Lasr printers for mugs?

[alanw15]

Hi

Can you tell me if colour laser printers can be used for mug printing. I have the Magic TouchCPM6.2 Hard Surface printing sheets which i got with a job lot of Cup and T Shirt heat presses.

Thanks in advance

[bms]

Yes you can use CPM6.2 for printing onto mugs. The end result isn't as good as sublimation, but it is possible.

[alanw15]

Just tested it out and worked ok But as you say not as good as sublimation i.e not as shiny.

How long will a laser print on a T Shirt last?

[bms]

Are you using TTC3.1 or something similar? I think they last for 50+ washes so fairly permanent. Don't think I've washed mine more than 50 times yet

[alanw15]

Im using the Magic touch papers for T-Shirts.

I have heard that you are meant to glaze the mugs after you have taken the paper off. How do i glaze them? Is it just a case of putting them back in the heat press for a while?

[bms]

I think this refers to putting the mug back in the press afterwards. Print as normal and remove the CPM paper from the mug. Then wrap the mug with grease proof paper or silicon paper and press again for, say 20 seconds.

[alanw15]

cheers for the reply. Will go and get some greese proof paper in a min and give it a try

[alanw15]

Ok, well i tried it and.............. grease proof paper stuck to the mug and had to scrub it under water to get it off and photo looks dark, dull and not glazed???

I heated mug to 180 and left for 180 seconds. Some of the print also pulled off after the mug was left to go cold. im using the coated sub mugs as well

Any ideas what went wrong?

[bms]

I heated mug to 180 and left for 180 seconds. Some of the print also pulled off after the mug was left to go cold. im using the coated sub mugs as well

Did you do this with the CPM material? I don't have the figures to hand, but I thought CPM transferred a lot quicker than this.

[alanw15]

yeah i used the CPM material at their recommended temps and speeds and that was even worse, pulled around 30% of the print off.

At the temp and speeds i used 99.9% of the print stuck to the mug although the prints come out a bit dark and not shiny at all.