Has Orca Coatings changed?

[John G]

Its been a while since i used coralgraph or lovecut but when I did they were the same mugs, same packaging etc.

Never used listawood but am impressed with xpres mugs and BMS A & B grade mugs - can't fault them.

[Andrew]

I would think that both of them possibly have whitening on. Are they all very white in colour and not off white. The newer coating have adopted this method whilst the longer established coatings hadn't. I know Rhino has looked at this option and had some whiter samples sent into me recently.... not as white as Orca but far whiter than what they originally had.

[JSR]

Listawood have annoyed you doing that I take it. I thought it was a slick move myself.

Oh, now let me see. I sell mugs with "Orca" stamped on the bottom, and a quick Google reveals Listawood saying that they're "handwash only". My existing customers get upset because I said they're dishwasher-safe and my potential new customers look elsewhere because they want dishwasher-safe mugs. Result: Listawood kills my business.

Annoyed? That doesn't even begin to cover it.

[Andrew]

I just changed supplier temporarily until it gets sorted out. This is why I don't like stamped or stickered mugs. I can still give the same guarantee that it is dishwasher safe but my customer doesn't really care what the coating is called. RN means nothing to most mug users/buyers.

[bms]

You can have the Orca coating on a different mug from what someone else has an Orca coating on. That's generally down to the importers choice. Some might try to save extra cost by insisting on a cheaper mug. One thing you should notice with the Orca coating on and which will be a good indicator is that they will be whiter than RN/Rhino coatings. This should be noticeable depending on which previous mugs you had. A whitener is added to the sublimation coating during the spraying process.

Is the whitener added to the coating or to the ceramic during the manufacturing process? I thought it was in the manufacturing process.

As far as the conspiracy theory goes, I believe Listawood have their mugs made by a factory that sprays Orca so if they are advertised as Orca then they will be the same.

[JSR]

As far as the conspiracy theory goes, I believe Listawood have their mugs made by a factory that sprays Orca so if they are advertised as Orca then they will be the same.

I don't believe any company was named when any hypothetical conspiracy was theorised.

[Andrew]

Is the whitener added to the coating or to the ceramic during the manufacturing process? I thought it was in the manufacturing process.

As far as the conspiracy theory goes, I believe Listawood have their mugs made by a factory that sprays Orca so if they are advertised as Orca then they will be the same.

I'm not exactly sure Martin. I heard mention of adding to the coating but nothing official. I don't get that far into the technicalities. If it prints wel and lasts I am happy. Could very well be the ceramic stage.

I know out in the Thailand factory they have now offered a whiter mug. I think this will become the normal scenario soon as it makes the standard ceramic look greyish. For us continuity of supply became an issue with jumping back and forth between suppliers that have added whitening and those that don't.

[JSR]

I know out in the Thailand factory they have now offered a whiter mug. I think this will become the normal scenario soon as it makes the standard ceramic look greyish.

That sounds very appealing. The whiteness of the Orca mugs is great and it makes the regular non-Orca mugs look as dull as dishwater, but they're only coated like this on the outside. If you look closely enough, the inside and the outside of the mug don't match. It's as though someone's painted the mug but wanted to scrimp on a couple of pennies.

If they can get mugs that are inherently white all over, then that would solve this particular issue.

[daviddeer]

So my understanding is that ORCA mugs are dishwasher safe but listawood say they aren't. They print well without blemishes as the coating goes into the pitted surface. RN coated mugs are dishwasher safe and suppliers state that but the coating does not go into the pitted surface so they show little white spots. So it's best to buy non-marked ORCA mugs to avoid customer disappointment. OR is it best to but RN mugs and put up with the imperfections?

[John G]

The RN mugs I get of BMS aren't pitted, print perfectly and are guaranteed dishwasher safe.