How many times can you use a sublimation print?

I won’t lie sublimation printing is expensive! So I’m always looking for ways to make it cheaper or get more value for money from my prints. When I first started using a sublimation printer, I was told that the prints had a one time use only. So intitally I just threw them in the bin, once I pressed.

But my thrifty mind kept wondering ‘can sublimation prints be reused?’, so for the purposes of science and my wallet, I’m testing it out to see how many times can you use a sublimation print.

For this test I am pressing onto polycotton as this is the cheapest material and I don’t want to waste high cost blanks on this experiment.

I started with a set of four sublimation designs, which are varying in colour range and details. I printed them with my Sawgrass printer, using inks and sublimation paper.

I pressed them with my HTVRONT auto press sandwiched between two sheets of butchers paper.

The first print came out perfectly and looked like there was still ink on the print.

The second print came out as clear but with a slightly faded tone. For me this is still useable for embellishing fabrics etc. not necessarily printing on mugs.

Third print did come out but the finer details were being lost and the colour was bleached. So I stopped after three presses.

So it seems I wasted a lot of prints that could have giving me more, from now on I’ll keep my prints and use them for extra project presses, where I’m not concerned about them being slightly less vibrant.

Have you tried pressing a sublimation design multiple times? Let me know what worked for you?