Cactus Wraps

[swimwivsquid]

Hi Guys & Gals. Does anyone know if there is a life limit on cactus wraps. I am getting crease marks appearing on my mugs and thought at first it might have been the paper being too thin but now I'm not so sure. Has anyone else had this? It translates as a little white mark on the mug in a dark area where the crease is on the sub paper.

[bms]

Hi Guys & Gals. Does anyone know if there is a life limit on cactus wraps. I am getting crease marks appearing on my mugs and thought at first it might have been the paper being too thin but now I'm not so sure. Has anyone else had this? It translates as a little white mark on the mug in a dark area where the crease is on the sub paper.
...and is there a corresponding issue with the wrap in exactly the same place? You could always reline it with a piece of silicon rubber (or add to it giving it a double thickness).

[WorthDoingRight]

You could also place an additional piece of plain paper around the mug on top of the sublimation paper. Are you sure you are not pinching the sublimation paper when applying the wrap? Are you securing the paper to the mug with heat tape before wrapping? There might be a number of simple reasons that do not relate to the wrap that might cause issues.

[swimwivsquid]

Thanks for getting back on this guys. Martin I can't see anything wrong with the wrap physically. I have greased the bolt like the instructions recommend and the bolt does up smoothly. I noticed that the paper that you supplied me with a while back (Jetcol?) has a thicker base than the Textprint that I am using at present and I wasn't getting a problem on mugs with that as I found a sheet and tried it and it seemed ok. I'm wondering if the textprint paper is just too thin but having said that I have used it in the past and its been ok which is why I wondered if the wraps were wearing out.
Worthdoingright I have tried putting a "blow out sheet" over the sub paper and tried it without but still the same. Yes I am taping the sub paper down onto the mug.I have put an image of the mark. Ignore the reflections thats just bad photography but I have indicated the offending spot. It seems to happen at either side of the handles.

[Andrew]

Do you see a crease in the paper after removing? It does look like the paper has been pinched. If it was the wrap not placing enough pressure I would have thought the mark wouldn't be so defined. How many have you had like that?

[swimwivsquid]

Do you see a crease in the paper after removing? It does look like the paper has been pinched. If it was the wrap not placing enough pressure I would have thought the mark wouldn't be so defined. How many have you had like that?
Yes Andrew the paper has a crease when I take the wrap off and on the sub paper I can see a corresponding dark mark where the dye hasn't released. I have had too many unfortunately. The image that I have posted is one that we print a lot of for the tourists and I did about 10 to get three good ones. Never had this fault before.Had plenty of others but not this one ;-) I have made sure that the sub paper is tight on the mug before taping it but I still seem to get it. The only other thing that I considered is that the humidity here is high at present and wondered whether this might have a bearing...

[bms]

Yes Andrew the paper has a crease when I take the wrap off and on the sub paper I can see a corresponding dark mark where the dye hasn't released. I have had too many unfortunately. The image that I have posted is one that we print a lot of for the tourists and I did about 10 to get three good ones. Never had this fault before.Had plenty of others but not this one ;-) I have made sure that the sub paper is tight on the mug before taping it but I still seem to get it. The only other thing that I considered is that the humidity here is high at present and wondered whether this might have a bearing...

I was going to ask if your paper was dry but thought, 'hey you're printing Hawaii so it must be warm'! I wonder if the paper is damp and as it's being heated it is crinkling inside the cactus wrap. Once you've printed the image do you have any way of keeping the paper drier? I doubt you have airing cupboards over there, but can you just rest your paper under the heat of a flat bed press to dry it out (not too hot obviously).

