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View Full Version : The problem with cheap mugs and cheap ink



barryslip
20-10-2014, 11:32 AM
Just thought I'd post this! A friend bought a printed mug 4 years ago. He just asked me why it's faded like this. It's clear to see that the cheaper mugs and/or inks don't really last! I've just printed him an identical one using RN coated mugs and the Ricoh printer. He's obviously over the moon with the difference.

Just thought I'd share it!

pisquee
20-10-2014, 11:50 AM
Not all sublimation mugs are dishwasher proof, or even wash proof really ... also, are you sure that that mug is sublimation?

barryslip
20-10-2014, 11:59 AM
Well, he bought it from an eBay seller 4 years ago as a "Sublimation mug" and it was quoted as being "suitable for use in a dishwasher". He said it was vibrant - for a few months!

rossdv8
23-10-2014, 12:26 AM
We have a couple of big companies here that allow customers to take in photos to a kiosk and create a mug, then post the result. One had a large W in the name, but I won;t mention who it is. I have a friend who has had a number of mugs made, and uses a dish washer. These mugs cost $22 each to have made. That is with the customer doing the art work at the kiosk. They are fading.

I just tell people not to use a dishwasher, regardless of whether the coating is supposed to be dish washer proof. I'm thinking about printing it on our logo. Just in case.

enabled
23-10-2014, 11:45 AM
How long do people really expect a mugs image to last? Personally after 4 years I would not mind purchasing another mug, it is not a terrible time span for a mug, in my opinion anyway.

I have purchased mugs from companies like moonpig and funkypigeon in the past and even notice that their mugs have slowly faded over the years. Obviously after a few hundred cycles in the dishwasher you cannot moan though lol.

arko
23-10-2014, 02:19 PM
............whatever happened to the good'ol fashioned sink and hand wash?.............................

Listawood
23-10-2014, 03:37 PM
Remember that our Duraglaze mugs are the go-to for dishwasher resistance: independently tested to over 2,000 cycles with no sign of fading. Assuming one cycle per day, that's five years (which I'm told is longer than the average relationship!)

LTS

Andrew
23-10-2014, 05:11 PM
Remember that our Duraglaze mugs are the go-to for dishwasher resistance: independently tested to over 2,000 cycles with no sign of fading. Assuming one cycle per day, that's five years (which I'm told is longer than the average relationship!)

LTS

All of these testings are laboratory submerged testings at a certain temp. The hotter cycles break down the coating down far quicker than an eco cycle and customers are so varied in how they do things it is hard to make claims with sublimation mugs. We only give guarantees against using eco settings for this reason. It's all bit of a minefield.

Paul
23-10-2014, 05:48 PM
Also what dishwasher tablets are used in this test? If any? Some of them are more agresive then others

GoonerGary
27-10-2014, 07:28 PM
I wouldn't trust any claims and the testing procedure which is only about marketing and trying to mislead you. When they make claims about the 100 year light fastness of photographic pigment ink and papers, it was tested using a light source of 1 lux. A lux isn't sunlight or even daylight, it's about the brightness of the moon or a candle. Enjoy those prints in darkness for a century.

pisquee
27-10-2014, 09:35 PM
Maybe we need to revive the test done on mugs/coatings by a member here a few years ago on the mugs available now.

JMugs
27-10-2014, 11:37 PM
Pisq.
Didn't that end with Justin pulling it because suppliers were getting stroppy?

pisquee
27-10-2014, 11:44 PM
Yeah it did ... it still exists on the forum member's own website. No reason it couldn't be done again and hosted somewhere else! ;-)

rossdv8
27-10-2014, 11:56 PM
Assuming one cycle per day, that's five years (which I'm told is longer than the average relationship!)It's longer than some of my marriages.

I think using coarse stainless steel scouring pads and dish washers is a little harsh on something sith a coating, but a lot of customers have no idea how the coating is put onto the mug in the first place. More mugs are probably chipped ot broken than have the colours washed out. I mean, these things are decorative, but I don't expect everything I buy as a souvenir or novelty to last several years of daily use. I just hope to get more life out of them than the kids get out of their Christmas toys, most of which cost far more than a mug and seem to last for only days or weeks.

GoonerGary
28-10-2014, 12:22 AM
Pisq.
Didn't that end with Justin pulling it because suppliers were getting stroppy?

It's a review based world now. It's us that take a serious hit when a customer leaves a negative review for a mug a supplier sold us. So why should here be any different? It's up to the suppliers to inform the manufacturers of problems.

pisquee
28-10-2014, 11:02 AM
but I don't expect everything I buy as a souvenir or novelty to last several years of daily use.
But if you're producing products for a designer brand or an artist, and they are charging premium prices for their products in shops, then this is quite a different market from novelty/souvenir/personalised, and the product being printed to needs to be of a good enough quality to go along with the expectations of the end customer.

ArferMo
28-10-2014, 03:49 PM
Been looking in to ceramic toner and then firing in a kiln at 840C trouble is a set of toner carts is over 2700 quid.... sod that knocked that idea on the head.

daviddeer
28-10-2014, 06:10 PM
Been looking in to ceramic toner and then firing in a kiln at 840C trouble is a set of toner carts is over 2700 quid.... sod that knocked that idea on the head.
There is a cheaper way you just have to make the mugs yourself and transfer the image before firing :biggrin:


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