For those of you who own a good white toner printer you can easily print ordinary mugs and make them dishwasher proof. The only additional step is to coat your mug after printing using some Sublimation Clear Coat from Ink Experts. The attached image shows a mug purchased from Asda and printed with a white logo. This actual item was placed inside a dishwasher for four weeks. The dishwasher is used on average 10-15 times a day. Meaning this has had a minimum of 280 washes inside an industrial dishwasher. There is no drop in print quality.
The coating was very very light. I think that to perfect the method I will need a rotating cake turntable so I can "spin" the mug and give the whole mug a two second "blast". On this occasion I did promote the coating by putting in an oven for 15 minutes to cure. However I think you can leave to stand for 24 hours and achieve the same hardness.
Although it does add another step to the mug printing process I think the cost works out roughly the same as a standard white dye sub mug.
MATERIALS & KIT USED
OKI White toner printer
The Magic Touch CPM 6.2
Glass mug purchased from ASDA (sorry I could not afford Waitrose
)Sublimation coating from Ink Experts
Genie III mug press from Listawood
Time and temp: 180 degrees 160 time in mug press
15 minutes curing in oven at 180 degrees
In this example I have used clear glass and 1 colour white logo. However this will work on any colour mug and can be printed full colour at the same time.
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