Extreme Dishwasher Test (Mug Comparison)

[JSR]

Extreme Dishwasher Test

A previous a post on the forum - http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/sh ... page11#107 - suggested that it would be of interest to perform an Extreme Dishwasher Test on dishwasher-safe mugs to determine how resilient they are to dishwashing.

I recently undertook the test, using a procedure similar to that shown on this website - http://www.cupsandstuff.com/quality.asp - using four different mugs I had available to me.
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Test Procedure

To summarise, the test involves immersing the mugs in a dishwasher-tablet water solution at boiling point for one hour. This is very much an "Extreme Dishwasher Test". The reason that I call it "extreme" is as follows:

Domestic dishwashers typically run at 55°C - 75°C and spray jets of water onto the items. 75°C is reached during a sanitising cycle during the final rinse (the temperature rises until the thermostat trips, so this is a very short process). Newer detergents require lower water temperatures (55°C-60°C) otherwise the cleaning enzymes break down at the higher temperatures. According to their website, 51°C - 60°C should be used with Finish Powerball tablets (Gelpacs, powder, and gel are used at 60°C).

This extreme "pan" test immerses the mugs in a saucepan of boiling water (100°C) for a full hour. The mugs are constantly in contact with the dishwasher tablet solution for the duration of the test. Not only does a domestic dishwasher never reach this temperature but the mugs are not fully immersed in the solution for this length of time.

So, to be perfectly clear, this "pan test" is very much an Extreme test. Should a mug survive this, it should survive anything. If it fades just a little bit, it should still survive anything. If it fades a lot, just be aware of how much faith you want to put in it.

(As I don't have a dishwasher myself, I'm relying on the internet for how a dishwasher works.)
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Results

The following photos reveal the results of my test. If the mugs look "darker" at the top of the print, it's because the water solution did not completely cover the mugs and so there is less fading towards the top of the mug.

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Click here for larger image.
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Comparison: Non-Dishwasher Mug


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Comparison: Orca-coated Mug


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Comparison: Coralgraph Mug


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Comparison: RN-coated Mug

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Conclusions

Due to the extreme nature of this test, all mugs faded to a certain degree. The fading on the Orca mug shows colour shift and a blurring of the print. The Coralgraph and RN-coated mugs look very similar to each other. The slight fading on the Coralgraph/RN mugs hasn't affected the sharpness of the print nor has the colour shifted (the print just looks "brighter"). These are clearly the most resilient mugs in the test, which is as expected. Comparing close-up, the Coralgraph mug just pips the RN-coated mug, but the difference is small.

I don't know what coating is used on the Coralgraph mugs, but it's clearly up there with RN-coated mugs. The RN-coated mug is either from BMS or Listawood - I can't tell which, except that it printed with the "white spot" issue that was more common with BMS mugs a year ago than with Listawood mugs.

This non-dishwasher mug used in the test is from a supplier that isn't around anymore and it was described by that supplier as "dishwasher safe", not "dishwasher proof" (the difference being that their definition of "dishwasher safe" would survive a couple of dishwasher cycles but not constant washing as the "dishwasher proof" ones would).
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Further Information

Prior to this extreme test, I did a "real world" test back in 2008. The "real world test" used three typical mugs placed in the back of a domestic dishwasher for 30 days, and the dishwasher was used every day. The results can be seen on my site, here: http://www.mugsandgifts.co.uk/dishwashing-mugs.

After the "real world test", the same "non-dishwasher" mug looked like this:

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Despite the fading, there's still quite a bit more of the ink left on the mug than the same mug used in the "extreme" test. This underlines that the extreme test is, indeed, pretty extreme.

I hope someone finds the results of this test of interest.

[Paul]

exelent review Jonathan! It helps me a lot what mugs I am going to use in future and what one i wil not. I was very tempted to buy some orca ones in but now i will concentrate on Rn and coralgraphs only!



I think this post deserve fo some "star" click to add to your reputation

[JSR]

Thanks, Paul!

I've mostly used Orca for the past year, more through necessity than desire. I've been happy with them, and the test results demonstrate that they are pretty good. But, since Revolution stopped selling the mugs, I'm looking elsewhere. I'm now more confident of those mugs that aren't Orca mugs than I was before. The lack of confidence was because the dishwasher-safe properties of mugs tends to be "word of mouth" from suppliers - which is fine, but a supplier is never going to say "my mugs are awful" so there's always a nagging doubt as to how good they are. Without proper documentation of testing, we have to take the word of those who want our money. I'm not suggesting that any supplier would mislead, merely that there's a conflict of interest.

Hence, this test was to give myself peace of mind and the confidence to buy non-Orca mugs.

