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Sublimated cutting board with spring brook design
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SUBLIMATING GLASS CUTTING BOARDS - TWO WAYS

Glass cutting boards are a trendy sublimation craft! These instructions will show you two ways to sublimate on glass cutting boards—with a sublimation cutting board blank and using a regular cutting board and a lamination sheet!
Keyword: Cutting Boards, Sublimation
Author: Cori George

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Pros and Cons of Each Method
    Before we get to the instructions, let's take a look at some of the pros and cons for each of these two methods:
    Glass Cutting Board Sublimation Blank
  • Pros
    Easy to use
    Faster to make
    No preparation steps
    Professional finish
    White background makes image stand out
    Sublimated cutting board with spring brook design
  • Cons
    More expensive
    Need larger printer for full-bleed images
    White background doesn't allow light through
    Sublimated cutting board with VW van design
  • Regular Glass Cutting Board with Lamination
    Pros
    Less expensive
    Can use full-bleed images with smaller printer
    Clear background makes better sun catchers
    Dollar tree sublimated cutting board with winter trees design
  • Cons
    More prep work
    Takes longer to make
    Less than professional finish
    May see bubbles in laminate
    Clear background makes it hard to see some images
    Dollar tree sublimated cutting board with fall leaf design
  • Print Your Image
    No matter which method you choose, you'll start by printing your image. There have been a few issues with Sawgrass DesignMate, so these designs were printed directly to the Sawgrass printer from Photoshop. You can also print from other programs like Google Docs or Cricut Design Space.
    For the sublimation-specific cutting board, the rectangular spring image was used Again, if you want a bleed image on these cutting boards, you'll need a bigger printer. These were sized to fit the image in Photoshop.
    Photoshop: Spring rectangle image resized
  • Then go to File > Print to print the image.
    In the Print screen, the Sawgrass printer was chosen. Make sure "Printer Manages Colors" is selected. If you have a converted Epson printer, you'll want to choose your ICC profile here, if you have one. DO NOT mirror your image (called Emulsion Down in Photoshop).
    You'll do the image for the Dollar Tree blank in the same way.
    Photoshop: Spring rectangle image in print screen
  • Sublimation on a Glass Cutting Board Sublimation Blank
    Sublimation-specific cutting boards have a white sublimation coating on them, making them easy to sublimate. But when the image is sublimated, you won't be able to see through the glass, unlike the Dollar Tree cutting boards. Depending on the look you're going for, this may or may not matter to you.
    Check the manufacturer's instructions for the recommended settings for time, temperature, and pressure. For this sublimation cutting board, it is as follows:
    Time: 240 seconds
    Temperature: 400° F
    Pressure: medium to heavy
    Set your heat press. Test your heat press pressure before it gets hot so you know it will be correct when you press your cutting board.
    If your cutting board has a plastic film over it remove it. Use the alcohol and microfiber cloth to clean your cutting board. You will be sublimating the bright white side.
    Hand cleaning sublimation glass cutting board with alcohol
  • Tape your transfer to your cutting board using heat-resistant tape. For this board, it was taped from the back on the full sheet of paper. The left side of this image was liked a bit more than the right, so the board was offset, making sure it was within the edges of the print.
    Hands taping sublimation cutting board to the printed image
  • Place a sheet or two of butcher paper on the bottom pad of your heat press, depending on the size of your blank.
    Two sheets of butcher paper in the press.
  • Position your glass cutting board on the butcher paper with the transfer facing down.
    Cutting board with transfer in the press
  • Place a sheet or two of butcher paper on top of the cutting board.
    Two more sheets of butcher paper on top
  • Press for the recommended time. When the time is up, slowly open your press so your image doesn't shift and you'll get the best results. Remember that glass is hot, so use your heat resistant gloves if you want to move your project.
    Peel back the transfer to reveal your final image! Add the rubber feet to the back of the cutting board so it doesn’t slide around.
    Final spring image on the sublimation glass cutting board.
  • Finished product for a Glass Cutting Board Sublimation Blank!
    Sublimated cutting board with spring brook design
  • Sublimation on a Regular Glass Cutting Board
    Next up, you'll go the much less expensive route and sublimate on some glass cutting boards that were picked up for $1.25 each at a local Dollar Tree. These will sublimate without the white coating, which means you'll see right through them. This may make some images harder to see than others, but it makes for really pretty sun catchers.
    Adding the Laminate
    Before you sublimate this project, you'll need to adhere the laminate to the cutting board. Start by removing the plastic feet from the cutting board, and setting them somewhere you can find them. We'll be adding the laminate to the smooth back side of the cutting board.
    Hand removing feet from glass cutting board
  • Clean the backside of your cutting board with alcohol and a microfiber cloth. Make sure you get up any reside left by the plastic feet.
    Hand cleaning glass cutting board with alcohol
  • A laminate pouch comes with two layers. Cut a piece about the size of your cutting board.
    Hand using scissors to trim the laminate pouch
  • It doesn't need to be exact, it just needs to be larger than your cutting board.
    Hands putting the laminate sheet on top of the cutting board
  • Place your cutting board face down (with the smooth side up) onto the bottom of your press. Then place your laminate sheet on top, with the cloudy side face down, on top of the cutting board.
    Cutting board with laminate sheet on top in heat press
  • Then press to adhere the laminate at these settings:
    Time: 60 seconds
    Temperature: 400° F
    Pressure: medium
    The cutting board will be hot, so wait until it cools or handle with heat-resistant gloves.
    You can trim off the excess with scissors, but using a craft knife on a self healing cutting mat works best. Flip your cutting board over so the laminate is flat against the mat. Then drag your craft knife around the edge to remove the excess lamination pouch.
    Hand trimming the excess laminate sheet away from the cutting board
  • Now one thing about the lamination technique is that if you look at the right angle, you may see some bubbles in your lamination sheet. You can see it the most when put on the black background of the heat press pad. No matter how long or what temp was used, it ended up with some bubbles.
    Cutting board in heat press showing bubbles.
  • Once cooled, tape your sublimation image to the side where you added the laminate using heat resistant tape.
    Hands taping cutting board to the printed image
  • There are no manufacturer's recommended time and temperature settings since this is a hack, but found these settings to work well for the sublimation portion:
    Place a sheet of butcher paper on the bottom pad of your heat press.
    Time: 180 seconds
    Temperature: 400° F
    Pressure: medium
    Place a sheet of butcher paper on the bottom pad of your heat press.
    One sheet of butcher paper in the press.
  • Position your glass cutting board on the butcher paper with the transfer facing down.
    Cutting board with transfer in the press
  • Place a sheet of butcher paper on top of the cutting board.
    Another sheet of butcher paper on top
  • Press for the recommended time. When the time is up, slowly open your press so your image doesn't shift and you'll get the best results. Remember that glass is hot, so use your heat resistant gloves if you want to move your project.
    Peel back the transfer to reveal your final image! You can definitely see how different is with it being transparent. Replace the rubber feet to the back of the cutting board so it doesn’t slide around or turn it into a sun catcher using the hanging kit.
    Final winter image on the glass cutting board.
  • Finished product for a Regular Glass Cutting Board!
    Dollar tree sublimated cutting board with winter trees design