coating problems. Go to your local automotive paint supplier and buy the best white primer and matching clearcoat and that is all you need. Let it dry for 24 hours or bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees and you are ready to sublimate on any surface, porous or non-porous.

Thanks Wilfredo!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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Q. Wilfredo: any suggestions of the brand or anything? Not familiar with automotive items. But really need to figure this out. Bought a bunch of coasters thinking they were sublimation and of course they are not. Before I send them back?

[Ed. note: We'll try to notify that poster of your response, but their posting is from pretty long ago. Fingers crossed]

Thanks so much!

V Tallman
- Mount Storm, West Virginia
November 1, 2023
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Ed. note: As always, gentle readers: technical replies in public and commercial replies in private please (huh? why?)

A. Mix acetone ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] Warning! highly Flammable! (maximum 10%) with Polyester resin and apply onto Ceramic mug/tile. Dry naturally and then bake at 200 °C.

A. Hi Shirley. You would certainly not mix two different paint systems like the primer and the clearcoat. You apply the primer first, let it dry, and then the clearcoat.

But I may be understanding the question ...
Many paints, including epoxies and automotive clearcoats, are 2K (2-part, 2-component) systems; they don't "dry" -- rather the two components chemically react with each other to cause the hardening. If that's your question, you do not apply the two components separately, you mix them first and then apply.

Wilfredo is implying that his advice will work on any surface. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Automotive clearcoat will resist water and sun, but I'm not sure if your sublimation ink will resist the sun.

Nothing lasts forever, and paint is only paint. If a few people walked on it in socks it would probably be okay, but in a high traffic area it will probably scratch and wear away rather quickly.
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Just a response to this sublimation subject. I tried most of the suggested methods in this thread and a previous one. I found the auto clear coat suggestion a winner for sublimation on tile. I tried bisque tile and store-bought ceramic floor tile with high success. I used a 4 to 1 system from an auto paint store. I waited two days after coating, then, after trials, found that 400 °F for 6 minutes with medium pressure was a good recipe. My next clear coat purchase will probably be a 2 to 1 system which I'm told produces a thicker coating.

A. Hi Andreanne. Maybe someone else will give you justification to do this, but my opinion, quoted from other threads on this site is:

Regards,

I had to laugh at the never because it took me 25 years to get a separate oven after I started working with polymer clay. But now that I have, the cost of an extra oven is totally worth it. They are far less expensive for better quality and, trust me, all it takes is burning one 'non-toxic' batch in your food oven to make you wish that you made the investment.

Also, thank you everyone for the input. I just started playing with sublimation and my own artwork and this has been very helpful.

Hi LaVonna. It seems to me that Wilfredo is implying that the clear coat, rather than the white paint, is what absorbs the sublimated gasses. But whether the clearcoat will reliably stick to your mug without a primer is probably a subject for trial & error. Please share & share alike and let us know what happened.

Regards,

A. Hi Jim. I do neither sublimation coating nor auto painting so I'd only be guessing -- but I'd I'd bet that are supposed to let one layer cure before applying another layer on it.

Regards,

A. Hi Mushtaque. Although in one sense "clear coat" simply means a coating that is transparent, and that would include varnish, people here are actually referring to "automotive clear coat", which is a two-component polyurethane coating.

(One of the two components is a polyol; the other is polyisocyanate. The two components 'react' with each other to harden. They can be sprayed simultaneously from a "two-component" gun, but usually they are simply mixed and then sprayed or brushed quickly before the reaction between the two components has hardened the mixture.)

Regards,

A. Hi T.
I haven't done sublimation myself but have posted hundreds of Q&A's on the subject and it seems that 2-part automotive clearcoat is a fine coating for sublimating onto if you want the glass to remain clear. As Wilfredo Torres tells us, precede it with white primer if you don't need the glass to be clear. Give it a try and get back to us please.
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Tania. I know this is confusing to people, but there are both single-component and two-component resin coating systems.

An example of a single component coating is typical latex or oil-based house paint or wall paint. The solvent evaporates or dries; everything that is needed is contained in the single-can of paint except possibly a 'thinner' like acetone.

An example of a two-component resin is your typical "epoxy" glue where two tubes of stuff are mixed together. The one tube might be called the base or sometimes "part A", and the other tube might be called hardener, or catalyst, or sometimes "part B". Without the hardener or catalyst the base will remain a syrupy glop that never dries -- because the curing or hardening depends upon a chemical reaction between the two parts, not simple evaporation.

I think the answer to your question is that the "acetone plus polyester" recipe is for a single component resin; it's not suggesting that you can use acetone in place of the catalyst hardener in a two-component clearcoat. I suspect that if you tried that it would remain a syrupy glop whether air-dried or baked.

Regards,

A. USE POLYESTER RESIN WITH 2% COBALT AND 2% CATALYST. SPRAY OR COAT IT WITH SCRAPER, LEAVE TO AIR DRY, OK.
FOR DELAY IN CURING USE BANANA OIL WITH THIS.

A. Hi Samuel. More words please! I don't know (and don't think anybody else does either) whether you are looking for a coating service who will coat your tiles for you, or a commercial precoat liquid you can buy and apply yourself, or a formula to experiment to try to make your own precoats, or instructions on how to prep the ceramic and do the process, or what. Thanks.

Regards,

A. Hi Joneth. All threads on this website are still active.

I've never heard of Rustoleum 2k. Please provide a link to where we can see this "2k" product, because if we're conflating Rustoleum 2X paint with two-component paints we're lost in the woods before we even start the journey :-(
If you've misread and are using rustoleum 2X, I don't think it will work. Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Sue. I don't know what 'cheat sublimating' is, or if that was a typo/auto-correct for 'cheap' or 'clear' or something else. You can certainly paint wood and boards with high temperature paint -- not necessarily 'radiator paint', but maybe 'engine paint' or 'stove paint'.

Getting good adhesion onto ceramic tile is not easy because the surface is very deliberately designed to be glass-like with no absorption and no tooth. I'd suggest starting with studying this thread, then maybe googling 'painting ceramic tile' to get some hints on necessary sanding and primers; there are a lot of good instructions and videos.

If you have had 'really good' results sublimating onto tile except for the background color showing through, please take the time to tell Joneth what he's doing wrong. Each previous question which sits unanswered is of course one more thing distracting/delaying another reader from helping you with your problem :-)

Luck & Regards,

A. 2k clear coat cannot resist that much heat you need to try a bit with different brands since most clears will have heat marks above 160 degrees if you sublimate. HS does not work and MS might be a better option.