[swimwivsquid]

I was going to ask if your paper was dry but thought, 'hey you're printing Hawaii so it must be warm'! I wonder if the paper is damp and as it's being heated it is crinkling inside the cactus wrap. Once you've printed the image do you have any way of keeping the paper drier? I doubt you have airing cupboards over there, but can you just rest your paper under the heat of a flat bed press to dry it out (not too hot obviously).
I could try that Martin. I'll have a go at drying one out under the press before I wrap it.(Its Grenada btw;-)

[bms]

I could try that Martin. I'll have a go at drying one out under the press before I wrap it.(Its Grenada btw;-)

Yeah I know you're in Grenada, but I thought the mug you posted was spelling Hawaii (it's not spelling Grenada that's for sure :))

Edit: looked more closely at the text and it's clearly not going to spell Hawaii - my excuse is it starts Ha... and it's been a long day :)

[swimwivsquid]

Yeah I know you're in Grenada, but I thought the mug you posted was spelling Hawaii (it's not spelling Grenada that's for sure :))

Edit: looked more closely at the text and it's clearly not going to spell Hawaii - my excuse is it starts Ha... and it's been a long day :)
Its pic of a Grenadian sunset on a wow mug and reads " I'm Having my Grenada moment" I'm surprised you are still up and answering Martin. Appreciate your input. All the best Richard

[bms]

Its pic of a Grenadian sunset on a wow mug and reads " I'm Having my Grenada moment" I'm surprised you are still up and answering Martin. Appreciate your input. All the best Richard

No worries - it's not that late here yet! That also answers my other question in the back of my mind - why the handle was coloured but not all the way to the mug. Knew it wasn't a rim/ handle coloured mug, but now see that the mug must be hot and the handle is still cool, hence the black to grey effect :)

[swimwivsquid]

Tried warming the paper under the press to dry it out and I am getting a sort of result. One wrap seems to work better than the other although I can't for the life of me see any difference between them. Martin, do you still stock the thicker sub paper that I bought a while back. I think it was Jetcol but it was sold in packs of 200 at a good price.It was definately thicker than textprint and didn't work very well with small aluminium substrates.Gave a sort of mottling but on mugs and mousemats it was fine. If you do I will get some off you to retry as I am working on a 50/50 result here which is not doing my nerves any good.Hope you are all having a good bank holiday.

[bms]

Tried warming the paper under the press to dry it out and I am getting a sort of result. One wrap seems to work better than the other although I can't for the life of me see any difference between them. Martin, do you still stock the thicker sub paper that I bought a while back. I think it was Jetcol but it was sold in packs of 200 at a good price.It was definately thicker than textprint and didn't work very well with small aluminium substrates.Gave a sort of mottling but on mugs and mousemats it was fine. If you do I will get some off you to retry as I am working on a 50/50 result here which is not doing my nerves any good.Hope you are all having a good bank holiday.

No we don't sell the JetCol HR paper anymore. The drying time between print and usage as well as some printers leaving tracking marks through it resulted in us discontinuing it when stocks ran out. I believe your suppliers of Rotech ink still do it if your still using that ink nowadays.

[swimwivsquid]

I have just cooked five mugs after putting the sublimation paper under the press to fully dry and get rid of any humidity and they are all fine. I can only assume that this is a problem that I am going to have to be aware of. We have had an unusually heavy amount of rain this last year and didn't have a dry season so I guess this hasn't reared its ugly head before. Many thanks for all the suggestions and help. Its good to be able to talk it over with people.
Martin thanks for your reply about the Jetcol paper. I don't use Rotech ink any more since getting stringy bits in a new bottle. I'll try and source it on the net. I think it might be a help having the extra thickness when we have times like this.
Hope you all had a fab bank holiday!

[WorthDoingRight]

Well glad to hear that you have sorted your issue out. It is annoying when you get 99% right and a small blemish causes an issue.

[AJLA]

I have found that I have exactly the same problem, through a process of elimination i've discovered that I now have to thoroughly dry the paper after printing, I actually leave it on the top of my mug oven whilst warming the wraps, sometimes overnight. I haven't had 1 problem since.
I have always used this paper but changed to a Ricoh a while back when I first began to notice the issue.

Glad you got it sorted and look forward to an update on the paper when you get it.

[benwilliamson]

We've used cactus wraps to tons of mugs. We've not many issues until they get VERY worn.

[swimwivsquid]

Just an update on this I recently bought some Trupix paper and tried that and its definately more stable. I will use that from now on for my mugs and use the other for flat objects.