Of the mugs tested, only Orca ones are marked (on the bottom). We can never be sure when a supplier might change their source if the mugs are unmarked. We can't expect suppliers to stick with a single source because they may find better mugs, or one source may run short, or any other reason. Therefore, I shall be repeating this test from time to time and, if anything changes, I'll be sure to post again.

PS - If any supplier of RN mugs, or Coralgraph, would like to send me a free box of mugs for proving how great their mugs are, I'm open to a bit of post-review bribery!

[subli]

Interesting!

While "extreme" is certainly a good description of your test, I'm not sure that "extreme dishwasher test" is an appropriate description, since as the test was carried out in a pan of boiling water, and not a dishwasher.

Can you explain how you come to the conclusion that the RN & Coralgraph mug came out on top? From the picture, it's difficult to tell because you've shown a different section of the image on the Orca as with the other two, but from the photo I don't quite come to the same conclusion. For me, if you look at the top of each mug, at the sky section, the Orca is closest to the control, and if you look at the red in Santa & the sleigh, the Coralgraph & the Orca looks closest to the control.

Also, from a slight smudge mark on the control mug - it seems that you have compared each mug just one control mug, therefore we do not know what each mug looked like before it went through the process. We're comparing to something which is possibly different from the way the mug looked before it went through the process. I would have thought that the "control" should be a photo of that exact mug before it went through the process. So we're comparing each mug against that exact same printed mug before it went through the testing process.

I have to say though, although this is interesting - I'm really not quite sure how useful it is as a comparison of the coatings for their dishwasher safeness, seeing as in the real world, no one is going to be boiling mugs in dishwasher tablet solution , and this is distinctly different from a dishwasher cycle. I would think that a continual dishwasher test would be far more valuable, as you're then testing with a process which the mugs really do have to withstand.

I have thought of doing this, with a range of mugs including the Rhino coating, the reason I haven't is that I feel that this should be a completely independent test, not carried out by a supplier.

Hats off to you for putting the time in to do this test, I just feel that if it's dishwasher testing, then it should really been done in a dishwasher - and in showing the conclusion I think it would be better to show the exact same section of each mug, compared to the exact same mug before the test, and explain how you reached conclusions if it's not obvious from the photo's - or just show the photo's in high res, and let people draw their own conclusion from the results.

Thanks

Steve
www.subli.co.uk

[JSR]

While "extreme" is certainly a good description of your test, I'm not sure that "extreme dishwasher test" is an appropriate description, since as the test was carried out in a pan of boiling water, and not a dishwasher.

You're right in that it's more accurate to call it a "boiling water in saucepan with dishwasher tablet test". However, I chose the shortened phrase because it uses a dishwasher tablet and hot water, which is also what a dishwasher uses.

Can you explain how you come to the conclusion that the RN & Coralgraph mug came out on top? From the picture, it's difficult to tell because you've shown a different section of the image on the Orca as with the other two, but from the photo I don't quite come to the same conclusion. For me, if you look at the top of each mug, at the sky section, the Orca is closest to the control, and if you look at the red in Santa & the sleigh, the Coralgraph & the Orca looks closest to the control.

The mugs are shown from a slightly different section in some cases because they have been used for other prints. In the case of the Orca mug, the template was used with a photo for a customer. In the case of the control mug, it had been previously printed with a customer's photo on the other side. Only the control mug has been pressed twice.

Comparing the mugs side-by-side, the Coralgraph and RN mug maintain better colour accuracy than the Orca mug. The Orca mug has more "washed-out" colours - particularly in the reds, browns, and greens.

The top of the print was above the surface of the water, and not all were equally above the water, so it's important not to look solely at the sky. You're right in that the sky looks darker on the Orca mug, but I believe that much to do with the colour washing out. I don't know how best to describe it but it seems as though the Orca has lost more "yellow" than anything else. The yellow tinge to Santa's beard has gone. The vibrant two-tone red of the sleigh is a single slightly-purple red. The browns of the reindeer and the greens of the trees, are more of a reddish brown and reddish green. This may account for the sky seeming to be darker on the Orca mug.

The Orca mug isn't bad, and I certainly don't regret using them for the last year, but it is noticeably different to the Coralgraph and RN mugs. I would still conclude that the Orca is a remarkable "budget dishwasher mug".

Also, from a slight smudge mark on the control mug - it seems that you have compared each mug just one control mug, therefore we do not know what each mug looked like before it went through the process. We're comparing to something which is possibly different from the way the mug looked before it went through the process. I would have thought that the "control" should be a photo of that exact mug before it went through the process. So we're comparing each mug against that exact same printed mug before it went through the testing process.

While I'm happy to admit that this is not a scientific test, I felt it was more consistent to photograph them in this way. The prints were all done using the same ink, same printer, same paper, same profile, same heat oven, same time, and same temperature.

