new to di sub-Which Ricoh should I use for start-up

[JSR]

Very true, Paul.

A couple of years ago, I did some testing on various mugs to understand for myself what "dishwasher safe/proof" really meant. I put the results on my website at http://www.mugsandgifts.co.uk/dishwashing-mugs.

All mugs were printed with the same approved/authorised ink - because that's all I had at the time. They were each washed in a domestic dishwasher and checked for results. Okay, it's not the same kind of test as the Orca & Duraglaze mugs got at the hands of Listawood - their tests demonstrated that both Orca and RN mugs would stand in excess of 750 washes, whereas my test mugs didn't do more than 30 over the course of a month. So, bearing in mind that my testing was extremely soft compared to other tests, it's even more astonishing to see the results of those mugs that are either not dishwasher-safe (they fade almost immediately) and those that were claimed to be "dishwasher safe but not dishwasher proof".

In short, it made no difference that the inks were "authorised" ink - they faded just as badly on non-dishwasher mugs as anyone else's ink would.

It's the same kind of question as UV resistance for when the prints are displayed outside. Even with approved/authorised ink, you'll still be lucky to get more than a couple of years. This isn't like regular OEM dye/pigment ink in which cheap ink will fade in 6 months while OEM ink will last 30 years. There isn't that kind of difference between authorised dye-sub ink and ink you may find elsewhere. There should be - after all, Sawgrass have had decades to improve their ink - but the fact that it still fades so fast answers many unasked questions.