China Mugs - Any advice?

[Justin]

A customer has asked me to qoute for china mugs. I only usually do 10oz 'normal' mugs. What typpe of china mug do you print and do you have any advice?

I use the DF10 press and wonder if this will be suitable?

[Kaz]

I've been asked about china mugs aswell, but not done any yet, as I found out they use animal parts to make them, and when most of my work is done for 2 animal chariites, it's not something I feel comfortable about doing :(

[Justin]

I can see why you'd think that :( Very interesting point to make. Are they're any real benefits to china? I guess it's lighter but personally I prefer a good solid 10oz ceramic mug.

Only reason I've been asked to quote is that the customer has had some made elsewhere and they're no good ;) Image is too faint.

[Kaz]

Personally I don't like china mugs, too "flimsy" and delicate, but, the older person likes a chima mug to good old fashioned chunky mugs

[bms]

The bone china mugs look great! They can be a more elegant mug compared to the traditional mugs and the picture quality is as good as the normal mugs. These mugs often bevel towards the bottom (not to be confused with porcelain mugs which might be straighter) so you can't really print down to the bottom.

DF10 mug press will work but you'll need the silicon wraps to pad the press out as the bone china mugs are slightly thinner than standard mugs.

[fr3spirit]

Old ladies mugs ;) I get asked for china mugs quite often and almost always by the oap generation, they prefer them as they are not so heavy. I prefer a hefty 11oz mug and at least a 10oz
Andy

[bms]

Don't knock the "old ladies". They've often got money to spend on photo mugs. :)

[Andrew]

I often get asked for Bone China as some people see ceramic as downmarket. I often try and steer them onto a 10oz ceramic but if needs be I end up running with the china version which is a bit more work due to size. It does actually look good and different version can give a nice finish. I find the porcelain has more of a muted finish and looks like it has a glaze over it which can be efective with a decent design.

[jaffacat]

Hi Andrew
Ive just brought some bone china mugs to try for my mums friends (OAPS) and wondered what size you do your template given there is a lip on them (well I assume there is as they havent arrived yet). Would you mind sharing your template size with me as ive not done them before, many thanks lIsa

[JSR]

In my mind, there aren't enough china mug variations on the market. I'm frequently asked for the smaller "Balmoral" type of bone china mug that hasn't been available for ages.

I offer two types of china mug. "Fine China" in a design that Listawood calls "Can" (which are, apparently, so popular that Listawood keeps running out), and "Bone China" which is the Windsor style with lip and styled handle.

Quality wise, the Bone China one is much superior. The "Fine China" one falls somewhere between regular ceramic and Bone China. It's kind of a poor-man's more delicate mug. It has its downsides - such as often having a rough base edge, and being quite barrel-shaped leading to difficulty in producing a good print (and some you may want to reject before printing). The barrel shape makes it almost impossible to do any kind of landscape/wrap print without the paper crinkling. The upside is that they're almost as cheap as a ceramic mug so a slight increase in selling price can help offset the difficulties.

With the Windsor Bone China ones, you have to be wary of misaligned handles (not straight) but otherwise they are a much better and more delicate mug. They do cost more, though, but they are worth it.

When it comes to pressing, I've never had real success in doing any china mugs in my mug press. It's a 10/11oz mug press which is allegedly supposed to work with china mugs if you use rubber wraps and alter the time/temp. I get far better results using wraps in my mug oven (they take longer in my mug oven, but the results are good).


http://www.mugsandgifts.co.uk/zshop/images/mugsandgifts/bc-windsor.jpg

[Andrew]

Hi Lisa,

There are quite a few styles we have use for china mugs but the one we have used with a lip had artwork sized to 180 x 93mm.

I have 7 styles of China mug here which I have picked up over time and can only figure where 2 of them come from. 1 is the Balmoral style as well which I want to find again.

[Andrew]

Should have mentioned Lisa that the size above is probably best suited to an oven as most press elements don't have the heat right to the edge. With the lip having to stay out then you would need to reduce the height to probably 10mm below the lip to get an even print in a press unless you have a very good one.

Good luck,

Andrew

[jennywren]

Sorry to butt into your questions. :oops: Do you need a different press for china mugs, I would love to do them and for that reason I have'nt. I am asked for them all the time and there is large market out there waiting. I was looking at http://www.neilbrothers.co.uk . Has anybody used them.

[Kaz]

Not used them, but, do you need to phone for prices as I can't see anything on their site :?

[JSR]

Sorry to butt into your questions. :oops: Do you need a different press for china mugs, I would love to do them and for that reason I have'nt. I am asked for them all the time and there is large market out there waiting. I was looking at http://www.neilbrothers.co.uk . Has anybody used them.
Never used them but their front page says -

On the sublimation side we supply SuperTuf clear coat Photo mugs and the patented temperature sensitive WoWMugs.

The links on the products go to 10oz ceramic Durham mugs and colour-change WOW mugs. Not China mugs. They mention china mugs earlier on the page, but not in relation to sublimation.