Full Color Tiles is the home of full-color custom-decorated, white, ceramic, decorative wall or mural tiles.

We decorate all our full color tiles and wall murals, as well as our coffee mugs with the full-color Sublimation decoration process.

What is Sublimation?

SUBLIMATION - as related to chemistry, is defined as "To cause (a solid or gas) to change state without becoming liquid". For example, dry ice changes to gas without ever becoming liquid.

The sublimation process imprints images into polyester, or polyester coated objects by applying dyes that turn from a solid to gas when heated. When the sublimation dye is placed next to polyester and heated, at approximately 325 degrees the polyester molecules open. The sublimation dye, which at this time is a gas, will then be able to penetrate the surface of the polyester. After the heat is removed, the polyester molecules will close and permanently trap the sublimation dyes, thus the image, into the polyester  substrate.

Using time, temperature, and pressure, the image is transferred to the final substrate - in our case ceramic wall tiles and coffee mugs. This "first generation" transfer offers a more vibrant, near-photo-realistic image. These sublimation transfers can be applied to coated ceramics, metals, glass, wood, plastic, melamine, Mylar, marble, polyester fabric, or any other polymer coated surface.

What is so special about our full color wall tiles and murals?

The demand for high quality ceramic tiles for image sublimation is greater than ever. Our PrimaTile™ surface is recognized as being the hardest and clearest in the industry. UV light inhibitors are included in the coating process to minimize fading from harsh lights and sun. PrimaTile™ sizes fit virtually every need and although warranted for decorative use only, have been installed in floors, swimming pools, kitchens and baths, outdoor murals and as design elements in custom furniture.

Light Fastness of Ink and Coating – Sublimated PrimaTile™ passed over 200 hours of Xenon Arc Lamp exposure with no fade, no ink color change, and no yellowing.
Concentrated Chlorine Exposure - PrimaTile™ exhibited no change after 800 hours of exposure in a concentration of Chlorine 1000 times what would normally be found in the common swimming pool.

Pencil Hardness – Our PrimaTile ™ coating attained a pencil hardness of 8H for the Matte finish, 7H for the Satin, and 3H for the Gloss finish.

Extra Protection – We have found excellent results by simply applying Min-Wax Urethane Floor Coating (found in any home improvement store) over our coated tile. You should find excellent inter-coat adhesion with PrimaTile ™. Some people have even used them on floors! While we do not think it is necessary, you may use a spray on coating such as “Superfrog – Frog Juice” for extra UV protection when doing tiles or murals for outdoors use.

What are the limitations of our Sublimation process?

Sublimation inks transfer well to light colored, synthetic surfaces such as polyester and acrylic coatings and, of course, our specially coated ceramic wall tiles and coffee mugs.

They do not transfer to natural surfaces such as cotton, or dark colored surfaces. Over long periods of time,  our sublimation inks have limited color-fastness when exposed to direct sunlight. Our sublimation inks placed in direct sunlight will fade in 4 to 6 months.

Since we purchase our blank, coated tiles, neither Bitmark, Inc., fullcolortiles.com nor giftmugs.com are responsible for the characteristics exposed here. The data presented here with respect to our decorative wall tiles and wall murals, is only for your information. For further details, please contact the coating manufacturer directly.
 

Please remember:  (especially for our coffee mugs):
To preserve the beauty and vibrancy of the image on our full-color sublimation-decorated mugs (or decorative wall tiles and murals) it is best to hand wash them as you would hand wash any fine China as well as your best glasses. Also, never leave the mugs in direct sunlight, for example on a window sill.