ByThis adds a Sublimation Mug and Tumbler Kit for South African makers ahead of the year-end gifting rush

Mug heat press, white sublimation mugs, a coated tumbler, heat tape and gloves on a navy workshop bench

Germiston starter-kit supplier ByThis has added a two-press sublimation kit, giving side-hustle printers and school fundraisers a ready bench for custom mugs.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ByThis, which puts together starter kits for small South African workshops from its counter in Sunnyrock, Germiston, has added a Sublimation Mug and Tumbler Kit to its range. The kit is aimed at people who want to print personalised drinkware from a garage or a market stall without sourcing every part separately.

Printed mugs and tumblers sell steadily through the year, but orders bunch up from late October, when matric farewells and year-end corporate gifts land in the same few weeks. Small printers who only start buying presses and blanks in November often find stock thin and delivery times long.

The kit pairs a clamshell mug press for 11oz and 15oz straight mugs with a tumbler press that takes 20oz skinny tumblers, plus a spare 30oz element for when you move up to 30oz tumblers. It also includes an A4 inkjet printer set up for sublimation with a four-colour sublimation ink set in the box, 200 sheets of sublimation paper, heat-resistant tape and gloves, an infrared thermometer and a first carton of blanks: 36 white 11oz coated mugs and 12 white 20oz stainless tumblers. Both presses run off ordinary 230 V plug points, drawing roughly 400 W and 600 W.

"Most people who phone us about mugs have already bought a press online, and then find out they still need the right paper, the right ink and blanks that actually take the print," said the ByThis picks editor. "We tape the starting temperatures and times inside the lid of every kit so the first mug isn't a guess. An 11oz mug starts at 185 degrees for about three minutes."

With designs printed ahead, one person can press 12 to 15 mugs an hour on a single press, and about 25 pieces an hour with both presses running. Buyers also get care advice written for local conditions: run a printer nozzle check twice a week so the ink doesn't dry in the heads, keep paper sealed in coastal humidity, and don't start a press cycle in the last ten minutes before a scheduled power cut.

ByThis is upfront about where sublimation does not fit. The process only works on polyester and polymer-coated blanks, so buyers whose orders are mostly cotton T-shirts are pointed to DTF printing first.

Kits are packed in Sunnyrock. Gauteng deliveries usually arrive 2 to 3 working days after an order is confirmed, Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha 3 to 5 working days, and smaller towns 5 to 7 working days. Refill blanks are sold in cartons of 36 mugs or 25 tumblers, with sublimation paper in packs of 100 sheets.

About ByThis

ByThis puts together practical starter kits for South African sign shops, laser and CNC benches, garment printers, FET workshops and market traders from its counter in Sunnyrock, Germiston. It works within the same South African trade network as equipment supplier am.co.za. ByThis is operated by Astros Marketing (Pty) Ltd.

Eric Yin
ByThis
+27 76 666 6699