Bad Day today!

[Squadron Prints]

Well I thought I had cracked it but today has not been the best day! I have been producing mugs good style over the past few days with our standard artwork but being smart (not ) I though I would be adventurous resulting in these . . .
Tried different settings and even taped the bottom - none of them worked!


Then tried these - disaster - the shadows on the photo have not come out well at all and have come out a blue colour so the moral of this story - clear and bright photos!


Then this - tried different white mugs and eventually the one shown on the top left is the best one but I have given up = the one on the top left was heated in the mug machine first to take the chill off as it is cold in the office!


The rest were ok - a couple of smudges




Gutted - full of bright ideas but cannot get them to look nice! Stated at 8am this morning with No Hangover!!!!
Gill

[Kaz]

Hi Gill

the ones that have colour fading on the bottoms, try turning them half way through pressing and you'll get better results.

Has worked for me and a few others on the forum that had the same problem.

Kaz

[Squadron Prints]

Thanks Kaz - I did that! Previously that worked but today no luck at all! Fed Up - maybe they were just too cold! I tried them upside down and tried them completely taped - I thought it was a temperature thing with the base being thicker and taking longer to hear but it was happening at the top too! I tightened the blanket too! Not a happy girl today
Gill

[Justin]

Top images look very consistent in terms of the bottom edge not being straight. Which mugs are you using? has anything been changed, i.e. pressure, paper etc?

[Squadron Prints]

Paper the same - think the mugs are the same although Xpress did change their mugs so we changed our settings accordingly through trial and error! Might be the pressure though - I did tighten it up as it the blanket was fairly loose and when I turned them upside down on the old mug machine there was nothing to rest them on! I used xpress mugs only because they came in 'trays' of 12 in a box of 36 which were easy to wrap up and mail out! It seems that it is the tapered bit at the bottom of the mug that causes the problem. It is amazing how a twist and turn of the pressure could make such a difference! SO should the mug be tight in the blanket so it cannot move or should it be looser?
Thanks for your time!
Gill

[John G]

I've never been able to do full wraps - no matter how much pressure I applied on the press. A work around - not ideal, but will help - take approx 5mm off your design top and bottom and the prints will always be sharp,not faded.

Apart from the obvious - your mugs look really good.

[Justin]

When did you buy the Xpres mugs? They did change recently but have also been out of stock and offering a replacement but I assume they would notify of this first. I appreciate that some users turn the mugs half way through but I don't think this should be needed if the machine is working/set up properly. It does need to be tight and you should see the press blanket curl over the edges of the mug. Is the paper tight onto the mug, can you seen any gaps?

[Justin]

I've never been able to do full wraps

I also gave up doing full wraps and put a very small border top and bottom but I think this was down to the presses I used. Since having the Xpres press I've gone back to successfully printing full wrap although I still prefer the look with the gaps top and bottom as I feel it balances the image with the blank areas adjacent to the handle

[Paul]

I dont think this is anything to do with not stright mugs. well... is a bit. not to much. as heat blanket CAN go in to uneven surfaces. if your can not then bit of silicon ruber is the solution for you. but you need to bump your temp and time up. personaly I think this is duo to as you said cold office. I always do what KAZ mentioned and it worked well. but sometimes in winter this is not enough so all I do is fill half mug with boiling water for fe seconds then put your artwork and in to the press I am sure it will help.


PAul

[Justin]

If you're printing with a flat press as well you can pop the mugs onto the top to warm through a little.