Just bought a mug press...

[calmore]

Hi All,

Just bought a cheap mug press to play with and need some advice...

Firstly, I would like to use a colour laser printer and have seen transfer sheets to enable me to do this. However, have seen that a lot of people use inkjets for mug printing. Are there any advantages to using an inkjet?

I need to buy some mugs. Is there anything special about dye-sub mugs? Do they have a special surface or would any white porcelain mug of the correct diameter do the trick?

Lastly, the machine I have is an old Mugxpress 300, does anyone have a manual they could email me, or advise on likely temperatures/times for printing "ordinary" mugs?

Thanks in advance!

[socialgiraffe]

Hi Calmore

You need to do a search on this forum to get the answers.

But in short.

You will need either a specialist dye sublimation printer (ricoh or Epson) and the correct ink, approximate cost for the printer is £250.00 I think. You will also need specially coated mugs from a dye sublimation supplier.

That is the very short version, you need to read a lot of the info on here before doing anything else

[galerion]

Mugs made with those laser printer sheets are not dye sublimation and are not as dishwashable as dyesub mugs last time I checked.

[ArferMo]

if its the Mug xpress 300 that I'm thinking of its faulty and will only print on the middle section of the mug as the edges of the mat don't work

[ISub-Sarah]

Hi Calmore

For durability, flexibility and dishwasher proof mugs Dye Sublimation is the way to go.

If you are sublimation printing items or mugs they need to have some polyester content or coating, therefore a standard mug isn't going to work.

When sublimation printing we recommend for our mugs the temperature is set at 205 degrees C, the pressing time is 180-210 seconds and you use instant dry paper.

Some people recommend removing the paper straight way after printing, others leave it for around 1 minute after printing before removing and then quench the mug in lukewarm water, and others remove the paper straight away but then put the mug in front of a desk fan to cool. It's what works best for you.

Please let me know if I can help any further.