Why are my Coffee Mugs bleeding after printing?

[Raymond Smith]

Hi-
I have been selling my "Greetings from Hoboken" coffee mugs (and related merch) for years. I buy them from a large online vendor and they've always responded well to any issues.
Recently, I've had about 5 customers complain about the mugs bleeding after being put in a dishwasher. One lady said she didn't even put hers in a dishwasher! When these complaints started showing up, I tested what I had by pouring boiling water from a teakettle over some of them, and mine were fine. A friend of mine has had her mugs for a couple of years and has always put them in her dishwasher and they've been fine.

I found an image of someone's mug on the web that had a similar problem, but I didn't save the location, and can't find it now.

Does anyone know why the ink would do this?

Thanks in advance!



bled-mug-1-web.jpgbled-mug-2-web.jpg

[Paul]

its not the ink. its coating simply they are NOT dishwasher safe mug and should not be washed in dishwasher. Hand wash only. if one of them bleed after hand washing then it means you are buying the worse and the cheapest mugs they can get. sorry.

[bms]

Second that from Paul. It's the coating on the mug that isn't very good. I doubt this reseller can claim their mugs are dishwasher safe.

[Raymond Smith]

I don't understand why they were OK before. I poured hot boiling hot water on the first image you see, and I wasn't able to bleed it further.
Is there a type of coating I should be aware of or asking for?

[Raymond Smith]

I'm not sure about the 'hand wash'. I never got to see it. I can tell dishwasher damage because it bleeds as a flow.

[Ian M]

Raymond, it is the coating by the look of things like Paul & Martin have said. The coatings you should be looking out for are RN or Orca which are both dishwasher safe. If I lived in the USA I think I would be getting my blanks from somebody such as Conde who have a very good reputation.

[Paul]

I don't understand why they were OK before. I poured hot boiling hot water on the first image you see, and I wasn't able to bleed it further.
Is there a type of coating I should be aware of or asking for?

hot tem does not cause it. its the chemicals in combination with hot water in dishwasher.
what we trying to say is: change your mugs supplier.

If you say this never happened before then you definitely should change supplier as they mugs not consistent and differ in quality. tick to somone who stock same mugs all the time ;)

[Raymond Smith]

Thanks for all the replies and info!
I don't print these my self, but I do sell enough to buy a gross at a time. Can any of you recommend a printer in the US that could do these for under $3 per piece?

[mrs maggot]

you would need to advertise on a us site really, as there are not that many us people on here, or try tshirt forums - they have a section that may be able to help. It looks as if whoever they are subbing the work out to have been cutting their costs, pack em up and send them back

[Raymond Smith]

I'm on t-shirt forum as well, and getting great advice from both!

Does anyone know of an effective low-tech way I can test my mugs for this issue before I put them out for sale? Apparently boiling water isn't enough.