Best Sublimation Setup for Shirts and Tumblers

One printer does both — the difference is the heat source. Shirts press flat. Tumblers cannot: a flat plate touches a round blank along a narrow line, so you need a tumbler press or a convection oven. Budget for two heat sources if you want to do both properly.

Quick picks

#	Product	Best for	Price
1	Epson EcoTank ET-2800The printer most people convert — cheap, refillable, and widely documented. Read the warranty section befor...	Printing for both	Check price on Amazon #ad · affiliate link · we never show a price we cannot verify
2	Sublimation Tumbler BlanksPolymer-coated tumblers are the most forgiving sublimation blank there is — the coating does the work, so a...	The easier of the two projects	Check price on Amazon #ad · affiliate link · we never show a price we cannot verify
3	Polyester Blank ShirtsSublimation bonds to polyester and only polyester — the blank matters more than the printer, and this is th...	The fabric side	Check price on Amazon #ad · affiliate link · we never show a price we cannot verify
4	A-SUB Sublimation PaperThe paper most beginners land on, and a sensible default: high transfer rate, dries fast enough to handle, ...	Both projects	Check price on Amazon #ad · affiliate link · we never show a price we cannot verify

Tap any row to jump to the full write-up. We do not publish prices — they move constantly, and a stale number is worse than none.

What each project needs

How we picked

We ranked by what each project genuinely requires rather than treating them as one purchase, because the common and expensive mistake here is assuming one heat source covers both. Substrate and temperature guidance comes from manufacturer published information. Our methodology.

The picks in full

1. Best for printing for both

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

Epson · Currently sold · Verified 2026-09-27

The same 8.5 inch letter-width printer serves both projects — the transfer for a shirt and the wrap for a tumbler both fit comfortably. Converting a refillable-tank printer is the cheapest route, with the warranty and one-way caveats covered in our conversion guide. There is no shirt printer and tumbler printer; there is one printer and two heat sources.

What works

• By far the cheapest way to start sublimating
• Refillable tanks mean low running cost once converted
• Very widely documented by the crafting community

What does not

• Converting it with third-party sublimation ink voids Epson's coverage for ink-related damage
• A converted printer cannot go back to regular ink
• 8.5 in width limits you to letter-size transfers

Not for you if

You want a supported, warrantied sublimation setup you can call for help on. Buy a dedicated sublimation printer instead.

Key specs

Type

Refillable-tank inkjet — sold as a regular printer

Sublimation

Not a sublimation printer as sold; people convert it

Max print width

8.5 in (letter)

Ink system

Four refillable tanks

Warranty note

Epson's warranty covers damage from genuine ink, not third-party ink

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2. Best for the easier of the two projects

Sublimation Tumbler Blanks

Various · Currently sold · Verified 2026-09-27

Polymer-coated tumblers are more forgiving than fabric — the coating does the work, colors come out bright, and small timing errors do not ruin the result. If you are doing both, start here to learn what a correct transfer looks like before moving to shirts.

What works

• The coating makes color come out bright and sharp
• Very forgiving of small timing errors
• Sold in cheap multi-packs so practice costs little

What does not

• Must be sublimation-specific — an ordinary tumbler will not take the ink
• Needs a tumbler press or an oven; a flat press cannot do it
• Not dishwasher-proof in practice, whatever the listing says

Not for you if

You only have a flat heat press. A flat plate cannot wrap a tumbler evenly.

Key specs

Coating

Polymer coating — required for sublimation to bond

Common size

20 oz skinny tumbler

Heat source

Tumbler press, convection oven, or shrink wrap plus oven

Color

White or very light — sublimation ink is translucent

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3. Best for the fabric side

Polyester Blank Shirts

Various · Currently sold · Verified 2026-09-27

100% polyester in white or very light. Both conditions are absolute: sublimation bonds only to polymer, and the translucent ink disappears on dark blanks. Blends give a deliberately faded result.

What works

• The only fabric sublimation genuinely bonds to
• Result has no hand feel at all — the design is in the fabric
• Will not crack or peel the way a vinyl transfer can

What does not

• White or near-white only — this is a hard physical limit
• 100% polyester feels different from a cotton tee
• Blends fade the design, which you may or may not want

Not for you if

You want a soft cotton shirt or a dark shirt. Use heat transfer vinyl instead — it works on both.

Key specs

Fabric

100% polyester, or a high-polyester blend

Color

White or very light — dark fabric will not work

Why polyester

Sublimation ink bonds to polymer, not to cotton fiber

Blend behavior

A 65/35 blend gives a faded, vintage-looking result

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4. Best for both projects

A-SUB Sublimation Paper

A-SUB · Currently sold · Verified 2026-09-27

The same paper works for shirts and tumblers. A high transfer rate matters slightly more on fabric, where you have less coating helping you and want as much ink as possible reaching the blank.

What works

• Consistent results across shirts, mugs and hard blanks
• Dries quickly enough that sheets do not smudge when stacked
• Cheap enough to practice with

What does not

• Only works with sublimation ink — regular ink will not transfer
• Printing on the wrong side wastes the sheet and the ink

Not for you if

You are printing on dark fabric. Sublimation does not work on dark fabric at all, whatever paper you use.

Key specs

Type

Dye-sublimation transfer paper

Weight

Commonly 125 gsm

Sizes

Letter and larger sheets

Transfer rate

High — most of the ink releases to the blank

Printed side

One side only — the coated side

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Why a flat press cannot do tumblers

A tumbler is a cylinder. A flat plate touches a cylinder along a narrow line, so at any moment only a thin strip of the transfer is in contact — and sublimation needs sustained even contact across the whole design.

The two solutions both wrap the blank rather than pressing it. A tumbler press has a curved heating element that closes around the cylinder. A convection oven, with the transfer wrapped tightly and secured, heats the whole blank evenly from all sides — slower, and widely used because it is cheaper and handles multiple blanks at once.

Some people rotate a tumbler against a flat press in stages. It works occasionally and produces visible banding where the passes meet, which is why it is not a method anyone selling relies on.

The order to buy in

1. Printer, ink, paper and a few blanks. The shared foundation for both projects.
2. Tumbler press or dedicated convection oven, if tumblers are your main interest. They are the more forgiving project and the easier place to learn.
3. Flat press, if shirts are the goal. If you already own one for heat transfer vinyl, you are covered for the fabric side.
4. More blanks than you think. Early transfers get wasted while you learn timing and wrapping, and that is normal rather than a sign anything is wrong.

If you already own a flat press

You are set for shirts and need to add only a tumbler solution for the round blanks. That is often the cheapest route into sublimation for someone already making heat transfer vinyl shirts — the flat press does double duty, and a convection oven handles tumblers for relatively little.

Just remember the blanks are different. Your cotton shirts will not sublimate, and you will need polyester ones alongside them. Which blanks work, and the full comparison with vinyl.