They were photographed at the same time and next to each other so that the lighting would be the same. If I'd photographed each mug before the test, and after the test, there'd be inconsistency in the lighting - because the mugs would have been photographed at least 90 minutes apart (or, in the case of the latest photos, 12 hours later).

I would be more than happy for someone to do a proper independent and scientific test. I've been asking for months for suppliers to supply documentary evidence of tests undertaken on their mugs to prove their dishwasher-safe claims, but nothing is ever forthcoming. In the absence of that, I've undertaken this test which is similar to a test that others have undertaken (as indicated by the link in my first post).

The only documentation of tests that I have seen is a test undertaken on behalf of Listawood by what I believe is an independent test house (I have no way to be certain). There were no photos in the test report, and no detailed descriptions, merely a summary. The result of that summary pretty much concluded "Orca is good, RN is better". My test has done nothing except confirm that while also acknowledging that the Coralgraph mug is at least on a par with RN, if not slightly better.

I have to say though, although this is interesting - I'm really not quite sure how useful it is as a comparison of the coatings for their dishwasher safeness, seeing as in the real world, no one is going to be boiling mugs in dishwasher tablet solution , and this is distinctly different from a dishwasher cycle. I would think that a continual dishwasher test would be far more valuable, as you're then testing with a process which the mugs really do have to withstand.

I agree, but I've not seen anyone performing this long-term test and I neither have a dishwasher available in which to perform the test myself, nor do I have six months to wait to decide on who's mugs to use. Even if I did, the mugs I buy from suppliers today could be completely different in six months time, so what will I have proven? That some mugs from six months earlier that may not be the same as those sold today were okay for a dishwasher.

This "extreme" test has demonstrated that, of the three dishwasher-safe mugs that I have available, all three are significantly more resilient than a non-dishwasher mug.

I have thought of doing this, with a range of mugs including the Rhino coating, the reason I haven't is that I feel that this should be a completely independent test, not carried out by a supplier.

True, but if every supplier did this and we had all the information to hand to compare - in other words, if the results were consistent so that the motives of a supplier could be ruled out - then it would be a good thing to do. More information, even that which is undertaken by a supplier or by a domestic "pan test", is what's needed. Right now there is no information beyond the word of a supplier. Given that people often ask which is the best mug, the word of a supplier only goes so far to reassuring those people. More testing is required, not less.

Hats off to you for putting the time in to do this test, I just feel that if it's dishwasher testing, then it should really been done in a dishwasher - and in showing the conclusion I think it would be better to show the exact same section of each mug, compared to the exact same mug before the test, and explain how you reached conclusions if it's not obvious from the photo's - or just show the photo's in high res, and let people draw their own conclusion from the results.

Thank-you. If anyone wants to undertake the test themselves, then I recommend that they do so. My test was to give me confidence in the product, and I posted my results in the hope that someone finds it interesting/useful. I do not intend that anyone should look at my results and consider them to be definitive. A proper independent scientific test that involves all currently available mugs with all different coatings is what's required for that.

However, the test is easy to do, it takes no more than 90 minutes, and it can be done with household utensils. If my test isn't sufficient, then I heartily recommend that everyone performs the same test, or their own test, themselves to prove to themselves whatever it is that they need to know.

[Paul]

While "extreme" is certainly a good description of your test, I'm not sure that "extreme dishwasher test" is an appropriate description, since as the test was carried out in a pan of boiling water, and not a dishwasher.

I have to say though, although this is interesting - I'm really not quite sure how useful it is as a comparison of the coatings for their dishwasher safeness, seeing as in the real world, no one is going to be boiling mugs in dishwasher tablet solution

wind proof things are not tested outside on football field. they are tested in wind machine with 100's time stronger winds. this same with sea proof things. water for tests contain much more salt then in real sea condition. Alse when trainers are tested they are bend millions times! 100's times per minute. to check if they will survive 2 year standard usage.
I hope this prove the point a little that 6mc in dishwasher is not possible in reality to test mugs.
I am glad somone carry on wit this test as i think if mug will survive such a condition that is simillar to dishwaher then I am happy o use it.

thank you

PAul

[bms]

Good review JSR. I'm sure many DSF members will appreciate your time and efforts on this as well as the thorough write up.

[Stitch Up]

Thanks Jonathan for an interesting read.

BTW, compliments on your website - it's looking really good and fast.

Cheers

John

[Ian M]

Many thanks Jonathan & is very interesting indeed.

[Andrew]

Excellent job Jonathan. Interesting results as well. I think it's a valid test considering what info is out there and provides a good benchmark. I've got some Rhino coated samples and another coating I use which I'll try and test when I get a chance. Might put them in with the rn version as a direct comparisson.

How about now putting coasters and printed metal covered in baby oil under a sunbed for a couple of hours as a quick test on uv capabilities