Is Cricut Infusible Ink the Same as Sublimation?

Cricut Infusible Ink is a relatively new sublimation-like technology from Cricut, the popular crafting company. While it may look and feel like traditional sublimation, there are some key differences that set it apart from its predecessor.

What is Cricut Infusible Ink?
Cricut Infusible Ink is a type of heat transfer material that uses a special process to infuse a design into fabric. This infusion process creates a strong bond between the ink and the fabric, resulting in vibrant graphics that won’t fade or crack over time. Unlike traditional sublimation, Cricut Infusible Ink can be used on both light and dark fabrics without any need for pre-treatment or transfer paper.

What are the Advantages of Cricut Infusible Ink?
The main advantage of Cricut Infusible Ink is its ease of use. Since there is no need for pre-treatment or transfer paper, users can quickly create vibrant designs with minimal effort.

Additionally, since the ink bonds directly with the fabric, designs will not fade or crack as they would with traditional sublimation. Finally, since Cricut Infusible Ink can be used on both light and dark fabrics, users have more creative control when designing their projects.

What are the Disadvantages of Cricut Infusible Ink?
One downside to Cricut Infusible Ink is that it requires specialized equipment such as a heat press or an iron in order to properly heat-set the design onto fabric. Additionally, since the ink bonds directly with the fabric there is no room for mistakes once it has been applied; if you don’t like how your design looks you will have to start over from scratch. Finally, while this technology works great on cotton and polyester fabrics it cannot be used on nylon or spandex fabrics due to their unique properties.

Conclusion: Is Cricut Infusible Ink the Same as Sublimation?
No, it isn’t – while both technologies involve transferring an image onto fabric using heat, they differ in terms of materials needed and methodologies used to achieve this outcome.