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Let's compare four different Infusible Ink mug and sublimation mug transfer methods and see how they stack up. I have four different heating methods for us to try: the Cricut Mug Press, a traditional clamshell mug press, a silicone wrap, and a heat gun. This is my version of a mug press comparison showdown!
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Now I’m a mug press newbie, but I was also a Cricut Mug Press newbie, so this is a fair comparison. I figure most of you are new to this as well, if you’re watching this video, so it’s helpful for you to know what an out-of-box experience is like for an experienced crafter like me.
Note that my affiliate links appear in this description.
So our first contender is the Cricut Mug Press -- see amzn.to/45h50Fq
. This is a user-friendly mug press that automatically detects and sets the right temperature and pressure settings for you, with one-touch operation. The Cricut Mug Press features a safety conscious design with a plastic housing that does not get hot, plus an auto-off safety feature. It presses mugs from eleven to sixteen ounces with a special heat plate that heats from the sides and base for a consistent transfer, even at the very bottom edge of the mug. The Cricut Mug Press is $199, but as it’s not out at the time I’m recording this video, Cricut gifted this one to me so I could test it out in advance.
Next up is a traditional clamshell mug press -- see amzn.to/3sNPCwY . I did my research and found a four and a half star mug press on Amazon, this one right here. There are several presses on there, and I’ll link to this mug press in the video’s description in the comments so you can see its specs. This mug press features a 3"-3.5" diameter for an eleven ounce mug and claims to be easy to operate, with adjustable pressure, automatic baking time, and automatic temperature. This mug press cost me just under $100.
Next we’ll try a simple silicone wrap (see amzn.to/3sQJxA0 ) that you clamp around a mug and put into the oven -- see amzn.to/30inndS . You shouldn’t put this in a household oven because we don’t want to mix fumes and food, so that also means we need a dedicated countertop convection oven that reaches at least four hundred degrees Farenheit. The cost of a silicone wrap plus an inexpensive convection oven is about $100 to $125. You can get better convection ovens fo a lot more, but we’ll stick with the cheapest option for now.
And finally, we’ll try a heat gun -- see amzn.to/3c7IpBg , which some of my fellow crafters have successfully used to transfer Infusible Ink ... so we’ll try it, too! You can get heat guns in varying sizes -- the one I used goes up to thirteen hundred degrees Farenheit, so it gets plenty hot. This heat gun was $62.
So which ones wins? Watch the video to see! You may be surprised!
Topics covered in this video:
00:00 - Cricut Mug Press vs. Traditional Mug Press Methods
01:28 - Cricut Mug Press Features
02:16 - Traditional Clamshell Mug Press Features
02:54 - Silicone Wrap with Oven Features
03:31 - Heat Gun Features
04:50 - Important Sublimation Safety Info
05:19 - Cut Out Your Mug Design
05:29 - Get Free Mug Design SVGs
05:47 - (Learn How to Upload SVG Files to Cricut Design Space)
06:40 - Learn How to Cut Infusible Ink on Cricut
07:00 - Apply the Design to the Mug
07:27 - Transfer the Infusible Ink
07:37 - Test 1: Cricut Mug Press
08:29 - Test 2: Traditional Mug Press
10:32 - Test 3: Silicone Wrap & Oven
11:51 - Test 4: Heat Gun
12:36 - Unwrap Your Mug!
15:18 - Sublimated Mug Test Results
15:37 - Closing Notes and Link to More Information
#cricut #infusibleink #mugpress
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Credits:
Introduction: PixelBytes (my child!)
Music: Cute by Bensound (licensed, royalty and copyright free)
Videography: Jennifer Marx on a Panasonic Lumix FZ-1000 DSLR 4K camera
Design: A Jennifer Maker original!