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View Full Version : Mug Printing Using Normal Ink and Inkjet Printer



Chardless
19-06-2011, 04:33 PM
Hi All....

Just learning about mug printing, i do t-shirts but looking into this market.

Is it possible to print using a normal inkjet and inks, or do they need to be sublimation inks.

Any help appreciated

Regards
Kevin

dj_doubler
19-06-2011, 04:39 PM
Hi All....

Just learning about mug printing, i do t-shirts but looking into this market.

Is it possible to print using a normal inkjet and inks, or do they need to be sublimation inks.

Any help appreciated

Regards
Kevin

They need to be sublimation inks

Chardless
19-06-2011, 04:58 PM
Thank you is there any other way using Ceramic Mugs and a normal inkjet printer

bms
19-06-2011, 05:30 PM
Only if you use sublimation inks in Epson or Ricoh printers.

Draner
19-06-2011, 11:50 PM
there is some info on other methods of printing here. not sure if it will be of much help but it might point you in the right direction.

http://www.mugstore.co.uk/DecoratingMethods.aspx

boristrump
20-06-2011, 07:02 AM
there's is one way doing mugs with just a printer and normal ink thats by going down the water decal transfer route, ii do mug transfer as well as sublimation do an google search about water decal transfer should give you the more understanding about it , believe me i always get good results with water decal transfer plus i can do real full wraps on mugs end to end on the mug one thing about the transfer is the colour is more brill than sublimation worth checking out
good luck
Hi All....

Just learning about mug printing, i do t-shirts but looking into this market.

Is it possible to print using a normal inkjet and inks, or do they need to be sublimation inks.

Any help appreciated

Regards
Kevin

smitch6
20-06-2011, 08:09 AM
the only trouble i can see with the decals are dishwashers....
most sub mugs are dishwasher proof but every decal site i've found says 'will not handle a trip in a dishwasher'

Matt Quinn
20-06-2011, 08:59 AM
My partner used to teach ceramics - she's the one who first caused us to look at Dye Sub...

AFAIK most professional/credible 'waterslide' processes for ceramics use vitrifyable colourants... Glazes in effect. These require firing.

Basically the transfer is a carrier for coloured glazes that are then fired onto the item; this is basically a very old process; and if you have older souvenir ceramics around the house you may well have obvious examples of the process used on the surface of certain articles... Typically glass

Ideally it's done under a full clear glaze which makes it more resiliant... Just like hand-painted china.

I believe many commercial organisations such as big hotel groups have large runs made with very heavy glazes to withstand commercial cleaning cycles for a limited length of time...

But there is a limit as to just how tough any glaze can be... And a good reason why 'Granny's best china' is kept well away from the dshwasher.

Normal inks just won't last a firing. And the best you can do is maybe a purely ornamental item with a 'varnish' over it. In an industrial context maybe even you could spray a two-pack poly over the finished article... Investment and process wise there is no advantage to this that I can see; quite the reverse.

Dyesub works because the polyester coating is effectively an open glaze bonded into the pores of (and therefore an integral part of) the open ceramic substrate. The Dyesub ink transfers as a gas right into the very fabric of this coating...

Even for things that could reasonably be achieved by traditional inkjet printing and waterslide such as control panels, Dyesub has serious advantages because of the consistency of the coating...

boristrump
20-06-2011, 09:37 AM
let's face it nothing last forever i once sublimated an tile with an nice picture on it and left it outside for over an year before the the year was out the picture faded
the reason i did this was to find out for myself as i read from another forum someone mentioned doing ceramic plaques for outside my guess is that for outside ceramics needs to be proper fired glazed at very high temp special oven's also i must add here i once read that sublimated mugs subject to lots of dishwashing will start to fade. anyway we want folks to come back to buy another mug not to give them an mug that will last forever :)

Matt Quinn
20-06-2011, 07:37 PM
anyway we want folks to come back to buy another mug not to give them an mug that will last forever :)

Hmmm...

When I was a kid It seemed I used to get a new Timex watch every birthday and sometimes at Christmas too - They'd break you see; badly made rubbish. And somebody'd spring for one just because they were cheap... And (allegedly) made right here in Scotland.

When I was sixteen I got a Swiss watch - VERY well known make... VERY expensive... I still own that Swiss watch and wear it most days; as I've done for nearly 33 years... I have a number of watches from the same manufacturer now. They're not cheap, a few ŁK a pop, you'll usually have to go on a waiting list to get the model you want ... And yet I keep going back, and saving up for the next one... Not that I need to; but because I'm getting good quality product I feel it's worth the effort and expense... And that the product is something worth owning.

There's an Asda (Wal-Mart) standing on the site where the Timex factory used to be in Dundee! I guess people stopped going back to be shafted!

The town of Biel (in Switzerland) however does still have it's watch factory...

swimwivsquid
21-06-2011, 02:06 AM
There's an Asda (Wal-Mart) standing on the site where the Timex factory used to be in Dundee! I guess people stopped going back to be shafted!

...
No I seem to remember that Timex got brassed off with constant striking and said enough is enough and pulled out.....

Matt Quinn
21-06-2011, 08:59 AM
No I seem to remember that Timex got brassed off with constant striking and said enough is enough and pulled out.....

Well whatever... That was certainly one element; the reality is there were shennanigans on both sides. And I'm not even sure they were making wristwatches any more when it finally all keeled over; it was all such a mess. But that's not the point. (And we're really not particularly here to 'do' politics)

- That point is basically that you can only fool some of the people all of the time. If your product is basically crap then folks will only tolerate so much before moving on. And once moved on they rarely come back.

They were doing 'photomugs' and plates back in the 80's - Some of the labs offered the service, and the end-product was pretty poor; often not able to stand handling let alone use. That was a 'varnished' transfer.

As a process dyesub has major advantages for short-medium runs on a number of substrates. And the set-up costs need not be particularly onerous. Other methods do exist - but in the cost-band are nowhere near as effective or efficient; certainly not for practical items.

- Panels for one-off and short run electronics for instance. I recently 'subbed' a small batch for some vehicle power supplies we're deploying across my company. The previous batch had been done with waterslide and two-pack and we just used them up...

We have both more or less side by side- After a few weeks use the waterslide ones are beginning to chip (as they do!)... The dyesub ones are 100% The poly coating on the aluminium we're using is basically powder coat AFAIK like you'd find on a vehicle chassis or something; very tough, and with the text actually now a part of the coating.

Mugs? Well it seems some of the coatings are able to stand YEARS of dishwashing. And in general you'll break the mug before you chip the image - so it's a way of producing really usable ( as opposed to purely decorative) personalised items..

But like any credible industrial process it requires a little investment.

socialgiraffe
24-06-2011, 02:34 PM
A point very well made Mr Quinn :-)

GoldRapt
09-09-2011, 11:03 AM
Matt,
did you or your partner identify any suppliers of these firable glazes please?


My partner used to teach ceramics - she's the one who first caused us to look at Dye Sub...

AFAIK most professional/credible 'waterslide' processes for ceramics use vitrifyable colourants... Glazes in effect. These require firing.

Basically the transfer is a carrier for coloured glazes that are then fired onto the item; this is basically a very old process; and if you have older souvenir ceramics around the house you may well have obvious examples of the process used on the surface of certain articles... Typically glass

Ideally it's done under a full clear glaze which makes it more resiliant... Just like hand-painted china.