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All sublimation pet products on a teal background
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PET SUBLIMATION BLANKS FOR DOGS AND CATS

Make all sorts of fun gear for your favorite furry friend with these pet sublimation blanks! From collars to tags to water bottles, these fun projects are perfect for personalizing items for Fido or Fluffy!
Author: Cori George

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Printing Your Sublimation Transfers
    All of the sublimation transfers for these projects were pre-printed, and the images were sized to fit the projects. The images were printed using a Sawgrass SG1000. If you need more information about printing sublimation transfers, check out this post on Sublimation Software.
    Sublimation paw prints in four patterns
  • Sublimation Pet Tags
    Let's start with a simple pet tag! These are double-sided so each side will be sublimated separately. On the back, you can put your pet's information if you'd like! Because this one is just for this tutorial and not for an actual dog, the pattern is being put on both sides to show you the process.
    Remove the plastic film from both sides of the tag.
    Flat press - 385° - 45 seconds
    removing the film from the tag
  • Clean your blank using a lint roller or alcohol and a microfiber cloth.
    This design was printed small and cut in half to use it with both sides of the tag.
    Cutting the transfer in half
  • Tape your blank to the sublimation print. This is being done one side at a time, so pick a side and do that one first.
    Taping the tag to the design
  • Place a piece of butcher paper on the bottom of your press. Then add the tag with the tag facing up and the print facing down on top.
    Add another piece of butcher paper on top.
    Press according to the time and temperature above.
    Repeat with the other side using the same process.
    the tag in the heat press.
  • Add the metal ring and attach to your pet's collar!
    A heart keychain with a heart attached that has yellow, pink and blue paw prints on it
  • Sublimation Pet Collar
    Collars go right along with pet tags and they are pretty easy to make once you figure out what you're doing.
    Collar before being expanded
  • To start, un-clasp the dog collar. Then you'll need to basically move the clasps until the long white piece is flat. It might take a bit to figure it out, but you need to slide one of the pieces all the way to one side for it to lie flat.
    Flat press - 365° - 45 seconds
    Collar after being expanded
  • Clean your pet collar using a lint roller.
    Hand using a lint roller on the collar
  • Then tape your pet collar to your design. The length of this sublimation area was 11.5", but was able to put the collar on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper (hooray, Pythagorean Theorem) and make it work for this project.
    Collar taped to the sublimation transfer
  • Add a piece of butcher paper to the bottom of your press. When placing your pet collar in your press, you do NOT want any of the plastic or metal bits within the press. A 15" x 15" press was used for this project, so the collar had to be placed at a diagonal because it was too short going straight across. If you have a smaller heat press, you may not need to do it this way.
    Heat press with sublimation collar facing up and transfer facing down
  • Add another piece of butcher paper and press for the above time and temperature. Then remove the paper to reveal your sublimation pet collar!
    Final sublimation pet collar
  • Small Sublimation Pet Bandana
    Let's start with the easier, smaller pet bandana. This one presses flat and then uses a small collar attachment for your pet and is easier and tidier than knotting a bandana.
    Flat press - 375° - 60 seconds
    Remove the bandana piece from the collar piece. Clean your bandana using a lint roller.
    Lint rolling the small bandana
  • Then tape your pet bandana to your design.
    Taping the design to the small bandana
  • Add a piece of butcher paper to the bottom of your press with the bandana facing up and the design facing down.
    the small bandana in the heat press
  • Add another piece of butcher paper and press for the time temperature listed above. Then remove the paper to reveal your sublimation pet bandana!
    Sublimation dog collar with scarf that has paw prints all over it
  • Large Sublimation Pet Bandana
    This one is a bit tougher because it's so large—it's bigger than both the printer paper and the press! So instead of using one of the patterns for this one, a dog's name was just printed out in a cute font. You could tape a pattern together and press it in sections if you want to use the pattern.
    Flat press - 375° - 60 seconds
    Clean your bandana using a lint roller.
    Lint rolling the large bandana
  • Then tape your pet bandana to your design.
    Taping the design to the large bandana
  • Add a piece of butcher paper to the bottom of your press with the bandana facing up and the design facing down.
    the large bandana in the heat press
  • Add another piece of butcher paper and press for the time temperature listed above. Then remove the paper to reveal your sublimation pet bandana!
    Sublimation project of a scarf for a dog named Gus
  • Sublimation Water Bottle with Built In Bowl
    This is a great blank for going on a hike with your dog! The top part is like a regular water bottle and the bottom houses a bowl. You can either split the water bottle, with the top part for you and the bottom part for your pup, or you can use the water bottle to refill the bowl if your dog is particularly thirsty.
    A J-Trans Sublimation Oven was used for this particular blank, but if your tumbler press has an extra large attachment, you may be able to use that instead.
    360° / 375° - 120 seconds total, rotate once / 6 minutes total, rotate once
    Clean your blank using a lint roller or alcohol and a microfiber cloth.
    Cleaning the water bottle with alcohol
  • Tape your blank to the sublimation print. If you need tips and tricks, check out this post How to Tape a Tumbler to Minimize Seams and Uneven Edges.
    Transfer taped to the water bottle
  • Add your water bottle to the shrink wrap sleeve. Note that a heat gun was not used to pre-shrink the shrink wrap, since it shrinks so quickly in the oven. You can choose to if you'd like!
    hand wrapping mug for a sublimation project
  • Set your oven to the specified time and temperature. A Nomex pad was used to prevent grill lines on the project, but it's not necessary.
    Sublimatoin oven
  • Bake according to the time and temperature above, rotating once halfway through the time.
    Then remove the paper to reveal your water bottle!
    A white water bottle with an image of a dog on it and the saying Easily distracted by dogs