Printing inside a mug - Is it possible?

[UK Printed Mugs]

Has anyone had any success with a sublimation image on the inside of a mug? I presume that one would stick down the paper with oven tape and cross fingers it would be tight enough. Client requests hey. Never all the same! If no one has I will try tomorrow.

Perhaps there is a market for some kind of silicone half puck (like a cylinder cut in half longways) that holds an image to one side of the inner mug and has threaded legs on the other with a silicone foot that screws/unscrews in order to push against the other side of the mug... Hmmm

[Justin]

Polymer mugs are possible, ceramic mugs would need to be coated inside, I don't think many if any are. I believe machines exist that are capable of this printing though.

[UK Printed Mugs]

Hi Justin. Ok, I presumed, wrongly I guess, that mugs are fully submerged into coating. I did think after my post that of course this would only work via oven method in order to get enough heat inside mug. I will do some research on specialist machines.

[Justin]

No I believe they're just sprayed on the outside. Same with the base, not always coated or it would be ideal to print onto there as well

[galerion]

There was a post about doing this a little while back and I believe someone reckoned there is a company going to produce ceramic mugs that are printable on the inside in the near future.

[socialgiraffe]

It is not currently possible using the dye sublimation process.

Most companies who print on the inside of mugs use the water based transfer system (a bit like the old Airfix stickers) to print inside.

There are two companies working together on the possibility of printing inside the mug, but there are so many hurdles to over come that I do not expect it to be for a few years.

[galerion]

If there were mugs available that had been coated on the inside the 3d presses could do it with the silicone vacuum molds so it is currently possible but you would need to coat them yourself and that opens up a another can of worms.

[Listawood]

Hi everyone,

The promotional side of Listawood will typically decorate mugs on the inside using a decal, and the base using a pad print. We actually have Trade Supplies customers who buy their dye sub blanks with a pad print of their choice to the base. Simply add £0.10 to the blank mug price as well as a £24 screen charge. The minimum order quantity is 72.

Providing dye-sub blanks with a decal on the inside is a very different matter though and not really viable unfortunately.

Enjoy your weekends all!

LTS

[Justin]

Is that a one off screen charge or would you charge each time customer placed an order?

[Listawood]

Good morning all,

The screen charge would £24 on the first order, reduced to £20 on repeat orders. Of course this is less appealing for very small volumes but on slightly larger quantities it's a valuable offer. For example, a pad print to the base carrying your own company details is a great way to descretely promote yourself without disrupting your customers' designs.

LTS